| Housing bailout: winners and losers
A deluge is on its way. Without any intervention, an estimated 3.5 million homeowners could default on their mortgages in the next 2 1/2 years, says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, a West Chester, Pa. economic research firm. That's the equivalent of every family in both Dakotas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming losing their homes. For starters, a sharp spike in foreclosures will increase the number of houses up for sale; additional inventory in an already glutted market will further depress prices. Second, houses in foreclosure generally fall into disrepair. Clumps of empty, boarded-up dwellings surrounded by weeds lower prices not only in the immediate area but also in nearby neighborhoods. And for every 1 percent increase in the foreclosure rate, a neighborhood's violent-crime rate rises 2.3 percent, according to a study by Dan Immergluck of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Geoff Smith of the Woodstock Institute.
Affinion Group, Debix to Deliver Next Generation of ID Theft ...
NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinion Group, a leading global affinity marketer and preeminent identity theft protection provider, announced today that it has partnered with Debix Inc., the Identity Protection Network, to offer a sophisticated new tool that stops identity thieves from opening fraudulent credit accounts. This cutting-edge new technology, called Debix Instant Authorization(TM), will be offered as part of Affinion's robust and growing portfolio of identity theft services beginning in the first quarter of 2008. Debix Instant Authorization(TM) technology stops identity thieves from taking out loans and credit cards using stolen personal information. Before any new credit accounts can be opened, any bank can send the consumer a secure automated phone call prompting the consumer to authorize or reject the transaction.
Customer Service Tops NRF Agenda
When it comes to customer service in the U.S., no one does it better than L.L. Bean. That is the conclusion of the third annual National Retail Federation/American Express Customer Service Survey shared with attendees at the NRF's Annual Convention in New York. How is it that some retailers talk about service and deliver it while others just talk? REGISTRATION ONLY TAKES A MINUTE!
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