Shop for loans while rates are low
Sure, go ahead and refinance your home -- again. But don't stop there. With interest rates at 30-year lows, this is a great time to pretend you are a corporate finance officer (an honest one, of course), and restructure your debt.
( BY LINDA STERN, Reuters, 08/19/2002 08:13 AM PDT)

Loan scams solicit cash upfront
If you see an advertisement for an advance-fee loan that will ``guarantee'' a loan or that suggests it's highly likely you'll get a loan regardless of your credit history, don't bite.
( By Betty Lin-Fisher, Beacon Journal business writer, 08/12/2002 08:49 AM PDT)

Need a short-term loan? Be wary of greedy banks
Dear Harry: My brother and I operate a small business (12 employees). We never had the need to borrow money until March. At that time we moved to a new building, which we financed with a mortgage. We moved to get a new product line that requires a lot more space than we had. We now have the new product line, which will improve our bottom line. However, we will need to increase our inventory seasonally, and we'll need regularly the help of a short-term bank loan.
( By Harry Gross, Columnist, 07/30/2002 10:57 AM PDT)

SELF loans can't be consolidated
Q. Instead of borrowing for college with federal loans, we borrowed using the SELF loans offered by the state of Minnesota. Now we would like to consolidate the loans so we can lower the interest rate to just 3.5 percent. Can we do that?
( GAIL MARKSJARVIS, Pioneer Press Columnist, 06/21/2002 09:46 AM PDT)

How to get the best deal on car loans
Here are some tips on shopping wisely for a car loan.
( Knight Ridder Newspapers, 06/19/2002 04:06 PM PDT)

Big Three form car finance venture
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG on Thursday announced details of a joint venture to make it easier for dealers to process customer loan applications.
( 06/14/2002 10:13 AM PDT)

Buyers drawn to no-interest loans
The car industry pumped up sales with no-interest loans. The home industry is trying to stimulate sales with exactly the opposite tactic: interest-only loans.
( Dow Jones Newswires, 04/26/2002 08:30 AM PDT)

Facts on subprime loans
Subprime loans are given to people with less-than-perfect credit or work histories. These people have higher default rates than morecredit-savvy customers. They generally have credit histories scarred with late payments and bounced checks, and they often are juggling lots of debt.
( 02/26/2002 05:55 AM PDT)