Are you thinking about refinancing your mortgage?

With interest rates remaining at all-time lows, home owners are often tempted by stories of reduced interest payments, more favorable loan terms and the ability to obtain thousands of dollars in cash from the equity in their homes. But refinancing your mortgage might not be a good idea. Home owners considering refinancing should first take a look at the pros and cons.

Auto loan and mortgage delinquencies also dropped significantly

Americans keep getting better at paying their credit card bills on time, according to the results of a new Experian study. Researchers reported that the dollar amount of bank credit card accounts over sixty days delinquent fell 21 percent in July 2012 from the same period a year earlier. Auto loan and mortgage delinquencies also dropped significantly over the past year, researchers said.

The joint use of credit cards in the Couple

Many couples have only one truly banked person in the relationship. It may be that only one person works, and another person stays home. Or, in this era of rising student loan bills, only one person puts their name on credit cards and mortgage loans to make it easier to qualify for financing. Other couples might have skeletons in their closet – one person has poor credit from decisions made long ago.

Mortgage Rates Flat To Slightly Higher

Mortgage rates are somewhat higher again today after news out of Europe created market momentum overnight in favor of higher stock prices and higher bond yields.  When bond yields move higher, mortgage rates are generally moving higher as well although today's rates did a fairly good job of holding steady at the prevailing best execution rate of 3.5% for 30yr Fixed Conventional Loans.

Fraud strikes 1 % of credit card transactions

Twice as many credit card fraud cases involve phone or online transactions than retail sales, according to new data from FICO. However, researchers found that sophisticated counterfeit rings have raised the stakes for merchants over the most recent twenty month survey period.