Foreclosure Guidelines: OCC Takes Action By Ilyce Glink The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced this month that it has determined a mandatory course of enforcement actions against eight high-profile mortgage servicers, including lending giants Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Unlike the loan modification programs, the banks do not [...]
4 Ways to Make the Claim-Filing Process Easier By Linda Rey Sometimes the hardest part of the insurance business is the waiting game. You file a claim, and then you receive a check to cover your claim—right? Anyone who has filed an insurance claim knows it’s not always so easy. You can do everything right, [...]
Medical Tax Deductions Are Worth More Than You Think By Eva Rosenberg, EA Starting this article sent me on an extended Google search about a sweet client who died several years ago. Johnny came to me when the IRS audited his medical deductions. Johnny (not his real name) had wasted the tax benefits that his [...]
Real Estate Investing: How to Handle Nightmare Tenants By Sam Tamkin “There’s a beeping sound in the home that’s driving me crazy. Can you come fix it?” When I heard those words, I knew I had a tenant who did not know the basics of home maintenance. In this case, the smoke detector needed a [...]
Protect Your Big Day with Wedding Insurance By Linda Rey “I do” are the two most important words in the wedding ceremony. They can also answer other marriage questions: Do you think about getting married? I do. Do you want to get married? I do. Do you think insurance can help in the process of [...]
5 Tax Lessons Learned from Filing Your 2010 Tax Return By Eva Rosenberg, EA One of my editors wanted to clarify something. Andrea was surprised to learn that the IRS pays interest on refunds. After all, isn’t that the whole point of reducing your withholding—not to give the IRS an interest-free loan all year? Andrea [...]
Spring-Cleaning and Home-Maintenance Checklist By Sam Tamkin Spring is here, and that means it’s spring cleanup time. Making a list of all the things to clean and repair or maintain can be daunting, so I use a spring-cleaning and home-maintenance checklist to make my job easier. The first thing I do is walk around my [...]
Evaluating Your Insurance Portfolio: What Do You Really Need? By Linda Rey If you’re like many of my clients, you may worry at different points in your life that you don’t have the right insurance, or enough insurance. Everyone has different insurance needs at different times. To determine if you might be missing something in [...]
This article was written by guest blogger Eva Rosenberg. I have spent many an April 14 working all night, rushing to finish tax returns for clients who brought their information in at the last minute. Tax professionals aren’t the only ones who go through this push—I have seen taxpayers stressing out, too, trying to get [...]
Spring Home-Maintenance Tips: Keep Your Home in Top Shape Even If You’re Not Selling By Sam Tamkin During these uncertain real estate market times, even if you’re not selling your home you should keep it in good shape. Here are some spring home-maintenance tips: Fix the exterior of your home. Walk the exterior of your [...]
