Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced the North Carolina Rate Bureau has requested a 24.5 percent statewide average increase in homeowners’ insurance rates to take effect August 2021. The percentage rate increase for Craven County would be 25 percent. The NCRB is not part of the N.C. Department of Insurance but represents companis that write insurance policies in the state. The Department can either agree with the rates as filed or negotiate a settlement with the NCRB on a lower rate. If a settlement cannot be reached within 50 days, the Commissioner will call for a hearing. Two years ago, in December 2018, the NCRB requestedRead More →

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NC ranked 34th in the nation in 2020’s states with the highest & lowest credit scores With an average personal credit score of 679, North Carolina consumers rank in the middle of the nation but second best in the South, behind Virginia and ahead of Florida, according to statistics compiled by WalletHub, the personal finance website. “A person’s credit score is one of the biggest factors that determines the course of their financial life, from getting credit cards to qualifying for home loans to even renting apartments,” according to WalletHub. “The average credit score in the U.S. is 680. That puts the average American slightly belowRead More →

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A broad coalition of organizations representing the housing, financial services industries as well as public interest groups issued the following statement on the GSEs’ new adverse market fee: “Wednesday night’s surprise announcement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) conflicts with the Administration’s recent executive actions urging federal agencies to take all measures within their authority to support struggling homeowners. The additional 0.5% fee on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance mortgages will raise costs for families trying to make ends meet in these challenging times. In addition, the September 1 effective date means that thousands of borrowers who did not lock in their ratesRead More →

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposed a rule that would allow predatory lenders to partner with out-of-state banks for the purpose of evading North Carolina’s interest rate cap. The “true lender” rule would enable the same situation that the North Carolina Banking Commissioner put a stop to in 2006. Payday lenders like Advance America were operating all over the state, charging annual interest rates up to 400%, which violated North Carolina law and trapped people in high-cost debt cycles. North Carolina currently saves $457 million per year in payday and car title fees by enforcing our consumer protections. Payday and car title loans areRead More →

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