Peach State Credit Solutions Announces “Fresh Start” Program

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Peach State Credit Solutions is pleased to announce the “Fresh Start” program designed to award free credit repair to one individual per month.

It is no secret that some have become over-extended while others are still paying for credit mistakes made long ago. These factors, as well as others, lead to a lower credit score. Often times an individual’s credit score is not an accurate picture of their current situation. The simple service that Peach State Credit provides can give most people with bad credit a second chance.

All Peach State Credit Solutions customers will be automatically considered to win. The winning candidate will receive a full refund on the credit restoration service, a value of $695.00. Winners will be chosen on the last Friday of every month starting March 27, 2009.

“It is our ethical responsibility to do what we can do have a positive impact on the community. By helping to restore the credit rating of one individual per month for free, we can be part of the solution. Fresh Start can improve the standard of living for a very deserving individual,” says William Mikula, Manager of Peach State.

“Many can see the huge impact credit has on their daily lives to purchase a car or home, when applying for employment, or even in trying to obtain utility services. Our goal is to raise a general awareness of the individual credit score and the importance of resolving any outstanding issues,” explains Robert Groover, CEO of Peach State.

To apply, fill out the contact page at www.peachstatecredit.com or please email your name, contact phone number, and email address to contact@peachstatecredit.com. You can also apply by mail or in person at:

Peach State Credit Solutions, Inc.
5345 Bells Ferry Road
Atlanta, GA 30102

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Fed Urged to Require Banks to Get Customers' Permission First Before Enrolling Them in Expensive Overdraft Programs

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Banks shouldn't be allowed to automatically enroll their customers in expensive overdraft loan programs, according to Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. The group urged the Federal Reserve Board in a letter today to require banks to get their customers' permission first before signing them up for high fee overdraft loan programs for overdrafts triggered by ATM and debit transactions.

The Fed is currently considering whether consumers should be given the right to opt-in before banks can enroll them in overdraft programs covering ATM and debit transactions or simply a right to opt-out after the bank has signed them up for overdraft coverage. The Fed is accepting public comment on these two proposals through March 30. For a copy of Consumers Union's letter to the Fed, see: http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/pdf/overdraft-comments-309.pdf

"Most banks automatically enroll their customers in so-called 'overdraft protection' programs, which are really high-cost loans that cost consumers billions of dollars every year," said Lauren Zeichner Bowne, Staff Attorney for Consumers Union. "The Federal Reserve Board should protect consumers from unfair overdraft loan programs by stopping the fees unless the consumer makes the choice to opt-in to the loan program."

Banks collect an estimated $7.8 billion in fees from overdrafts triggered by debit and ATM transactions. These overdrafts could be prevented with a simple warning or if the transaction was declined. Instead, most banks let these transactions go through and charge consumers a fee for each overdraft. The FDIC found that the median fee for overdrafts is $27, even though the average overdraft is triggered by transactions totaling $17.

A national poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that many consumers do not understand how overdraft programs work. According to the poll, 39 percent of consumers thought that their bank would either deny a debit transaction or allow it to proceed without charging a fee if it would overdraw their account. Nearly half of those polled (48 percent) thought their ATM card would not work if they attempted to withdraw more money than was available in their account.

Consumers Union released the poll results in comments filed in support of the opt-in proposal with the Federal Reserve Board. The group opposes the opt-out proposal because the evidence suggests that most consumers will not change their status if banks automatically enroll them in overdraft programs.

The vast majority of consumers have accounts at banks that automatically enroll customers in programs that allow debit and ATM transaction to trigger overdrafts. An FDIC study found that "institutions that use automated programs to cover overdraft obligations accounted for almost 73 percent of deposit dollars held in the study population banks."

Automatic fee-based overdraft programs are the most expensive option for consumers so banks don't have an incentive to sell lower cost services, such as linked accounts or lines of credit. The FDIC has concluded that the fees assessed for these other types of programs are significantly lower than for automatic overdraft loan programs.

The Consumer Reports poll found that the overwhelming number of consumers want a real choice when it comes to overdraft programs. The poll found that two-thirds of consumers (66 percent) said they prefer to expressly authorize overdraft coverage, so that there would be no overdraft loan -- or fee -- until they opted in to the service. Similarly, two thirds (65 percent) said that banks should deny a debit or ATM transaction if the checking account balance is too low.

In its comments to the Federal Reserve Board, Consumers Union also urged the Board to declare that fee-based overdraft loans are extensions of credit that should be subject to the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z requirements to disclose their cost in terms of an annual percentage rate. For the average overdraft, the APR would equal 4,140 percent.

The FDIC has found that banks commonly process transactions from largest to smallest, which increases the number of overdrafts. Consumers Union urged the Fed to restrict this practice when it issues its new overdraft regulations. In addition, the group called on the Fed to prohibit banks from charging fees if the overdraft was triggered because the bank placed a hold on a customer's deposit, and to cap the daily and monthly totals for allowable overdraft fees.

"If banks believe that overdraft programs are truly beneficial, then they should be required to persuade their customers to sign up before they can charge them such high fees," said Zeichner Bowne. "The Fed should end automatic enrollment in costly overdraft programs by giving consumers the choice to opt-in. Consumers concerned about high cost overdraft fees have until March 30 to support these important new rules." Consumers can learn more and submit comments to the Fed at: http://cu.convio.net/OverDraft

The Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted a telephone survey using a nationally representative probability sample of telephone households. 679 interviews were completed among adults aged 18+ who reported having a checking account with an ATM card or a debit card. Interviewing took place over February 5-8, 2009. The sampling error is +/- 3.8% at a 95% confidence level.

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit testing and information organization serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health nutrition, and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers.

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Buffet Short and Sweet - No Card Check

Interesting statement by Warren Buffet- Short and to the point.

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Panel Discussion to Address Impacts of Today's Economy on Retirement

Behind The Headlines: Making the Most of Your Retirement targeted to 70 + age group

WHO: Discussion members include Donna Barwick, J.D., Senior Director of Wealth Management for The Bank of New York Mellon; Henry Bowden, founder of The Bowden Law Firm; John J. Geraghty, Executive Vice-President of SunTrust Bank; Jim Hansberger, Managing Director, The Hansberger Group; and Michael A. Mohr, Managing Director of The Bank of New York Mellon in Atlanta. Emory Schwall, an Atlanta attorney, Certified Estate Planner and Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia representing the Insurance Commission, will moderate the discussion.

WHAT: Just how has the change in economy affected retirement? What’s it going to take to retire with security, manage long-term health care, and protect one's estate? Where are the financial risks? A panel of financial experts will discuss these questions and more at the discussion, “Behind the Headlines: Making the Most of Your Retirement.” The discussion will address estate planning, asset allocation, health care management, living wills, retirement strategies and other topics of interest to the 70+ age group.

WHEN: Monday, March 16, 2009, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Woodruff Auditorium of the Atlanta History Center

WHY: The panel discussion is in response to recent news stories about the economy, much of which is aimed at baby boomers and their challenges, but little directly relating to people already enjoying retirement. The event is one in a three-part series hosted by Peachtree Hills Place, a residential community offering a continuum of care in Buckhead for people ages 55 and older, that will discuss the issues directly affecting this demographic.

Please Note: The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For more information or to register, call Peachtree Hills Place at 404-467-4900
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Subprime Mortgages Didn't Necessarily Lead to More Homeowners: St. Louis Fed Analysis

/PRNewswire/ -- Proponents of subprime mortgages argued that this type of financing could encourage homeownership for people who otherwise couldn't afford to buy a house, but a recent analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis suggests that the number of subprime mortgage loans terminated between 2001 and 2006 outweighed the number of estimated first-time homebuyers who sought subprime mortgages.

The analysis appears in the March/April issue of Review, the St. Louis Fed's bi-monthly journal of economic and business issues, and was conducted by Yuliya S. Demyanyk, a senior research economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The data analysis for this article was conducted when she was an economist in the Banking Supervision and Regulation Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Demyanyk focused on whether borrowers intended to keep their subprime mortgages long enough to substantiate an increase in homeownership or planned a quick exit strategy at origination, using subprime loans as bridge financing to speculate on house prices -- in other words, quickly sell the house for profit after its value increased.

Her research showed that loans originated between 2001 and 2006 generally lasted less than three years. In fact, almost half the loans exited the market either through pre-payment or default within the first two years of origination and about 80 percent did so within three years of origination.

Demyanyk said her results are consistent with an earlier study that showed the unusually high default rates among loans originated in immediate pre-crisis years (2006 and 2007) did not occur only months from origination because those subprime mortgages were much worse than all loans that originated earlier. The quality of loans was deteriorating for at least six consecutive years before the crisis occurred.

"Subprime mortgages were very risky all along," she said. "The extent of their risk, however, was hidden by the rapid appreciation in house prices, allowing termination of the mortgage by refinancing or pre-payment. When pre-payment became costly -- with zero or negative equity in the house increasing the closing costs of refinancing -- defaults took their place."

The number of defaults in the limited sample of subprime purchase-money mortgages within two years of origination is almost equal to the number of first-time homebuyers who took a subprime mortgage. "If the data for the rest of the market were available," said Demyanyk, "the number of defaults would no doubt be even greater."

Demyanyk's paper is available online at the St. Louis Fed's web site: http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review.

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Almost 30% of Long-Term Care is Financed Out-of-Pocket, Report Finds

/PRNewswire/ -- A new analysis by Avalere Health found that nearly 30% of long-term care costs are paid out-of-pocket -- a full 10% higher than amounts reported in widely used previous estimates. These previous analyses do not include spending on assisted living, a key component of long-term care.

This analysis, which was funded by the California-based SCAN Foundation, found that individuals and their families contributed an estimated $64 billion of their own funds out-of-pocket towards long-term care services in 2006. In addition, families and communities played a central role in the nation's long-term care system by providing unpaid care valued at $350 billion. Private health and long-term care insurance played a much smaller role, contributing a little over $16 billion.

To finance these contributions, most seniors and their families rely on home equity, income from adult children, or retirement savings. All of these asset classes have lost considerable value over the past year, resulting in diminishing funding capacity in the face of a rapidly growing long-term care population. Avalere noted that the long-term care need among individuals 85 and older is nearly four times as high (36 percent) as the need in the age 65 to 84 population (10 percent). The proportion of those over age 85 is expected to be nearly one-fifth of the elderly population by 2050.

"As we enter serious health reform discussions, we must recognize the extent to which the system is held together by private financing and family contributions," said Anne Tumlinson, lead researcher of the analysis. "Reform efforts will need to take a comprehensive look at how care is currently financed and incorporate creative ways to support the growing needs of senior care."

"Long-Term Care --- an Essential Element of Healthcare Reform," was authored by Anne Tumlinson and Christine Aguiar, both of Avalere Health. The SCAN Foundation provided funding for the research. Avalere maintained editorial control and the conclusions expressed in its research are solely those of the authors.

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LocalPrice Introduces the First Website to Compare Prices of Local Services

(BUSINESS WIRE)--LocalPrice, the only website to allow users to compare prices for everyday services, announces coverage of more than 20 categories of Atlanta area service providers.

COMPARISON SHOPPING FOR LOCAL SERVICES

Shopping online has become second nature to many consumers. The online shopping experience is enhanced by the wealth of pricing and product information available through Internet retailers and shopping comparison sites. But this experience is largely limited to shopping for products.

Online shoppers searching for services like movers, locksmiths, and dentists face more difficulty getting quotes and comparing providers. Such services are usually provided by smaller, local businesses that generally don’t publish their prices. Gathering a few quotes often requires substantial time on the phone or meeting with providers.

LocalPrice is the first company to apply online comparison shopping to local services. Though they account for more than $1 trillion of US consumer spending, no other site offers price comparisons for the services LocalPrice covers.

LocalPrice's founder, Rob Shields, created the company after realizing how little pricing information was available online. "If you want to find the best price for a product online, it's only a few clicks away. Our goal is to bring that same level of convenience to shoppers searching for services in their area."

“This is an interesting approach – one that we frankly haven’t seen before,” said Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, a research firm that studies local advertising. “Service-oriented businesses are looking to advertise on sites that aggregate potential customers. Any site that can corral wallet-ready consumers is going to find itself in a very good position.”

OBJECTIVE, UNBIASED COMPARISONS

Many sites allow users to compare service providers based on consumer reviews. But unlike Yelp, YellowPages.com, and other sites offering subjective comparisons, LocalPrice compares providers based on a wide range of objective criteria tailored to each service category.

“Someone considering LASIK surgery can easily find online reviews,” said Shields. “But only LocalPrice provides comparisons of surgeons based on price, number of procedures performed, method used and the details of the warranty. This is important stuff to know before you pay a surgeon $4,000 to shoot a laser into your eyes.”

LocalPrice compares: movers, locksmiths, dentists, LASIK surgeons, limo companies, pet sitters, hardwood flooring installers, granite countertop installers, carpet cleaning, pressure washing, home security, pest/termite control and junk removal.

BUSINESSES RESPONDING POSITIVELY

LocalPrice offers businesses free listings to ensure that consumers receive the most comprehensive comparisons. Soft launched in 2008, LocalPrice has tested business response to its site. This has been largely positive. In fact, many businesses decide to list their rates on LocalPrice, even though they don’t list them on their website.

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