Personal Finance

Maxed Out: Or, Give the Guy Some Credit

Mo' Money, No Problems

Should One Deduction Lead to Another?

Yes, Carlos, Sure, They're Out to Get You

Supreme Court Will Let Dallas Man's 401(k) Lawsuit Move Forward

Dallas to Lose $4 Billion in 2008? Man, That Sounds Bad.

Dear "Delusional" in Dallas ...

It’s Friday! Time for, um, Foreclosure Talk?

Flipped Out

Troubling questions about real estate transactions dog a former Cowboy's business

To Save Cash

Troubling questions about real estate transactions dog a former Cowboy's business

Fannie Mae CEO "Highly Embarrassed" By Dallas Office's Golf Outing

In early November, KTVT-Channel 11 busted 14 Dallas Fannie Mae employees for teeing off at the Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine -- 22 days after the feds took over Fannie Mae, whoops. Said the CBS affiliate, taxpayers coughed up $6,279.26 for the golf outing, which "outraged" Rep. Jeb Hensarling. So m ... More >>

Tales From The Crypt

Fort Worth's famous undertaker, the Rev. Gregory Spencer, has buried a lot of friends-- and made a lot of enemies. Now he claims someone wants him six feet under

Dallas Observer's Parent Company Announces Pay Cuts and Layoffs

Twice today I've been asked about several posts on The Latest Word, one of our sister blogs out of Denver, referring to layoffs and pay cuts taking place throughout the Village Voice Media chain. The Dallas Observer, of course, is among the 15 papers in the chain, formerly known as New Times Inc.Spe ... More >>

Crime-Ridden Apartments, Credit Reports and Cops

If you haven't carefully checked the fine print in the city's proposed high-crime apartment ordinance, which the Dallas City Council will take up today, you might have missed this little gem: Apartment owners whose properties become too crime-ridden according to the city's calculations will be requi ... More >>

Congressional hopeful Jerry Frankel has ideas, brains, and GUTS.

Dick Armey will eat his lunch.

Own a piece of the sod

Their boss invested the retirement fund in real estate, and employees wound up with dirt

Hard knocks

A school's closing leaves a Dallas woman $10,000 in debt for a worthless education

As City Hall Sets "The 'Price' of Dallas Government," a Very Big Budget Deficit Awaits

At Wednesday's Dallas City Council briefing, there will be yet another Budget Workshop -- the fourth of many in advance of the September 23 due date for next fiscal year's budget. In the doc prepared for the council, City Manager Mary Suhm describes the process of "Setting the 'Price' of Dallas Gov ... More >>

Best Mark Cuban Decision

Establishing the Fallen Patriot Fund

What Does a Credit Report Have to Do With Fighting Crime?

Establishing the Fallen Patriot Fund

Poor and Pitiful

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The Big Squeeze

Thinking about taking out a payday loan? Think again, sucker.

Grave Robbers

Even in the great beyond, no one is safe from identity theft

House of Cards

Enron's collapse may have been engineered from the top, but low-level employees played parts, too

Best Daily Newspaper Columnist

Scott Burns, personal finance columnist, The Dallas Morning News

Mall Rats

Thieves stole Ronnie Wilson's name, and now she's having an identity crisis

Buzz

Silence is not golden; Feed the sharks

No Justice: We've Bailed Out the Banks. When Do We Go After the Crooks Behind Our Financial Collapse?

Silence is not golden; Feed the sharks

Better Off Deadbeat: Craig Cunningham Has a Simple Solution for Getting Bill Collectors Off His Back. He Sues Them.

Silence is not golden; Feed the sharks

Debt Collectors Consider Trading "Knee-Breaking" Techniques for "Empathy Training"

Hal Samples Craig Cunningham​Craig Cunningham of Dallas has an interesting way of dealing with debt collectors: He sues them, as documented in this week's paper version of Unfair Park. While only a small number of debtors file such lawsuits, the debt collection industry isn't waiting for su ... More >>

New Federal Program Aims to Help Student Debtors, But Is it Too Late?

​DeSoto resident Pamela Bradley, who once worked for the city of Dallas, feels cheated by the education system. She was raised to believe that education leads to better jobs, so she got a master's degree and started a Ph.D. program. But now Bradley finds herself in this disheartening position ... More >>

Dallas May Get Soaked by Soaring Insurance Premiums if the City Keeps Dawdling on Fixing the Levees

​DeSoto resident Pamela Bradley, who once worked for the city of Dallas, feels cheated by the education system. She was raised to believe that education leads to better jobs, so she got a master's degree and started a Ph.D. program. But now Bradley finds herself in this disheartening position ... More >>

Premium Content: While We Argue Over a Word, a Risk Still Runs Through the City

George Gimarc sent us this photo. Taken in April 1957.​Got a little e-mail debate going with Frank Librio, the spokesman for the city of Dallas, which I thought I should share with the Friends of Unfair Park. Always good to get a second opinion. Maybe people will agree with Frank that I have been ... More >>

Mount Righteous

Mount Righteous (Self-released)

Four Months After Hubbie Pleaded Guilty to Tax Evasion, Realtor Eleanor Sheets Joins In

Eleanor Mowery Sheets and husband Nicky​Again, this is Candy Evans's beat -- why, just today she noted over on D's DallasDirt that the former manse of Eleanor and Nicky Sheets is selling at half off the original asking price after it failed to move at an IRS auction in February. Nevertheless, this ... More >>

What This Town Needs is Some Good Ward Heelers.

Eleanor Mowery Sheets and husband Nicky​Again, this is Candy Evans's beat -- why, just today she noted over on D's DallasDirt that the former manse of Eleanor and Nicky Sheets is selling at half off the original asking price after it failed to move at an IRS auction in February. Nevertheless, this ... More >>

Craig Watkins's Legislative Wish List

​On the other side is a lengthy missive we just received from the Dallas County District Attorney's Office in which Craig Watkins outlines his to-do list for the new Legislative session. But you can probably guess what's top-of-the-pops with a D.A. seeking criminal system reforms: eyewitness ident ... More >>

Tiffany Derry Defends For-Profit Culinary Schools

​Dallas chef Tiffany Derry this week dove into the maelstrom surrounding financial assistance at for-profit colleges, arguing in an essay for The Hill that the government is threatening the culinary arts by withholding loans from students enrolled in career schools. The Department of Educatio ... More >>

Dallas-Fort Worth, Deep in Credit Card Debt

​Late Wednesday, we received in the in-box this list of 25 cities ranked by the average amount of credit-card debt its residents carryin their back pockets. At the top of the pops was San Antonio with $5,177, but, as you can see, Dallas wasn't far behind at No. 5; says credit-reporting agency Expe ... More >>

Feeling Horny?

​Late Wednesday, we received in the in-box this list of 25 cities ranked by the average amount of credit-card debt its residents carryin their back pockets. At the top of the pops was San Antonio with $5,177, but, as you can see, Dallas wasn't far behind at No. 5; says credit-reporting agency Expe ... More >>

New Anti-Poverty Coalition to Demand Dallas City Hall Zone Payday Lenders Out of Business

​Been trying to reach council member Jerry Allen ever since yesterday; no luck so far. But we know where he'll be at 3 today: in the Flag Room at Dallas City Hall, standing beside Dr. Frederick Haynes and Rev. Gerald Britt at an anti-payday lender press conference on behalf of the Anti-Poverty Coa ... More >>

Mayor Dwaine Caraway Refers to Mike Rawlings As "Payday Loan King" in New Radio Ad

Photo by Sam MertenCaraway and Natinsky at the candidate's endorsement press conference last month​Moments ago, during Robert Ashley's show on KHVN-AM, an ad ran attacking mayoral candidate Mike Rawlings and his ties to Ace Cash Express -- though it never mentions Rawlings by name. The speaker: no ... More >>

Rawlings Responds to Caraway's "Payday Loan King" Ads, Discusses Tenure on Lender's Board

Photo by Mark GrahamMike Rawlings​Mike Rawlings called this evening to discuss, sort of, those ads in which Mayor Dwaine Caraway blasts the mayoral candidate as the "Payday Loan King," a reference to Rawlings's six-year stint on the board of directors of Ace Cash Express -- the very sort of high-i ... More >>

Before Council Takes Out a Payday Loan, Sneak a Peek at Possible New Regulations

​If nothing else, the timing's certainly good: Just three days after Mayor Dwaine Caraway branded mayoral candidate Mike Rawlings the "Payday Loan King" in a series of ads to which Rawlings later responded, the city council's Budget, Finance & Audit Committee is about to take up the subject of ... More >>

Uptick in Crimes Against Elderly, Payday Lenders Tarnish Some Locals' Golden Years

Via.​A disheartening report by the Dallas Police Department shows that crimes against senior citizens have increased in the past year, with rates for July 2011 15 percent higher than during the same time last year. Lieutenant Herbert Ashford presented the numbers at this morning's Senior Affai ... More >>

City Hall Tells Dallas Occupiers to Get Insurance or Else. They're Leaning Toward "Or Else."

​At 1:20 this morning Boston police stormed an Occupy encampment in Boston Greenway park, hauled off more than 100 protesters in cable-tie cuffs and tore down their tents. Everybody in the Occupy Dallas encampment I talked to at about noon today was aware of what just happened in Boston. The ... More >>

Record Store Day Comes Early This Year as Record Stores Celebrate Black Friday

​If you're reading this blog, it's likely you frequent a record store, and there are several good ones in the area to choose from.  But, if you didn't realize that purchasing music online is a mild sin, and if your record store of choice is the iTunes store or Amazon.com, you might be out of ... More >>

Citibank Drops Suit Against DA Craig Watkins, Who Will Agree Not to Sue Them Either

​Last week was a bit embarrassing for Craig Watkins as his personal debt to Citibank became a public matter when The Dallas Morning News reported that he owed more than $15,000 in credit card bills, the latest in a history of financial whoopsies. The district attorney explained to Unfair Park ... More >>

Dallas City Hall Wants to Create Nonprofit to Help Uplift Education Sell Bonds for Expansion

​Speaking of Uplift Education and its planned expansion into Deep Ellum ...There's an intriguing item that just appeared on the Dallas City Council's consent addendum for next week's meeting, posted here. According to the doc, the city wants to create a nonprofit called the City of Dallas Educatio ... More >>