Current Events in April 2013

Not only has the U.S. housing market come back from the dead, some experts think we are once again in a housing bubble. After plunging four years ago, home prices are rising again.

Some of the strongest gains are coming in the South, Southwest and West, areas where the housing bubble popped with the most damage. In cities like Atlanta, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Sacramento, home prices are up double digits year over year.

One big reason for rising prices is cheap money. Interest rates are almost 50% lower than before the housing collapse. Another reason is a sharp reduction in inventory – there are simply fewer homes for sale. Back when prices were falling, there was a glut of homes on the market – in some cities a year's worth of inventory.

“We now have numerous cities where the supply of homes is just at four months or in some cases, as little as one month,” said Pat Esswein, an editor at Kiplinger, a personal finance publication. It's crazy.”

Days of easy money

Prices are still lower than at their peak but some think those prices were never realistic to begin with. They were fed by demand from consumers who found it extremely easy to borrow money to buy real estate. Often they couldn't afford the homes and the loans offered very low “teaser rates” that adjusted much higher a year or two later, beginning the foreclosure tsunami.

What's unsettling to some industry observers is the fact that, in many markets, there is the same sort of rapid sales action and rising prices that marked the recent housing bubble. Esswein recently surveyed real estate professionals across the country to gauge the current market conditions.

“The advantage now is to the seller,” she said. “They've got leverage because they know that, if they have a nice home and are willing and able to sell, they're probably going to get multiple offers.”

Buyers, meanwhile, have fewer homes to choose from and they may feel under pressure. In some markets real estate investors have come in and snapped up as much property as they could, flipping some houses, converting other to rentals.

Investors are a big reason there are so few houses on the market, especially attractively priced distressed property. Esswein asked Realtors what advice they were giving buyers who wanted their offers to win out in a competitive situation.

Cash is king

One big advantage, she was told, was buy with cash, not a mortgage.

“You just about can't go wrong with it because it alleviates everyone's fear that the prospective buyer won't be able to qualify for a mortgage,” Esswein said. “Cash just greases all wheels.”

Investors tend to pay with cash but increasingly, so do ordinary buyers. They may have sold another house or not want to jump through the hoops of mortgage approval.

Offer what you're willing to pay

Everyone likes to feel they're a negotiator, driving a hard bargain for the best deal. In many housing markets, that's not uncommon. The asking price is $250,000 but you start at $235,000, hoping to end up at $242,000.

“That doesn't work very well when you are competing with other home buyers and they're willing to pay full price,” Esswein said.

Beefing up the earnest money

When you make an offer on a home, you sign a contract and write a check for a deposit. It's often called “earnest money” and, if your contract is accepted, it is deducted from your down payment at settlement.

Making the deposit a large one – say $5,000 instead of $1,000 – signals to the seller you are serious. However, you had better be serious.

“You don't do this idly, because if you back out on a whim, you lose your deposit,” Esswein said.

It almost goes without saying that you get pre-approved for a mortgage before you look at the first house. In fact, most Realtors require that now. They can't afford to waste time showing you a house you won't be able to purchase. And in a competitive market, you can be sure a home seller isn't going to take your offer seriously unless you are pre-approved.

Emotional pitch

Esswein offers up another tip that costs nothing and might give you a slight edge with the seller. When you submit the contract, also include a personal letter to the sellers, telling them why you love the house and the neighborhood. The emotional connection, Esswein says, might give you that extra bit of leverage when most of the offers are about the same.

It seems odd that just four years after the housing bubble popped that we would again be talking about it being a seller's market – and true, it isn't happening everywhere. And Esswein thinks this current boom might not last.

Once investors are no longer able to buy cheap properties they will probably withdraw from the market and sales will moderate. And as long as that happens without a damaging bubble pop, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

It's a pretty well-established fact that stress can cause numerous health  problems. But now there may be a new concern.

Researchers at Umea University in Sweden say psychological stress during middle age could cause one to develop Alzheimer’s disease years later.

The scientists looked at the stress hormones in the brains of mice and found those with more stress had less memory. In addition, the brains of the mice with more stress had larger amounts of beta amyloid, a protein that’s associated with Alzheimer’s disease.  

In a 2007 study, researchers discovered the connection between beta amyloids and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Beta amyloid is associated with brain dysfunction — even in apparently normal elderly individuals — providing further evidence that it is likely related to the fundamental cause of Alzheimer’s disease,” explained Christopher Rowe, director of the nuclear medicine department and Centre for PET, at Austin Hospital in Australia.

In addition, the researchers involved in the 2007 study said that beta amyloid led to common Alzheimer’s symptoms like memory loss and brain synapses.

More study needed

Dr. Simon Ridley, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said additional studies involving humans is needed,

“Some research has already highlighted a possible link between chronic stress, cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s, and further study in people is needed to fully investigate these links,” he said. “If we can better understand the risk factors for Alzheimer’s we can also empower people to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk.”

Additionally, researchers said people who use their brain in high capacity throughout life, like learning new languages or being in a job that requires a lot of critical thinking, have less risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life.

Exercise may help

In a separate study at the University of Helsinki, Finland, researchers found that intensive exercise at home has the ability to slow down some of the symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s.

Researchers gathered 210 Alzheimer patients who lived at home with their spouses and split the groups into three.

One trial group had four-hour group sessions with one hour of home-based exercise; one group only had one hour of exercise and the other group received traditional care.

Although all groups in the study showed signs of deterioration as time went on, the group that went through four-hour sessions and one hour of training had the least amount.

Furthermore, the researchers made a connection between Alzheimer’s patients who exercised in their home and the possibility of keeping health and social services costs down.

The group that underwent four-hour training sessions and one hour of exercise had a total health and social service cost of $22,066. The second group, undergoing only one hour of exercise, ran a cost of $25,112 and the group that received traditional care had a health and social service cost of $34,121.

The lower costs along with the ability to possibly slow down physical deterioration in Alzheimer’s patients, shows how beneficial exercising at home can be, say researchers.

“In conclusion, this study demonstrates that exercise administered at the patient’s home may attenuate the deleterious effects of AD on physical functioning,” the researchers wrote.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and over 5 million Americans currently live with the disease. In addition, one in three seniors who have Alzheimer’s or other dementia passes away.

The trouble-plagued Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a step closer to returning to flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the aircraft-maker's design for modifying the 787 battery system. The changes are designed to address risks at the battery cell level, the battery level and the aircraft level.

As part of the process, the FAA will require airlines that operate the 787 to install containment and venting systems for the main and auxiliary system batteries, and to replace the batteries and their chargers with modified components.

“A team of FAA certification specialists observed rigorous tests we required Boeing to perform and devoted weeks to reviewing detailed analysis of the design changes to reach this decision,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

"The FAA set a high bar for our team and our solution," said Boeing chairman, president and CEO Jim McNerney. "Our shared commitment with global regulators and our customers to safe, efficient and reliable airplanes has helped make air travel the safest form of transportation in the world today."

Fixing the fleet

The FAA said it will closely monitor modifications of the aircraft in the U.S. fleet to assure proper installation of the new design. Any return to service of the modified 787 will only take place after the FAA accepts the work. The agency will also support other authorities around the world as they finalize their own acceptance procedures.

The new 787 battery system was approved by the FAA after it conducted an extensive review of certification tests over a month-long period beginning in early March. The tests were designed to ensure that individual components of the battery, as well as its integration with the charging system and a new enclosure, all performed as expected during normal operation and under failure conditions.

Boeing will begin installing the changes on new airplanes at the company's two 787 final-assembly plants, with deliveries expected to resume in the weeks ahead. The company says it expects to complete all planned 2013 deliveries by the end of the year.  

The photo has gone viral around the web: a CVS receipt listing the customer as “Lee, Ching Chong.”

The customer, whose actual name is Hyun Lee, is outraged, and has filed a million-dollar lawsuit over the racially-charged matter.

The saga began on February 7, when Lee arranged for photos to be developed at a CVS in Egg Harbor, N.J. When she went to get the photos, she says, she found the derogatory name on her receipt.

Outraged, Lee emailed CVS customer service.

"Do you think it’s funny?” Lee railed in her email. It’s very disturbing to me!!!!... why doesn’t he just call me Chink! It has the same derogatory meaning!!!!!"

According to the suit, Lee’s email received a reply from “Dee,” who assured Lee that “this incident will be addressed at store level and William [the allegedly offending employee] will be counseled and trained.”

“Horrified”

“Honestly I’m just horrified about this whole thing,” Lee told CBS 2. “It just brought back all the memories of growing up as a minority.”

‘Ching Chong’ is a very pejorative, racial slur meant for Asians,” Lee’s lawyer Susan Chana Lask told all-news 1010 WINS.  “CVS touts that they make $300 billion a year on their filings, then $1 million should be enough to teach them a lesson that their employees should not be getting away with this,” Lask said.

The suit asks for $1 million and cites “injury, mental anguish, severe emotional distress, harm, and damages.”

Wants employee fired

Lask also told ABC News that Lee wants William fired.

“It appears that the employee is still there,” Lask told ABC. “She will not return to that CVS until that employee is removed.”

In a statement, CVS said that "CVS/Pharmacy is committed to treating all of our customers with dignity and respect and we have a firm non-discrimination policy. We take this matter very seriously as the allegations in the complaint describe behavior that is unacceptable and not in keeping with our values or our policies. We are looking into this matter but cannot comment further due to the pending litigation."

One of the downsides of spending time in the great outdoors is that eventually, you're going to have a close encounter with poison ivy that will result in a painful rash that can easily spread over wide areas of your skin.

Poison ivy is a term often used to describe three types of poisonous plants: poison ivy, poison oak and sumac. All three can have the same results for people who are allergic to an oil contained in the plants. These plants tend to grow in wooded areas and if you don't spend much time there, you might not recognize the plants when you see them.

The saying “leaves of three, let them be” has been passed on from generation to generation to help you avoid contact with poison ivy, but in the case of sumac, the advice is worthless. True, poison ivy and oak have three leaves on a single stem but sumac can have 7 to 13 leaves on a single branch.

Urushiol oil

If you happen to be highly allergic to poison ivy, just brushing it against your skin will result in a rash within a few hours. The reason is the urushiol oil each plant contains. This substance is so potent it could also be a weapon of mass destruction. Experts say one one nanogram – one-billionth of a gram – can cause a skin rash.

A dead poison ivy plant might be five years old but the urushiol in it could still be active. That means you could be watching for three green leaves and completely miss the dead plant, since it would be unrecognizable.

Direct contact with urushiol is necessary to get the rash. However, if the plant is burned the oil is present in the smoke. If you are near the fire the oil in the smoke can cover your body and even enter your lungs.

If you are mowing at the edge of a wooded area or using a power trimmer, it's easy to become covered in poison ivy debris if your mower or trimmer comes in contact with it.

Not contagious

Another myth is that poison ivy is contagious. It will spread over your body from where you initially made contact with it but you can't spread it to someone else. That myth probably started because a poison ivy rash will produce a disgusting liquid when the blisters break.

However, if the urushiol oil is still on your hands and you touch someone else, you can spread it to that person. If your pet comes in contact with poison ivy while running through the woods, they won't get the rash but you can get it on your skin when you come in contact with them.

Not everyone reacts to poison ivy the same way. Some are almost hyper-sensitive, others hardly at all. Experts say almost no one is immune, however. Repeated exposure usually increases sensitivity.

Once you break out in a poison ivy rash, the agony can last for weeks. Without treatment it can take three weeks or more for a rash to clear up on its own. With treatment the healing process can take much less time.

Treatment for severe cases

According to the Mayo Clinic, mild cases of poison ivy may require no medical treatment. However, for widespread rashes, especially in sensitive areas, a doctor may prescribe corticosteroid pills, such as prednisone. For a severe case a doctor may give the patient a steroid shot. Some over-the-counter creams and ointments may provide relief from itching.

If you believe you have come in contact with poison ivy, you should thoroughly wash the area of skin with soap and water as quickly as possible. That may remove some of the urushiol oil and reduce the severity of the resulting rash.

When working in a wooded area that might have poison ivy wear gloves, long pants and long sleeves. And study photographs of poison ivy, poison oak and sumac so you can more easily avoid them.

As everyone knows, the newspaper business is in a ton of trouble. It's not just because advertisers are fleeing to the Internet, although that's a big part of it. But besides that, newspapers have a unique knack for alienating their subscribers -- throwing the paper in the ditch being the most oft-cited example.

Subscription policies also cause hard feelings, and in the case of  Elizabeth and Michael O'Shaughnessy, a lot more than hard feelings are involved. They're the named plaintiffs in a class action suit against McClatchy, one of the largest newspaper groups in the country.

In their suit, filed in Jackson County Court in Kansas City, Mo., the O'Shaughnessys say the McClatchy chain double-bills its loyal customers who renew their subscriptions. They claim that when a customer renews his subscription, McClatchy starts the new subscription right away, instead of waiting for the old one to run its course, thereby charging double for the overlapping days.

The O'Shaughnessys, who say the class includes "thousands of members," are seeking actual and punitive damages for breach of contract, breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing and violation of consumer protection statutes, Courthouse News Service reported.

Besides the Kansas City Star, which presumably landed on or near the O'Shaughnessys' front door step, the suit names McClatchy papers including the Sacramento Bee and other Bee papers in California, the Charlotte Observer, the Fort Worth Star Telegram and more than 20 others.

The pace of sales of previously-owned homes slipped a bit during March.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports sales of existing single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops came to a a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million -- a 0.6% decline from February's revised rate of 4.95 million. 

While it was a bit higher than the 4.92 million forecast by Briefing.com and lower than the market's expectation of 5.01 million,  the March rate was still 10.2% ahead of the year-ago pace. Sales have now topped the year-ago levels for 21 consecutive months.

A matter of supply and demand

"Buyer traffic is 25 percent above a year ago when we were already seeing notable gains in shopping activity," said Lawrence Yun , NAR chief economist. "In the same time frame housing inventories have trended much lower, which is continuing to pressure home prices. The good news is home construction is rising and low mortgage rates are continuing to keep affordability conditions at historically favorable levels. The bad news is that underwriting standards remain excessively tight, while renters are getting squeezed by higher rents."

The inventory of homes at the end of March increased to 1.93 million houses available for sale -- a 4.7-month supply. That works out to a decline of 16.8% from a year ago, when there was a 6.2-month supply.

Yun says conditions continue to broadly favor sellers, adding, “we need a housing supply of over 6 months to have a generally balanced market between home buyers and sellers.” But, he says, that's unlikely without greater increases in housing construction.

The national median price for all existing home types was $184,300 in March almost 12% above the March 2012 median. That increase is the strongest since November 2005 when it rose 12.9% from a year earlier and the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.

Regional sales

• Existing-home sales in the Northeast were unchanged at an annual rate of 630,000 in March, but are 6.8 % above March 2012. The median price in the Northeast was $237,000, up 3% from a year ago.
• In the Midwest, sales posted a gain of 1.8% to a pace of 1.16 million; that's 14.9% above a year ago. The median price was $141,800, up 7.8% from March 2012.
• The South posted a sales decline of 1.5% to an annual level of 1.95 million in March, but are still 12.7% higher than a year ago. The South's median price was up 10.4% from last year -- to $161,700.
• Sales in the West were down 1.7% to a 1.18 million pace last month, but 4.4% higher than the same time last year. Notably constrained inventory conditions sent the median price soaring 26.1% -- to $258,100.

So, are you one of those consumers who gets upset about being tracked around the Internet and being asked for your ZIP code at the check-out counter of a bricks-and-mortar store? If so, get a load of this: MasterCard and American Express are stepping up their efforts to sell data on retail transactions to marketers.

Advertising Age recently revealed that the card issuers have been approaching advertising and marketing firms in an attempt to enlarge their client list.

It's a pretty appealing product they're offering: MasterCard alone has data representing 80 billion consumer purchases. AmEx is slicing and dicing its data, making it easier for marketers to reach consumers who are big spenders in specific retail segments such as automotive, fashion and travel.

Both companies insist that the data is aggregated and made anonymous so that individual consumers' names are not revealed. 

"We have strict policies in place to protect cardmembers’ privacy," Amelia T. Woltering, American Express Director of Corporate Affairs and Communication, told ConsumerAffairs. "American Express does not provide any personally identifiable information or individual transaction information about its cardmembers or a list of its cardmembers to advertisers or business partners."

Further, Woltering said AmEx' practices are not "secret" and have always been fully explained in the company's online privacy statement.

"We provide choices so that consumers and cardmembers can opt-out of targeted advertising or direct marketing." Woltering said. "Cardmembers can also opt-out of sharing their non-personal information with our business partners for their own analysis, research, and marketing purposes."

MasterCard also said it does not disclose personal information. 

“MasterCard is committed to protecting individuals’ privacy and uses only anonymous and aggregated information in producing information insights and other data analytic products and solutions," Andrew Bowins, Senior Vice President of External Communications, MasterCard Worldwide said. "Most importantly, MasterCard never collects, discloses or uses personally identifiable data, such cardholder name and address, in the creation of its information insights products."

Bowins provided this link to a more detailed explanation of MasterCard's privacy policies. 

Nevertheless, increased collection of consumer data -- both online and at bricks-and-mortar stores -- is troubling to many privacy advocates. 

"I think that individuals have a privacy interest in transparency and control regarding the use of their personal data for advertising," David Jacobs, Consumer Protection Counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told ConsumerAffairs. "Unfortunately, there is currently a lack of transparency in the sale and aggregation of consumer information by data brokers and marketing companies."

Jacobs hopes that changes, though. He noted that the White House released a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights last year and is currently working on legislation.

"The legislation hasn't been released yet, but the CPBR includes a comprehensive set of fair information practices such as control, transparency, and accountability that, if faithfully implemented, could improve consumer privacy and help address these practices," he said.

Not really new

Perhaps surprisingly, the sale of credit card data isn't really new. MasterCard Advisors set up its Information Services division more than two years ago and American Express Business Insights has delivered direct mail and online offers for years, although cardmembers have always been able to opt-out. Both firms have reportedly been approaching ad agencies and market research firms in search of more subscribers. It's only recently that the practice has come to public attention as the companies seek to expand their sales. 

Here's how MasterCard Advisors describes the data service it's selling to marketers: 

• Offer access to relevant and actionable intelligence based on 65 billion anonymized, real transactions from 1.7 billion cardholders in 210 countries worldwide
• Forecast consumer behavior with proprietary information and expertise only MasterCard can provide
• Help clients make better decisions with real-time intelligence based on billions of cleansed transactions

Their efforts are paying off. MasterCard has recently hooked up with Maxpoint, one of the larger digital ad firms, which already compiles all kinds of information about consumers in specific ZIP code regions. The company says the MasterCard info marks the first time it has had access to credit card information.

"We provide online advertising solutions that help multi-location business owners easily and affordably drive local customers to their stores," Maxpoint says on its website. "Reach the neighborhoods most interested in purchasing your products or services with our Digital Zip technology, the only scalable solution that moves shoppers from online to in-store."

What does that mean exactly? Maxpoint says its data can help marketers in "pinpointing qualified neighborhoods at the most granular level." Critics would say this helps the Walmarts of the world "redline" neighborhoods whose residents don't have enough disposable income to be worth fooling with. Others would say it's simply good business to open retail outlets where they've most likely to be successful.

"Black folks don't tip"

Could be, but retail redlining is "one of the most pervasive and insidious forms of racism left in America today," according to David Mekarski, the village administrator for the south Chicago suburb of Olympia Fields.

He was quoted recently by The Atlantic as telling a recent planners conference about his attempt to lure more restaurants to his mixed-race community, where the average household income is $77,000, well above average for the area. Mekarski said he asked an executive of a major restaurant chain why the company wasn't interested in his town.

"Black folks don’t tip, and so managers can’t maintain a quality staff. And if they can’t maintain a quality staff, they can’t maintain a quality restaurant,” the executive told him, Mekarski said.

In a less startling real-life example of how marketers put Maxpoint's data to work, as a gaming industry trade show geared up last month, Maxpoint was promoting its Digital Zip product, which it said "has identified U.S. cities with the neighborhoods most interested in gaming."

"By analyzing billions of in-store purchases and online data points, MaxPoint identified two distinct groups of gamers: early adopters, or those looking for the latest gaming technology, and latecomers, or gamers who prefer time-tested technologies," said Broadway World magazine.

The magazine reported that MaxPoint had found that early adopters tend to be college-educated, single homeowners with an average income of more than $60,000 per year. They purchase the latest gaming equipment and stay informed about the newest gaming trends. They live in cities like Boston, New York, San Francisco and Dallas but not in Bangor, Fargo or Lubbock.

Similarly, a burger of pizza chain could use Maxpoint's data to find neighborhoods whose residents spend more than average on fast food, Advertising Age noted. 

The old adage that the three most important factors in real estate are location, location and location is true. But not just the location of the street or neighborhood, but now more than ever, the location of the city.

Some markets are booming but others are not and there are a number of reasons for that. The Washington, D.C., market recovered quickly from the housing collapse, in part because the region has such stable employment that pays competitive salaries (thank you, taxpayers). There is also strong demand from the constant flow of newcomers.

In other cities the market has slowly recovered over the last two years because a growing number of investors have been buying up distressed properties – short sales and foreclosures. Their activity has led to a draw-down in inventory as fewer and fewer homes have come on the market.

Foreclosures slowing

Before 2011 banks were foreclosing on properties at a red-hot pace, and got into trouble for taking short cuts in the legal process. Now foreclosures advance more slowly and don't spend a lot of time on the market.

"The housing market in many areas has rebounded more quickly due to a shortage of new homes being built and the decline in home prices for existing homes on the supply side," said Tom O'Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services, a residential property valuation service. "One of the other catalysts has been large investment funds, which are continuing to purchase REO and other distressed single family homes to rent out. These funds have also been renovating homes, which has helped to improve the overall conditions of the surrounding neighborhoods and provided a positive injection of capital."

Many of the hedge funds that are now buying up foreclosed homes are the very same ones that were buying and selling mortgage-backed securities once upon a time. The collapse of those securities, triggered by rising foreclosures, brought on the housing crisis in the first place.

Lucrative investment

Instead of buying mortgages, the hedge funds are now purchasing the actual houses. The houses are converted to rental property and the income goes to the investors. Unlike mortgage-backed securities, which are pieces of paper that only have value as long as the mortgage holder doesn't default, real estate is a real asset. It can be purchased at a discount, rented for several years and, when value rises, can be sold at a profit.

Markets where investors are active happen to be the markets where the housing market is recovering fastest. Not surprisingly, they tend to be the markets that crashed the hardest, where prices fell the most -- markets like Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and dozens of California cities.

Pro Tek's latest Home Value Forecast shows these 10 housing markets to be the hottest in April.

1. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.
2. Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.
3. Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif.
4. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.
5. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.
6. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla.
7. Stockton, Calif.
8. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hill, Mich.
9. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Tex.
10. Austin-Red Rock-San Marcos, Tex.

While those markets are hot, these are not:

1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
2. Rochester, N.Y.
3. Baton Rouge, La.
4. Albany-Schnectady-Troy, N.Y.
5. Greenville-Maudlin-Easley, S.C.
6. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
7. Mobile, Ala.
8. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.
9. Shreveport-Bossier City, La.
10. Spokane, Wash.

"The bottom ranked metros also represent an interesting mix, with two continuing to be in the upstate New York area and three in the Southeast, said Michael Sklarz, a contributing author to the forecast. "All have double-digit Months of Remaining Inventory, however, many of the indicators are showing positive trends even for the bottom metros area this month."

Rural property

At the same time, most rural real estate markets seriously lag their big city counterparts. Investors, particularly institutional ones, have steered clear of small town property -- at least they have so far.

Sam Khater, Deputy Chief Economist at CoreLogic, has analyzed housing inventory and connected it with investor activity and found uneven results across markets. Northeastern and Midwestern markets have a lot more inventory and less investor activity. Some markets in the south and southwest, he says, have experienced massive declines.

Investors are more active there, most likely, because of the prospects for growth, the demand for rental housing and the huge discounts available for most distressed property.

What to do

Obviously, there's no one answer. If you're looking to buy a home, you'll find cheaper prices in the markets that are suffering but you'll also find little, if any appreciation. You may even encounter depreciation, meaning your property may be worth less than it is now in a few years.

If you must sell, find the most successful Realtor in your area and try to get him or her to represent you, then take the expert advice she offers. 

Americans are a people on the move. According to government figures, 35 million of us relocate every year. And anybody who has been involved in a move can tell you that it rates high on the stress level index.

A major concern is making sure you don't get cheated.

Complaints about moving -- and movers -- abound. Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) received over 3,100 consumer complaints about household goods movers, compared with 2,851 in 2011. Among the most common complaints are shipments being held hostage; loss, damage or delay of shipments; unauthorized movers; and deceptive practices, such as overcharges.

ConsumerAffairs hears its share of complaints as well.

'Terrible, terrible'

John of San Diego, CA, doesn't think much of Bekins Van Lines. "Crew arrived 2 hours late. Stated they were stopped by the CHP. Movers looked like they were picked up at the local Home Depot. Dressed in dirty clothes looked they had slept in. They were supposed to shrink wrap all upholstered furniture. First thing I had to stop them as they started loading my chairs with no protection.," he writes in a ConsumerAffairs post. “After filing a claim it took 3 months to get a response and then refused to take responsibility even though we had purchased additional insurance. I would never use this company and would never recommend them to anyone."

"I saw Father and Son movers on the Internet but I didn't take time to read the reviews," writes Kizze of Brooklyn, N.Y. "O my god it was the worst, When I call I ask them if they had a storage in Brooklyn, New York, and they lie to me and told me yes, they took my things all the way to New Jersey plus they told me just to move a bedroom set is going to cost me $350.00 I end up paying $1500.00 for everything because I wanted to bring my stuff back to Brooklyn."

Federal help

To assist consumers in dealing with these and other problems, FMCSA is launching a moving fraud prevention campaign to help spot the “red flags” of fraudulent or dishonest movers.

The idea behind the “Protect Your Move” campaign is to provide consumers with the information they need to protect themselves from unlawful movers.

Nationwide, the top ten cities with the greatest number of consumer complaints in 2012 were Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego.

Red flags

These are among the most common “red flags” of fraudulent or dishonest moving companies:

• Not providing an in-home estimate,
• Asking customers to sign incomplete documentation, and
• A company failing to register with FMCSA.

Consumers can report unsafe and poor performing moving companies by calling FMCSA's nationwide complaint hotline at 1-888-368-7238 (1-888 DOT-SAFT).

Nissan is recalling 19,258 model year 2013 Pathfinder and Infiniti JX vehicles manufactured December 3, 2012, through January 29, 2013.

The front brake torque member was improperly cast resulting in structural weakness, which could lead to premature failure and cracking. If the brake torque member fails, the brake caliper may move and contact the inside of the road wheel, resulting in reduced braking, increasing the risk of a crash.

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the manufacturing date of the torque members and replace them, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in early May 2013.

Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Honda is recalling about 204,000 model year 2012-2013 CR-V, Odyssey, and model year 2013 Acura RDX vehicles.

During sub-freezing temperatures, the brake-shift interlock blocking mechanism may become slow and allow the gear selector to be moved from the Park position without pressing the brake pedal. If the gear selector is moved from the park position without pressing the brake pedal it can allow the vehicle to roll away, increasing the risk of a crash.

Honda will notify owners and instruct them to take their vehicle to a Honda or Acura dealer, who will install an updated brake shift interlock blocking mechanism free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 13, 2013.

Owners may contact Honda at 1-800-999-1009. Honda's campaign recall numbers are S96, S97, and S98.

It's hard to turn on TV and not see a public service announcement urging young drivers not to send or read texts while behind the wheel. The message may be getting through but it doesn't seemed to have altered behavior.

Bridgestone America commissioned a survey that found a huge disconnect between what teen drivers know to be responsible behavior and what they actually do. The survey of drivers ages 16-21 found 71% believe reading received emails while driving is unacceptable. But 45% admit to doing it. Eighty percent believe sending texts and emails while driving is unacceptable but 37% say they do it.

Disconnect

The survey uncovered another disconnect that gives safety experts hope that their message is starting to get through. While an overwhelming 95% of the young drivers in the survey admitted to reading texts and emails while driving alone, only 32% said they did when friends or parents were in the car. That suggests the drivers realize what they're doing is socially unacceptable behavior.

"The fact these actions are becoming socially unacceptable shows progress in the effort to raise awareness of the risks and consequences of distracted driving, but with this many teens admitting to engaging in the behavior privately, there is still much work to be done," said Angela Patterson, Manager, Teens Drive Smart Program, Bridgestone Americas.

True. Young drivers may know it's wrong but the fact remains that nearly all of them are texting and emailing while driving, a recipe for disaster. How, then, to get them to stop? No one has quite figured that out yet.

3,300 deaths

Drawing on extensive data, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that at any given “daylight moment” an estimated 660,000 drivers are either using their cell phones or trying to manipulate some kind of electronic device. The agency reports more than 3,300 deaths from distracted driving accidents in 2011 and 387,000 injuries.

“Distracted driving is a serious and deadly epidemic on America’s roadways,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “There is no way to text and drive safely. Powering down your cell phone when you’re behind the wheel can save lives – maybe even your own.”

The Department of Transportation is among the many organizations that have produced public service announcements to warn drivers – particularly young drivers – about the dangers of texting and driving.

States, meanwhile, have been in the forefront of cracking down on distracted driving. Ten states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have laws banning all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. In most states, the laws are primary enforcement, meaning a police officer may pull you over for using a handheld cell phone without any other traffic offense taking place.

State laws are even stricter when it comes to texting. At least 39 states, plus D.C. and the U.S. territories, ban texting behind the wheel. Again, in most of the states the offense is primary enforcement.

Teen deaths rising

At a time when overall highways deaths are falling, the Governor's Highway Safety Association reported a 19 percent jump in highway deaths of 16- and 17 year-old drivers in the first six months of 2012. The concern is what role texting or other distractions might have played in those accidents.

This seems to be a particularly American problem. A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests American young people are much more likely to talk or text while driving than their European peers.

For example, the study noted that 69% of young U.S. drivers admitted to talking on their phones while driving in the 30 days before the survey. That compares to only 21% in the United Kingdom.

The study also found that 31% of drivers in the U.S. reported that they had read or sent text messages or emails while driving, compared to 15% of drivers in Spain.

Fatal distraction

“The cell phone can be a fatal distraction for those who use it while they drive,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “Driving and dialing or texting don’t mix. If you are driving, pull over to a safe place and stop before you use your cell phone.”

How distracting is it? A 2006 study at the University of Utah found that people talked on a cell phone while driving, they were as impaired as having a blood alcohol level at the legal limit of 0.08%.

So why do we keep doing it? The problem may be the seductive nature of mobile devices. People, especially young people, just can't seem to leave them alone.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland notes that, if you ask most drivers, they will agree that distracted driving is risky – for other drivers. What they lack, he says, is a realistic appreciation for how it puts them at risk when they do it.

What to do

If you are a parent of a teen driver, set a good example by not using your cell phone behind the wheel. Next, have a conversation with your teen about the dangers of distracted driving.

In fact, it's a good idea to require anyone behind the wheel, whether its an adult or a teen, to turn off their cell phone before starting the trip. If you're a passenger in a car and the driver starts to use their cell phone, speak up. Tell them it's a bad idea.

Remember the first time you discovered YouTube and toyed around with it?

If you’re like many people, then you probably used the search tool to view everything from the music video you missed -- the one that everyone was talking about -- to that old and rarely shown episode of “All in the Family.” 

You know, the one where Sammy Davis Jr. guest stared, sat in Archie’s beloved chair and kissed him on the cheek just to torture him.

And by the time Hulu rolled around, consumers were pretty much spoiled to the fact that they could view almost anything they wanted at any time, so there was probably no surprise that sites like Hulu and SideReel had thousands of shows people could access and discuss them with other users if they wanted to.

Of course being able to watch shows on mobile devices expanded the online television thing even more and once everybody started socializing through Facebook and Twitter, watching shows would never be the same, to the point where more producers were creating shows solely for the Internet. 

Many of these shows caught on and became popular and many of them fell to the digital wayside.

Not enough promotion

One of the main reasons that many online shows never made it past the first few episodes is that show creators didn't have enough confidence to spend the necessary dollars to market and promote.

Many show creators made their episodes, threw them on YouTube and hoped people would find out about them through tweeting and Facebooking, which sometimes worked, but most times didn't. 

But still, there were a few web series that really caught on like Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and the hilarious “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” that many people wish they could  go to one site and access, instead of trying to find the best place to watch it.

Somehow the folks at BoomTrain.com sensed this and created a site that only shows web-based series, so people don’t have to go scouring the Internet for their favorite shows.

Search for what you want

You can search for the show you want to watch on the site or the company will recommend shows for you based on your Facebook and Twitter activity as well.

Another way the folks at Boomtrain make recommendations for you is by creating a database of high-quality web content that meets a certain standard within the company.

Here’s what co-founder Nick Edwards told the site Silicon Valley 411 about Boomtrain’s desire to create a database of high quality and creative web content by hand:

“We have three or four people doing this part-time, we probably could use a lot more people,” he said. “We believe curation is vital in this space. Everything in our guide, we have gone through and vetted and approved before we brought it into the platform. We’re trying to ensure that every show has achieved the quality bar that we set for Boomtrain. So it’s curation combined with algorithmic recommendations.”

Along with being able to see what your friends are watching on Boomtrain, you can check out the site’s “boom” blog to learn what the best new shows are.

Edwards, who attended Harvard Business School and used to be a consultant for Microsoft, says up until he and his partner created the site, people weren’t sure where to go to view the buzzed-about web shows, since it was hard to tell which sites had full episodes instead of clips.

Massive influx

“Our approach is that there’s a massive influx of new, really good made-for-web content being created and it’s going over the Internet over connected devices through services such as Netflix and Hulu,” he said.

“The problem is that it’s very fragmented, it’s coming from everywhere, literally hundreds of sites are building entire businesses out of this episodic content.”

“This is understandable because when a producer broadcasts video over their own sites, they are able to make an order of magnitude more money versus sites like YouTube. But at the same time, there’s not yet any place dedicated to watching episodic content, as opposed to one-off videos. That may seem like a small distinction, but it’s actually pretty massive.”

In addition to the search feature and the show recommendations, users can select shows by genre like fashion and beauty shows, educational shows, dramas, sports or animation.

And the more the company discovers what your viewing preferences are, the more specific it’ll make recommendations for you.

“For example, if you decide you want to watch an online news show in a talk format, we can give you a list that shows you the top seven or eight shows that are online now, and give you the option to go deeper to see what else is out there. Once we get a critical mass of lists, we will have a mechanism for exploring list that is even richer,” Edwards said.

Boomtrain is still fairly new and so far, the few reviews the site has received are all favorable, which is a good indication.

It was just last week that, with much fanfare, various federal agencies announced that consumers would be getting $3.6 billion in checks from mortgage servicing companies that had taken shortcuts in foreclosure actions.

Well, sure enough, the checks have been arriving but consumers have been having trouble trying to cash them because their banks said funds were not available to cover the checks. Some checks have cleared though. Nearly 50,000 checks totaling nearly $50 million had been cashed or deposited as of close of business on Monday, according to officials at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

It's the latest embarrassment for federal regulators, who have already been criticized for accepting a lower settlement than consumer advocates thought was reasonable.

A company called Rust Consulting Inc. was hired by the 13 mortgage servicers involved in the settlement to process payments to 4 million consumers. But reports say that Rust has been unable to convince banks that they should honor some of the first 1.4 million checks that have gone out.

Rust confirmed today that some early payment recipients were told that their checks could not be cashed due to insufficient funds. Rust says it can verify that $3.6 billion is available to be cashed or deposited.

“We apologize to anyone who experienced problems trying to cash their checks. We are working hard and communicating with the banking regulators, the servicers, and other banks to ensure those issues are not repeated,” Rust Consulting Senior Vice President James Parks said. “We want to assure the public that checks we have mailed under the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreement process are valid.”

What to do

Borrowers with questions regarding payments should contact Rust Consulting at 1-888-952-9105, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. ET or Saturday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET.

Financial institutions experiencing difficulties cashing payments should call 1-855-460-1528 for assistance. Payments will continue through July 2013. The distribution is the result of an agreement between 13 mortgage servicers, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Some pretty big checks

Although consumer advocates have criticized the feds for not going after a larger settlement, there are some pretty big checks involved. While some borrowers will get as little as $300 from the settlement, others will get as much as $125,000.

The agreement affects borrowers whose homes were in any stage of foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 and whose mortgages were serviced by Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, US Bank, and Wells Fargo.

In the initial part of the settlement, payments will not be made to borrowers who were serviced by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Those payments will be announced later.

The OCC said that checks will be sent in several waves.  The first wave of 1.4 million checks was sent on April 12.  The final wave is expected in mid-July 2013.  More than 90 percent of the total payments to borrowers at those 11 servicers are expected to be sent by the end of April.

As the economy continued to slowly improve in the first quarter of 2013, some consumers found credit a little cheaper. On the other hand, others didn't.

“The interesting thing that jumped out at me was interest rates for people with good credit went down but rates for people with poor credit went up,” said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of Card Hub, which conducts a quarterly analysis of credit card rates.

The average interest rate for people with good credit was 12.79%, down 1.69% from the fourth quarter of 2012. But rates for people with average or below-average credit were up anywhere from 1.7% to 3.0%. Those in the subprime category are paying more to carry a credit card balance.

Competition for good credit customers

“I think its because of the lack of competition in that space, especially coming out of the great recession,” Papadimitriou said. “Some credit card companies got burned by lending in that space so there's not much competition.”

Some lenders have simply stopped issuing subprime cards. Two that still were have joined forces. Capital One's acquisition of HSBC has created what Papadimitriou calls a “competition vacuum” at the lower end of the credit card spectrum. That allows companies still in the space to raise rates at will.

Instead, the real competition is for consumers with good credit, and more consumers fit into this category than you might think. According to Papadimitriou, about 50% of credit card holders fall into that group. Credit card companies are willing to compete, and offer some attractive perks, to reach these consumers.

Longer periods for 0% interest

For example, the average 0% introductory rate for balance transfers now remains in effect for 10.29 months, 2.39% longer than the previous quarter. The 0% rate for new purchases now remains in effect for about the same period, also an increase over the previous quarter.

Rewards perks also rose for credit card customers with good credit. At $76.81, the average cash back initial rewards bonus is 15.4% more valuable than last quarter and 33.77% more valuable than this time last year. The average points/miles initial rewards bonus is 10.74% higher than last quarter and 13.89% higher than this time last year.

Consumers with good credit also benefited when it comes to fees. Foreign transaction fees, which averaged 2.24% in the first quarter, were down a fraction from the previous quarter but 5.88% from a year ago. Balance transfer fees were unchanged but cash advance fees – mostly affecting subprime borrowers – were up 23.02% from the previous quarter.

“The things consumers care about and look at closely are going down, things like transaction fees," Papadimitriou said. “The things that consumers are not paying attention to, like cash advance fees – they're going up. Most people, when they sign up for a credit card, don't expect to use it for a cash advance, so they don't care what the fee is. But when they need a cash advance, it's too late.”

Complaints

Papadimitriou also analyzed credit card complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There appeared to be one overriding concern.

“Billing continues to be the number one type of complaint,” Papadimitriou said. “People are complaining about past due fees, finance charges, a payment not posting on time. It's almost a quarter of all complaints.”

There were also a lot of consumer complaints about erroneous items on credit reports and debt collection practices.

What to do

Papadimitriou suggests consumers take full advantage of credit card companies' competition for good credit customers by enrolling in rewards programs, where available. Rewards are getting better, he says, especially for initial bonuses.