Current Events in June 2023

Photo (c) J Galione - Getty Images

Streaming video services continue to move closer to – dare we say it – the old days of cable. After seeing its peers test the waters of ad-supported streaming, Amazon is reportedly dipping its toe in that water, too.

And with the proliferation of free ad-supported (FAST) networks, video consumers can find almost anything they want for free, especially “classic” content – such as old movies and TV shows.

But new research shows that many of the streaming services are loaded with old content and fewer non-original shows, and it’s starting to make consumers rethink why they’re spending an average of $48 a month on streaming when it’s not as special as it used to be.

New research from All About Cookies shows that what consumers really want is a 60/40 mix – new (to them) content 60% of the time they use a streaming platform, and rewatching content the other 40% of the time. That data begs the question where can someone find all the new content they crave without wasting money on being fed too much old stuff? 

Well, it’s not Hulu or Disney+, that’s for sure. Among the top 25 titles on each service, Disney+ is the platform with the oldest movies on average (10 years). Hulu has the oldest shows on average (10 years) among its most watched and is also the platform with the fewest original shows (4).

If it’s new content you want, then…

Knowing which type of viewer you are may make a difference in where you choose to spend $10-20/month. Someone who wants to get their fill of The Sopranos or South Park is better off at HBO, but if you’re constantly on the prowl for new, original content, the researchers said that Netflix or Prime are probably the best bets. 

“Some platforms are intentionally pushing out new content like crazy, vs. paying for old content,” Derick Migliacci, leader of the All About Cookies team, told ConsumerAffairs, citing Amazon Prime as a good example with their originals making up the majority of their most-streamed. “With more networks launching their own platforms, this is only going to get more segmented and consumers are going to either need to pay way more or need to pick and choose more carefully – a more well-rounded platform may be a better long-term selection for the price.”

You ask how to find all the new stuff without wading through screen after screen of content the service is pushing. As far as Netflix is concerned, MUO (Making Use Of) says there are five ways to do that: skipping the home page and going directly to the “new” section; using the Netflix mobile and TV app; following Netflix on social media; use the website “What’sOnNetflix”; and track Netflix shows using Reelgood.

All About Cookies also recommended sites like justwatch.com that can tell you where any title is streaming at any given time. Or, to get a sense of what’s on each platform in general, sites like Flixpatrol will tell you the most watched titles across different time periods, including what’s hot right now. 

On its face, the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows progress in the fight against inflation. Prices, the way the Labor Department measures them, rose 1% over April and were up 4% compared to May 2022.

In June 2022, the CPI peaked at a 9% inflation rate so officially, inflation has nearly been cut in half over the last 11 months. But consumers are still feeling pain in some important areas.

The index for shelter was the largest contributor to the monthly increase, followed by an increase in the index for used cars and trucks. Those prices are rising again after a brief respite early in the year.

The food index increased 0.2% in May after being unchanged in the previous two months. The index for food purchased at grocery stores and consumed at home rose 0.1% over the month while the index for food away from home – mostly at bars and restaurants – jumped 0.5%.

Housing costs continue to push higher

The cost of shelter – mostly rent – rose 0.6% over April, continuing its steady increase. Year-over-year, the cost of putting a roof over your head is up 8%.

Personal transportation costs also continue to rise. The cost of used cars and trucks jumped 4.4% in May, matching April’s increase. Year-over-year, the cost of used vehicles is 4.2% lower.

New car prices dipped slightly – 0.1% – as inventory levels improved. However, on an annual basis, the cost of a new car is up 4.7%.

When it comes to food, it was much more economical to eat at home last month than go to a restaurant. Food purchased at grocery stores and prepared at home rose 0.1% after two months of declines. For the year, grocery costs are up 5.8%, a significant pain point for consumers.

Grocery prices are still expensive

The index for cereals and bakery products rose 10.7% over the 12 months ending in May. The remaining major grocery store food groups posted increases ranging from 0.3% for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 9.2% for other grocery categories.

The cost of eating out rose 8.3% over the last year. Checks at full-service restaurants rose 6.8% year-over-year while the tab for fast-food restaurants rose even higher – 8% over the last 12 months.

Energy was one of the few categories where consumers found relief last month. The energy index dropped by 3.6% in May after rising 0.6% in April. Gasoline prices provided the most relief, falling 5.6% in May and are down more than 19% from May 2022.

Last July, Grubhub and Amazon announced a special perk for Prime members – 12 months free of a Grubhub+ subscription. 

Now, the companies are extending the offer for another year. This means that Prime members who have already claimed this offer will get an additional 12 months of Grubhub+ for free. 

In addition, Prime members who have yet to claim this offer can get 24 months of Grubhub+ for free if they enroll by July 5. Those who sign up on July 6 or later will still receive 12 free months of Grubhub+. 

“Prime members have enjoyed saving money on takeout with Grubhub+, and we are excited to deliver even more savings to those who have already redeemed and those yet to redeem by adding another year free of Grubhub+ to Prime,” said Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime. 

What do you get with Grubhub+?

Perhaps the biggest perk of Gruhub+ is no delivery fees – one of the top ways that food delivery bills can soar. With Grubhub+, any order over $12 (before tax, tip, or other applicable fees) at eligible restaurants will automatically have a $0 delivery fee. 

According to Grubhub, Grubhub+ members who place at least one order through the delivery service a month save $230 on average per year in delivery fees and promotions. 

Additionally, the subscription comes with special perks – some of which include free food or special discounts on orders. 

Grubhub+ also works with Amazon to help Prime members combine the two services – watching shows or movies on Amazon Prime and ordering food from Grubhub. The companies have worked together to create unique pairings of food to eat when watching specific shows, a series they’ve dubbed “Tune In & Takeout.” There are more iterations of this special planned for this summer and later this year. 

Amazon Prime members can visit amazon.com/grubhub to claim this offer. 

Grubhub is also coming to a Hilton near you

In addition to Amazon, the food delivery company has recently partnered with Homewood Suites by Hilton to bring their services to hotel guests. 

For Homewood Suites locations that don’t have restaurants or convenience stores, guests will now be able to scan a QR code in their rooms or at locations around the hotel property and order from local eateries and have it delivered straight to the hotel.

The integration of the services eliminates any issues with delivery locations or even handoff, and guests will still have all of the same options for contactless delivery when ordering from a Homewood Suites. 

The new delivery option is currently available at all of the nearly 500 Homewood Suites locations across the United States. 

“Whether a guest is craving a meal, wants a quick snack, or needs an item they may have forgotten at home, they’ll be able to access Grubhub’s robust network of restaurants and convenience stores at the touch of a button,” said Eric Ferguson, chief operations officer at Grubhub. 

If you are having trouble finding your favorite Reddit groups, chances are they are part of a growing protest over new company policies. Thousands of groups have simply gone “dark.”

Reddit’s changes have to do with money. Anyone can browse the various Reddit groups and even write posts and share pictures from third-party apps. 

The user rebellion started after the company announced it will charge hefty fees to app developers for access through its application programming interface (API), causing at least one developer to throw in the towel.

Christian Selig, the developer of the Apollo app, said Reddit asked for $20 million a year to maintain his access. Rather than pay, he’s pulling the plug.

In response, thousands of forums, on a wide range of topics, are going dark by restricting access to non-members. According to CNN, the protest includes some of the platform’s largest groups and more than two dozen subreddits with an estimated 10 million subscribers.

Technical issues

The protests apparently also caused some technical issues. Tech site The Verge reports the platform was been hit by outages this week that the company directly links to the protest.

“A significant number of subreddits shifting to private caused some expected stability issues, and we’ve been working on resolving the anticipated issue,” spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Verge.

It may not come as a surprise that the protest could grow so quickly and become so large in such a short time, because that is Reddit’s power. In 2020 Reddit forums practically took control of Wall Street, pushing up the stock value of ailing corporate entities such as Game Stop, AMC, Hertz, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

In this latest battle, Reddit said it reserves the right to set its own policies and can’t afford to subsidize third-party developers that “require large-scale data use.” Reddit has its own app for users but it is apparently less popular than those provided by third-party developers.

As anyone with a pet knows, renting a place to live comes with extra hurdles if they want that pet to live there, too.

How big is the pet? How much does it weigh? How many pets do you have? Are you willing to pay a higher deposit?

Renters have little choice but to accept these challenges as part of the deal and respect a landlord’s reluctance on the other side of the equation – barking, shredded cushions, scratched furniture – as a price they have to pay for being a pet parent.

Interestingly enough, most renters are willing to pay more than $4,500 a year on top of their rent to have their pet in the residence, according to a new survey of 3,000 pet-owning tenants by AgentAdvice.com. But the survey also found that 18% of pet-owning renters admit to not disclosing their pet ownership to their landlords, equating to 7,747,601 illegal pets.

Two-thirds of survey participants thought it was fair for landlords to ask tenants to leave the property if it turned out they had pets which were not permitted and 58% said they would hesitate to get a pet because they are renters.

The result? Too many impasses, too few solutions.

"Caring for a pet is a responsibility that requires commitment and dedication, yet the current rental market often makes it challenging for pet owners to find suitable and affordable accommodations,” said Chris Heller of AgentAdvice.com. “Discriminatory pet policies and limited pet-friendly options not only place an undue burden on renters but also deny them the joy and companionship that pets bring to their lives." 

Finding a win-win

The analysts at AgentAdvice are convinced that all hope is not lost for pet owners. In their estimation, there are four proactive tips that a renter looking for a new place to live could take to try and convince their landlord to allow them to have a pet.

Talk to the landlord: If a landlord has a firm “No Pets” clause in their lease, it may seem like a dead end, but all hope isn’t lost, especially for renters who have been living in a place without a pet and are in good standing with their landlord. Providing documentation on your prospective pet's health history and training plans can strengthen your case, the analysts suggest, adding that many landlords will make exceptions for excellent tenants who are positive contributors to the rental community.

Be flexible: If a landlord has restrictions on the type or size of a pet, then they have the upper hand, but if the pet is just barely on the other side of those restrictions – say 30 pounds vs. the 25 pound limit – ask if they would be open to trying the 30-pounder on a limited basis to prove there’s no additional noise or damage. Again, a good relationship with a landlord can go a long way in convincing them that you’ll adhere to all nuisance-oriented rules.

Providing documentation:  To help make their case, renters can make a convincing case if they also offer vaccination history, training documents, a letter from their current landlord, vet records, spay/neuter records, and photos of the pet. They could even go as far as offering to meet a landlord in person – pet in tow – to show how well-behaved and non-disruptive Fido or Kitty is.

Offer to pay more: Whether it’s a larger deposit or an additional monthly charge, it might be just enough to convince some landlords who don't allow pets to make exceptions if you offer to pay extra. However, realize that pet deposits can be expensive, so be sure to have the necessary budget before making an offer.

Consider pet insurance or renters insurance: An additional option to convince a landlord that you're on the up and up might be to get renters or pet insurance. Every policy is different and there are no guarantees that it will cover everything, but it's something that might impress the landlord that you're serious about holding up your end of the bargain.

Have an emotional support or service animals? 

If a renter has what is considered an emotional support or service animal, they’re in luck because those types of animals are not considered pets.

ESAs provide emotional comfort to tenants with disabilities, and properly-documented ESAs and their owners are protected against discrimination by the Fair Housing Act. Meanwhile, Service animals are trained to complete tasks that their owners physically can’t, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

“In most cases, landlords must make reasonable accommodations for renters with ESAs or service animals,” Kasia Manolas at Avail explains. “This includes allowing them in the property, even if a no pets policy is in place. Qualified renters shouldn’t be rejected based on the fact they own an ESA or service animal, because this can be considered housing discrimination and could result in legal repercussions.”

Keep in mind that having a service animal or emotional support animal does not give you free reign to do as you please. There are specific ADA requirements that have to be addressed. Such as the animal has to be under the control of the handler; the animal must be housebroken; the animal should be vaccinated in accordance with state and local laws.

Recent research has highlighted the ways that peanuts and peanut butter can boost consumers’ heart health, and now a new study is showing peanuts benefit long-term cognitive function and brain health. 

Experts explained that peanuts are made up of nutritional compounds that are essential in fighting dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, including vitamin E, resveratrol, niacin, and p-coumaric acid. Research has linked all of these vitamins and minerals with neurological benefits and the slowing of cognitive decline. 

“Since food is something that we add to our bodies every day, it can truly be medicine,” said Dr. Samara Sterling, research director for the Peanut Institute. “We’re finding that eating a small amount of peanuts or peanut butter regularly can play an important part in the fight against Alzheimer’s and dementia.”  

Cognitive benefits for seniors

In a study published this month, over 6,600 participants between the ages of 55 and 75, who were at high risk of cognitive decline, tested the efficacy of peanuts/peanut butter on cognitive function. 

At the start of the study, the participants reported how frequently they ate peanuts or peanut butter (less than one serving a week, between one and three servings a week, between three and seven servings a week, or more than seven servings a week), completed cognitive health assessments, and answered food frequency questionnaires. After two years, the group completed the same round of evaluations. 

At the end of the two years, those who were regularly eating nuts had stronger cognitive health outcomes, without any other changes to health or wellness. Participants who were eating at least three servings of peanut butter per week showed better cognitive function, including slower decline, than those who were eating peanuts or peanut butter less than once a week. 

For this study, one serving of peanuts or peanut butter was considered 30 g of peanuts, which equates to about ⅓ cup, or roughly 30 almonds, and two tablespoons of peanut butter. 

“Peanuts are really quite amazing because just a small serving can have an impact,” Sterling said. “They’re an energy-dense food and studies conducted in the United States and worldwide have found that eating peanuts regularly helps prevent disease, improves life expectancy, and delivers positive effects throughout the body.” 

Who would’ve thought that Google’s quest for world domination would include taking the place of our wallet, but things are moving in that direction.

Since photos have moved from our wallets to a place on our phones and credit cards are starting to make that migration, Google Wallet thinks there are even more possibilities to reduce our dependence on those accessories and keep everything in one place on our smartphones.

The option rate for using phones as a payment method is going in the right direction, but it’s still got a ways to go. Jenny Cheng, vice president and general manager of Google Wallet, told PYMNTS that the adoption rate is less than 40% penetration in the U.S. for consumers over the age of 40, but younger generations are picking up on the notion much quicker.

A lot of the reluctance is that we have come to count on wallets as a catch-all for things we don’t fully understand how to digitize and put on our phones. Tickets. Healthcare and insurance cards. Driver’s licenses. If there’s something that IDs who we are, then it’s probably in our wallets somewhere. 

Are you ready to try some of this?

But for us to put our leather wallet in our dresser drawer for good, a lot has to happen and that’s where Google is now applying some effort. And Cheng likes the company’s chances, too. Google thinks the key to that is educating the consumer on just how simple this process can be.

To start, Cheng’s team is focusing on four things it thinks it can teach consumers to do easily and, hopefully, get them to a place where they take to this like a duck to water.

Anything with a barcode. “While Google Wallet already supports a wide range of pass types, there are passes that haven’t always been easily saveable to your device,” Cheng admitted. “For example, I have a physical gym membership card that I use whenever I go to work out. It's small and can easily be misplaced, but since it has a barcode on it, I’ll soon be able to simply take a photo of my card and create a secure, digital version of it in Wallet.”

She said that QR codes will work in Google Wallet, too, which will be helpful for things like transit tickets, parking passes, even when you’re returning something to Amazon and you have to have a QR code when you drop it off to be shipped.

Health insurance cards. One more piece of paper we can move from our leather wallets to our phone are health insurance cards. If you’re a Humana customer, you’re ahead of the game because it and Google are developing a digital version of their health insurance card to save to Google Wallet. So, when someone gets to their doctor’s office and the receptionist says she needs to see your insurance information, it’s all right there on your phone.

ID cards. The third thing Google is trying to move to its Wallet app is our plastic government-issued ID cards, such as drivers licenses. Already, people with a Maryland ID or driver’s license are able to add their ID to Google Wallet on any phone running Android 8.0 or later that has device lock enabled. In the coming months, residents of Arizona, Colorado and Georgia will join them.

Maryland-issued IDs saved to Wallet can also be used at TSA PreCheck lines at select airports. Cheng said that later this year, Google will begin rolling out ways to book a car or verify other online accounts via Wallet.

Another ID-related goal is to incorporate corporate badges in Google Wallet and Cheng said that will happen later this year, giving employees convenient and secure access to buildings, cafeterias and more. Naturally, there are privacy and security concerns that people might raise in regard to company IDs, but Cheng says the company is prioritizing both aspects. 

Travel tickets. Travel preparation, whether for business or pleasure, can be stressful. The worst feeling is when you realize you can't find your paper boarding pass at your gate or on the train.

In the near future, people who use Google's Messages app with RCS enabled will be able to check in for travel entirely through Messages. Ticket or boarding pass will be sent directly to their Messages app, where they can save it in Wallet. 

“To have all of this in one place is what’s going to continue to allow that tie-in of payments, identity, and passes … so that everything you need to do, in the real world, is easier and safer,” Cheng told PYMNTS.

The zig-zag world of roboland has taken another turn for the worse. As ConsumerAffairs reported, the number of robtotexts has now eclipsed rotocalls.

Not that those behind robocalls mind, though. RoboKiller reports that may be true, but scammers are seeing bigger hauls, dollar-wise, taking $29 billion using robocalls so far this year.

“Robocalls may be decreasing in volume, but they’re costly. And, although Americans may enjoy a little reprieve from the volume of robocalls, the larger increase in robotexts means they are actually getting more phone spam overall,” Patrick Falzon, general manager at Teltech, creators of Robokiller said.

You want more robo pain?

Not only are robocalls raking in the money, but they’re also using AI to mimic someone they can program to make the calls even more convincing. It’s now possible that a robocaller could sit behind a computer and using a three-second clip of some grandson’s Instagram account, he can call grandma and complete the fake like a master. Others are stealing money or someone’s personal information.

The hottest trend right now is…

“Delivery-related” text messages! May was swamped with these UPS, DHL, USPS and FedEx impersonators. Here’s what it looks like so you can spot it: 

These delivery-related messages suggest that the victim either missed a delivery, needed to update their delivery preferences or that a package was pending. And because there’s got to be a link for everything, there’s often one for these messages, too, which once clicked, could ask victims to provide personal information or install malware on their phones. 

A sad reminder that in Fall 2024 we'll be back in another presidential election campaign. Regardless of who is running, one thing is clear -- there will be a flood of robocalls and robotexts. They’re not scams, though – just nuisances.

Bone up on the latest scam IQ 

While AI-driven scams are relatively new, this is one more reason Americans should ignore calls from “unknown” numbers that pop up on Caller ID. Thanks to RoboKiller, here are some new rules-of-the-scam-road that you may want to bone up on:

Don't answer calls or texts from unknown numbers, especially those who call or text at odd hours.

Don't follow prompts... like "Press 1" or click any links.

Never provide... personal information like banking details or other sensitive information.

Download... a spam text and call blocker to outfit your phone with the latest technology to stop both types of roboscams.

Sleep is important for any child, but safe sleep is of the utmost importance for newborns and infants. 

While it’s not uncommon for parents to put infants in a sleeper or lounger, safety in these chairs continues to be the top priority. Now, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers about the safety risks of a specific infant lounger: the Momaid lounger. 

“The loungers fail to meet the safety requirements of the CPSC’s Infant Sleep Products Rule because they do not have a stand,” the agency wrote. “In addition, the lounger fails to meet the side height, markings and labeling, and instructional literature requirements. These failures create an unsafe sleeping environment for infants.” 

As part of the CPSC’s Infant Sleep Products Rule, manufacturers are also required to print the manufacturing date, as this helps identify products that were sold before and after these safety rules were put into place. The Momaid loungers don’t have this information, or any kind of tracking label, making it difficult to know if the products were manufactured under previously unsafe regulations. 

According to the agency, failure to meet these standards increases infants’ risk of falling or suffocation. 

What to avoid

For consumers who may have one of these loungers at home or want to know what to avoid, Momaid is selling the loungers as follows: Baby Lounger Portable Infant Co Sleeping Bassinet Newborn Cocoon Snuggle Reversible Bed Nest Travel Crib. 

They typically list for $55 on Amazon and other popular websites, and they come in four different colors – Blue Palm Leaf, Pink Lychee Leaf, Blue Lychee Leaf, and Banana Gray Leaf – and they also come with a pillow. 

According to the CPSC, the product comes from Zhejiang Juster Trading LLC. At the time this warning was issued, the company had opposed formally recalling the product, disagreeing with the agency's conclusions. 

Should any parents have these loungers at home, the CPSC encourages you to stop using them immediately and dispose of them. The CPSC is working now to stop the sale of these infant sleepers. 

Promoting safe infant sleep habits

The CSPC released its Infant Sleep Products Rule in June of 2022 at the same time that the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines to promote safe sleep among this vulnerable population. 

Below are some of the tips for parents to consider when preparing for naps or bedtime with infants: 

• Keep infants flat on their backs and on level surfaces when sleeping 

• Never have infants sleeping with stuffed animals, toys, blankets, or pillows 

• Infants – especially those under four months old – shouldn’t be sleeping in their car seats or on any inclined surfaces 

• Infants don’t need to be swaddled beyond three or four months old (this can be dangerous once babies become more mobile)

• Be vigilant about any products marketed toward reducing the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), as no official evidence has come out regarding specific products protecting infants’ health. 

Online services and websites that collect information from children under 13 must notify their parents directly and obtain their permission before they collect that child's information.

Microsoft's Xbox Live failed to do so, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

To settle those charges, Microsoft has agreed to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children's accounts created before May 2021. As part of its efforts to protect children, Microsoft will also inform adult Xbox Live users about its privacy settings.

"As the next generation enters the digital age, their personal data becomes a valuable asset to organizations looking to capitalize on it,” Nicky Watson, co-founder and chief architect of Cassie, a data privacy management company, told ConsumerAffairs.

“The FTC settlement with Xbox Live is keeping organizations accountable for collecting information about minors and increasing transparency about how that information will be used.”

Does your family have an Xbox Live account?

The agency says that any family who subscribes to Xbox Live can create a special account for their children that will give them privacy protections that adults don’t receive.

For example, with a child account, Microsoft is limited in how it shares your child’s information and your child may only communicate with friends that you approve. To review and adjust your child’s privacy settings, go to your Microsoft Privacy Dashboard.

Watson drove home the point that in this case with Xbox Live, both parents and children should be aware of their data privacy rights and how to better understand their preferences, and the FTC is shoulder-to-shoulder with that perspective. The agency says that before a website or online service collects personal information from any child, it has to notify you and get the parent’s permission. The notice must tell the parent:

• What information the site will collect about your child

• How it will use the information

• How to give — or withhold — your consent.

It must also include a link to the privacy policy with more details.

If a parent gives consent, their rights don’t end there. They have the right to review the information that the website or service collects about their child and delete it if they choose. They also have the right to rescind their consent at any time.

To learn more, check out the FTC’s advice about protecting your child’s information online.

If you’ve been searching for the Fountain of Youth, you might want to take a look at a study published in the journal Aging. Researchers report that six women ranging in age from 46 to 65 were able to turn back the clock, with most reducing their biological age by several years.

How did they do it? Researchers say the women completed a methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program designed to impact DNA methylation and measures of biological aging. 

According to the National Cancer Institute, DNA methylation is a chemical reaction in the body in which a small molecule called a methyl group gets added to DNA, proteins, or other molecules.

The addition of methyl groups can affect how some molecules act in the body. For example, methylation of the DNA sequence of a gene may turn the gene off so it does not make a protein.

The intervention consisted of an eight-week program that included diet, sleep, exercise and relaxation guidance, supplemental probiotics and phytonutrients and nutritional coaching. 

“At the end of the eight-week period, five of the six participants exhibited a biological age reduction of between 1.22 and 11.01 years from their baseline biological age,” the authors wrote.

It’s a health issue

While consumers spend millions of dollars each year on products to make them look younger, the researchers say their findings go well beyond cosmetics. They say it could vastly improve health.

They note that six in ten adults in the U.S. have at least one chronic disease and four in ten adults have two or more. Chronic diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and they put a significant burden on the healthcare system.

“Aging itself has been identified as a common driver of chronic diseases and an important target for extending human healthspan,” they wrote. “It has also been estimated that if we improve our collective healthspan by just one year the calculated savings are worth $38 trillion dollars, and if by 10 years those savings jump to $367 trillion dollars.”

What they did

Participants in the program consumed the following food each day:

• 2 cups, dark leafy greens

• 2 cups cruciferous vegetables

• 3 cups of colorful vegetables

• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds

• ¼ cup sunflower seeds

• 2 servings methylation adaptogens

• 1 to 2 beets

• Liver or liver supplement (three, 3-ounce servings per week)

• 1 serving egg (5-10 per week)

• Probiotics (2 capsules)

• Greens powder

Healthy daily routine:

• I exercised for at least 30 minutes

• I practiced breathing exercises twice

• I slept at least 7 hours

• I fasted 12 hours after my meal

• I drank eight cups of water each day

Before embarking on any significant change to diet or exercise routines it is a good idea to discuss it with your healthcare provider.

For months some housing pundits have warned of a housing market bubble that is about to burst in a wave of foreclosures. For the first time, foreclosures are rising but at a very slow rate.

Still, with home prices near record highs and high mortgage rates cutting into affordability, it may pay to keep an eye on the rate of foreclosures, especially what are known as “zombie” foreclosures.

Zombie foreclosures occur when the homeowner is in default and moves out, leaving the property vacant. ATTOM, a company that monitors real estate data, reports 1.3 million U.S. residences are currently vacant. That’s just 1.3% of the nation’s residences.

ATTOM reports that 311,508 residential properties in the U.S. are in the process of foreclosure in the second quarter of this year, up 4.3 percent from the first quarter of 2023 and up 20.2 percent from the second quarter of 2022. Those are not insignificant increases.

Some perspective

But putting those numbers in perspective, a moratorium on foreclosures was put in place at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and wasn’t lifted until the middle of 2021. Among current pre-foreclosure properties, 8,752 are empty because the occupants, reading the handwriting on the wall, have moved out. But compared to pre-pandemic years, that number is very small.

“Zombie foreclosures keep inching up as lenders pursue more delinquent homeowners in courts around the country,” said Rob Barber, ATTOM’s CEO. “All indications are that the number of zombie properties will keep going up slowly, given that foreclosures are up. But abandoned properties are still nothing more than a dot on the radar screen among the majority of neighborhoods. We are still a long way from the fallout after the Great Recession of the late 2000s, when this was a very real issue in many areas around the U.S.”

Role of subprime mortgages

The Great Recession’s housing market crash was caused by the proliferation of subprime mortgages that were handed out with little consideration of the buyer’s ability to afford the house. A wave of foreclosures began in 2007 that overwhelmed the market with a huge number of homes for sale.

The situation today is very different. Lending standards are very tight and currently, there are not enough available homes to meet demand.

While most U.S. neighborhoods have little or no zombie foreclosures, some states have more than others. The biggest increases from the first quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2023 in states with at least 50 zombie properties are in Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Georgia and Iowa.