A new study from the Urban Institute and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) says there are significant disparities among borrowers, particularly minorities, and what they pay for closing costs when buying a home, including those with identical credit scores, loan terms, and mortgage amounts.

“The core problem is that too many Americans sign a mountain of documents they don’t understand and pay thousands of dollars for services that they’ve probably never heard of,” said Brian Montgomery, HUD assistant secretary. “This report proves that the more informed you are, the less you pay. Our common goal should be to increase competition and transparency, and to help take the mystery out of buying a home.”

According to the study, loan fees can vary by thousands of dollars from borrower to borrower; charges and title fees vary considerably state-to-state; and some minorities pay up to $400 more in closing costs than non-minority borrowers in some markets.

California consumers’ outlook on current and future economic conditions and their plans for future spending fell sharply during the second quarter on concerns over mounting gasoline prices, job security, and the broader economy, according to the A. Gary Anderson Center’s California Composite Index of Consumer Sentiment.

“Continued housing market woes, high gasoline prices, concerns about the job market, and a volatile stock market are negatively affecting consumers’ expectations about current and future economic conditions,” the report states.

Roughly 183,000 at-risk homeowners were provided loan workouts in April, 23,000 more than in March, according to a new report from HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors working to prevent home foreclosures across the country. The April numbers represent the highest number of workouts provided through HOPE NOW since the program was launched in July 2007, according to the alliance.

“These numbers clearly demonstrate that we are succeeding at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes,” said HOPE NOW Executive Director Faith Schwartz. “Foreclosure benefits no one: the borrower, community, lender, and investor all lose. HOPE NOW has every incentive to help troubled homeowners hold on to their homes, and the alliance will continue to do everything possible to reach and help as many as possible.”

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted by a wide array of household products, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics, and craft materials, including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

Concentrations of many VOCs may be 10 times higher indoors than outdoors. Many green-minded consumers are using low VOC products in their remodeling projects and may ask if a home for sale has incorporated low VOC products.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers(CPI-U) increased by an unexpectedly lower margin of 0.2 percent in April according to today’s report from Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Dept. of Labor.

The index for petroleum-based energy fell 1.6 percent, offsetting the 2.5 percent increase in the index for energy services. But food prices remain a chief concern: the food index rose 0.9 percent in April; and the food at home index increased 1.5 percent.

NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts, has formed a new partnership with the Federal Reserve designed to help provide assistance to local communities nationwide who are trying to assess housing conditions in their areas, and assist local governments and non-profit organizations in their efforts to address the increase in foreclosures.

“We are excited by the opportunity this collaboration represents,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks® America. “Working together with the Federal Reserve to better understand the impact of foreclosures on communities and to enhance the ability of local residents mitigate this crisis is an important step toward stabilizing the housing market.”

Ever feel like you’re literally throwing away money when you print from a Web site and discard those annoying extra pages containing a Web address or footer information? GreenPrint’s patent-pending technology automatically eliminates these pages (and waste) by analyzing each page of every document sent to the printer by searching for typical waste characteristics (pages with only an URL, banner ad, logo, or legal jargon).

GreenPrint also incorporates an easy-to-use PDF writer, a print preview called GreenView, and a reporting feature which tracks the number of pages and the amount of money you’ve saved.

Customer satisfaction with online banking firms has improved by 12 percent since 2003, according to the 2008 ForeSee Results/Forbes.com Online Financial Services Study released yesterday.

Among the findings of the study, 31 percent of highly satisfied online banking customers are more likely than less satisfied customers to purchase more services; 57 percent are likely to use their bank’s Web site as a primary channel for banking services; 54 percent would recommend their bank to another person; and 63 percent would recommend their bank’s Web site to another person.

According to the report, the highest need for improvement in order to boost customer loyalty is to improve the overall site experience, specifically, make search tools more accessible; improve content organization; and make upgrades on transaction functionality and overall site performance.

Builder confidence across the country remained unchanged in March, according new data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released today, indicating

NAHB’s report shows builder confidence gauging current sales conditions for new single-family homes held firm at 20, which just above its historic low of 18 set in December of 2007. The index gauging traffic of prospective buyers held at 19, and the index that gauges sales expectations for the next six months dipped by a single point to 26.

“Our surveys confirm what I’ve been hearing personally from builders across the country, which is that interested buyers are out there, but they are either reluctant to go ahead with a home purchase or they are unable to find mortgage financing they can afford,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn.