Home and Shopping

“Homeowners in bankruptcy are entitled to receive proper and timely notices and to have their payments properly accounted for, consistent with the Bankruptcy Code and Rules,” said USTP Director Cliff White. “The failure of mortgage servicers to comply with those requirements compromises the integrity of the bankruptcy system and the ability of homeowners to receive a fresh start.” Collectively, the USTP’s agreements with Nationstar and U.S. Bank, and the letter of acknowledgement with PNC, provide over $74 million to remediate over 76,000 historical servicing errors impacting borrowers in bankruptcy. more »

Jo Freeman writes: Her first passion was cheerleading, which she pursued in high school and college. In many ways, she spent her life as a cheerleader, first for her team, then for her causes. Her second passion was leadership. She served as president of Tuskegee Institute’s student government and chose her successor when the rules did not permit her re-election. Gwen liked being in charge. Gwen had a talent for making friends, from the President of Tuskegee Institute, to Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker and many lesser knowns. They opened doors, helping her find jobs, travel to interesting conferences in far away places and serve on boards. She did make a few enemies, but there appear to be remarkably few. more »

From Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA: Black Friday is one of the most lucrative shopping days of the year for retailers in brick-and-mortar shops and online, but shoppers aren't the only ones looking for deals. Malicious people may be able to obtain personal information (such as credit card numbers, phone numbers, account numbers, and addresses) by stealing your wallet, overhearing a phone conversation, rummaging through your trash (a practice known as dumpster diving), or picking up a receipt at a restaurant that has your account number on it. If a thief has enough information, he or she may be able to impersonate you to purchase items, open new accounts, or apply for loans. more »

A few years ago as I was strolling through the china department of a local department store, I came across a dining table display that set me to giggling. The linens, china, crystal and silver were all quite elegant and carefully coordinated. The flower arrangement was a stunner. What set me off was the sight of twelve perfectly matched napkin rings, each correctly placed on the napkin to the left of the forks. The fad for matched napkin rings has grown since then, and nowadays even the catalogues feature such sets. Excuse me, but doesn't anybody in this modern generation realize why we had napkin rings in the old days?   more »