fast home equity loan
CONSUMER WATCH: ARMs present some risks as rates increase
Lenders boost their home equity lines of credit nearly every time the Federal Reserve Board raises a key interest rate. Adjustable-rate mortgages are going up as well, though most have some built-in protections from fast-moving rate adjustments.
After four quarter-point Fed increases in 2006 alone -- a total of 17 consecutive increases since 2004 many consumers are in debt over their heads. More may be looking at foreclosures.
Mortgage delinquencies rose in the first quarter of 2006 over the same period in 2005, reported the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington
"Additional modest increases in delinquency and foreclosure rates are likely in the quarters ahead," warned MBA chief economist Doug Duncan.
With every spike in the federal funds rate -- the rate banks charge one another for overnight loans -- banks respond by raising the prime rate, the interest rate they charge their best customers and the ones most often tied to home equity lines.
More fast home equity loan info
Bird Tests Positive For West Nile Virus
A crow in Saugus has tested positive for West Nile virus, the state's first case in a bird this year, health officials said Monday.
The Department of Public Health has been receiving dead bird reports from the public since May 15. So far, 116 birds have been tested, with only one testing positive.
West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis are transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. Symptoms range from mild flu-like illness to inflammation of the brain, coma and death. There has been no human case of either yet this year. .