Thousands dead in Chinese quake, todays news..

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 10,000 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county. Many more have been killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT). At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.

President Hu Jintao has urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims. Search teams were sent to the area but struggled to get through because routes were blocked. The BBC's Michael Bristow, in nearby Chongqing, said torrential rains had also prevented helicopters gaining access. With communication links down, he says there is still no real indication of the death toll at the epicentre, in Wenchuan county, about 92km (57 miles) from Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital. Read full story on this site..

source: BBC News UK

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("FHLMC") NYSE: FRE, commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) of the United States Government. As a GSE, it is a stockholder-owned corporation authorized to make loans and loan guarantees. The FHLMC was created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages in the United States. Along with other GSEs, Freddie Mac buys mortgages on the secondary market, pools them, and sells them as mortgage-backed securities to investors on the open market. This secondary mortgage market helps to replenish the supply of lendable money for mortgages and ensures that money continues to be available for new home purchases. The name "Freddie Mac" is a creative acronym-portmanteau of the company's full name that has been adopted officially for ease of identification

Student loans in the United States

While included in the term "financial aid" higher education loans differ from scholarships and grants in that they must be paid back. They come in several varieties in the United States:

• Federal student loans made to students directly: No payments while enrolled in at least half time status. If a student drops below half time status, the account will go into its 6 month grace period. If the student re-enrolls in at least half time status, the loans will be deferred, but when they drop below half time again they will no longer have their grace period. Amounts are quite limited as well.
• Federal student loans made to parents: Much higher limit, but payments start immediately
• Private student loans made to students or parents: Higher limits and no payments until after graduation, although interest will start to accrue immediately. Private loans may be used for any education related expenses such as tuition, room and board, books, computers, and past due balances. Private loans can also be used to supplement federal student loans, when federal loans, grants and other forms of financial aid are not sufficient to cover the full cost of higher education.

Home Equity Loan

A home equity loan (sometimes abbreviated HEL) is a type of loan in which the borrower uses the equity in their home as collateral. These loans are sometimes useful to help finance major home repairs, medical bills or college education. A home equity loan creates a lien against the borrower's house, and reduces actual home equity.
Home equity loans are most commonly second position liens (second trust deed), although they can be held in first or, less commonly, third position. Most home equity loans require good to excellent credit history, and reasonable loan-to-value and combined loan-to-value ratios. Home equity loans come in two types, closed end and open end.
Both are usually referred to as second mortgages, because they are secured against the value of the property, just like a traditional mortgage. Home equity loans and lines of credit are usually, but not always, for a shorter term than first mortgages. In the United States, it is sometimes possible to deduct home equity loan interest on one's personal income taxes.

Unsecured Loans

Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrowers assets. These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages:

• credit card debt,
• personal loans,
• bank overdrafts
• credit facilities or lines of credit
• corporate bonds

The interest rates applicable to these different forms may vary depending on the lender, the borrower. These may or may not be regulated by law. In the United Kingdom, when applied to individuals, these may come under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Secured Loans

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan.
A mortgage loan is a very common type of debt instrument, used by many individuals to purchase housing. In this arrangement, the money is used to purchase the property. The financial institution, however, is given security - a lien on the title to the house - until the mortgage is paid off in full. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to repossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it.

In some instances, a loan taken out to purchase a new or used car may be secured by the car, in much the same way as a mortgage is secured by housing. The duration of the loan period is considerably shorter - often corresponding to the useful life of the car. There are two types of auto loans, direct and indirect. A direct auto loan is where a bank gives the loan directly to a consumer. An indirect auto loan is where a car dealership acts as an intermediary between the bank or financial institution and the consumer.

A type of loan especially used in limited partnership agreements is the recourse note.
A stock hedge loan is a special type of securities lending whereby the stock of a borrower is hedged by the lender against loss, using options or other hedging strategies to reduce lender risk

What is Loans?

A loan is a type of debt. All material things can be lent but this article focuses exclusively on monetary loans. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower.

The borrower initially receives an amount of money from the lender, which they pay back, usually but not always in regular installments, to the lender. This service is generally provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan.

Acting as a provider of loans is one of the principal tasks for financial institutions. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding. Bank loans and credit are one way to increase the money supply.

Legally, a loan is a contractual promise of a debtor to repay a sum of money in exchange for the promise of a creditor to give another sum of money.

Liability Insurance (and Umbrella Policies):

Liability insurance can fill in the gaps left by limits in auto and homeowner coverage when it comes to property damage and personal injury suits. Umbrella policies add to this coverage by protecting against certain civil claims that you may be faced with, and insuring property which is in your care but does not belong to you.

Travel Insurance:
Travel insurance is available to cover you when unexpected events increase your travel costs. These may include medical and other emergency situations, cancellations, weather and even lost luggage.

Car Rental Insurance:
Car rentals may be covered by your existing car insurance policy. You should always check your coverage before purchasing any additional coverage from a rental company. However, if you do not own a car or your
current policy doesn't cover car rentals, purchasing insurance on a rental car is essential to protect you from liability.

Miscellaneous:
There are several other types of policies which we have grouped together here because experts say most of them are unnecessary for most individuals. However, it's worth mentioning them briefly.

Mortgage protection insurance pays off your mortgage if you die. Life insurance is almost always a better way to prepare for this expense. Your mortgage is a consistently decreasing liability, meaning that insuring it is not in your best interest over time. Similar policies are available for outstanding credit card balances and other debts.

Flight insurance and other specialty policies protect against accidents under special circumstances. In almost all cases, a better value will be found by taking care of your needs in these situations with term life insurance.

Extended warranty insurance is available from many retailers who push it as a way to protect against problems with purchases once they are no longer covered by the manufacturer. These policies are usually unnecessary.

Kidnap and ransom insurance is designed for people who frequently travel to nations that may be hostile toward Americans and other foreigners. In the event that a kidnap situation occurs, costs like a negotiator and other expenses are covered. These policies are usually purchased by businesses.

Renter's Insurance:

Even if you do not own your residence, you are responsible for some of the problems that can arise there. Plus, you will need to protect your belongings, especially expensive items like furniture, electronics, jewelry, etc, against theft and damage. Renter's insurance provides coverage for your belongings and for liability that may result from an accident in your home. Many policies cover replacement cost, meaning that you will receive the money necessary to purchase a new item that is equivalent to the damaged one instead of a portion of that cost adjusted for depreciation. If you have roommates, you can take out a policy together and often save money while acquiring the same protection for your possessions.

Insurance Policy

A contract of insurance, describing the term, coverage, premiums and deductibles. also called policy.
Related terms are:death benefit, accidental death benefit, cash value, cash withdrawal, coinsurance, cost-of-living rider, disability insurance, executive indemnity insurance, face amount, guaranteed insurability, hidden load, incontestability clause, indemnity, issue date, master policy, mortgage life insurance, municipal bond insurance, named peril coverage, participating insurance, policy limit, qualification period, underinsured motorist coverage, uninsured motorist coverage, underwrite, waiver of premium, accelerated benefits

Parts of an insurance contract

• Definitions - define important terms used in the policy language.
• Insuring Agreement - describes the covered perils, or risks assumed, or nature of coverage, or makes some reference to the contractual agreement between insurer and insured. It summarizes the major promises of the insurance company, as well as stating what is covered.
• Declarations - identifies who is an insured, the insured's address, the insuring company, what risks or property are covered, the policy limits (amount of insurance), any applicable deductibles, the policy period and premium amount.
• Exclusions - take coverage away from the Insuring Agreement by describing property, perils, hazards or losses arising from specific causes which are not covered by the policy.
• Conditions - provisions, rules of conduct, duties and obligations required for coverage. If policy conditions are not met, the insurer can deny the claim.

Life insurance specific features..

Incontestibility - in the United States, life insurance contracts may not be contested by the insurer at any point after the contract has been in force for two years. The insurer has the burden to investigate fully anything they wish to make sure the insured is an acceptable risk within those two years. Any material mistatements on the insurance application (which generally forms a part of the contract) cannot be used as a reason for the insurer not to pay the death benefit, as long as it does not constitute fraud on the part of the insured. The insurer's only recourse if there is no fraud is they can adjust the death benefit to correct for the correct age or sex of the insured if they are different from what the application noted.

What is Insurance Contract?

An Insurance contract determines the legal framework under which the features of an insurance policy are enforced. Insurance contracts are designed to meet very specific needs and thus have many features not found in many other types of contracts. Many features are similar across a wide variety of different types of insurance policies.
The insurance contract is a contract whereby the insurer will pay the insured (the person whom benefits would be paid to, or on the behalf of), if certain defined events occur. Subject to the "fortuity principle", the event must be uncertain. The uncertainty can be either as to when the event will happen (i.e. in a life insurance policy, the time of the insured's death is uncertain) or as to if it will happen at all (i.e. a fire insurance policy).

• Insurance contracts are generally considered contracts of adhesion because the insurer draws up the contract and the insured has little or no ability to make material changes to it. This is interpreted to mean that the insurer bears the burden if there is any ambiguity in any terms of the contract.
• Insurance contracts are aleatory in that the amounts exchanged by the insured and insurer are unequal and depend upon uncertain future events.
• Insurance contracts are unilateral, meaning that only the insurer makes legally enforceable promises in the contract. The insured is not required to pay the premiums, but the insurer is required to pay the benefits under the contract if the insured has paid the premiums and met certain other basic provisions.
• Insurance contracts are governed by the principle of utmost good faith (uberrima fides) which requires both parties of the insurance contact to deal in good faith and in particular it imparts on the insured a duty to disclose all material facts which relate to the risk to be covered. This contrasts with the legal doctrine that covers most other types of contracts, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).

Mortgages in real estate

In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings.
In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action which allows them take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or pre-construction strategy to purchase at a lower price which is often the case in the pre-construction phase of development.
But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.

Real estate in Mexico and Central America

The real estate business in Mexico and Central America is different from the way that it is conducted in the United States.
Some similarities include a variety of legal formalities, (with professionals such as real estate agents generally employed to assist the buyer); taxes need to be paid (but typically less than those in U.S.); legal paperwork will ensure title; and a neutral party such as a title company will handle documentation and monies in order to smoothly make the exchange between the parties. Increasingly, U.S. title companies are doing work for U.S. buyers in Mexico and Central America.
Prices are often much cheaper than most areas of the U.S., but in many locations prices of houses and lots are as expensive as the U.S., one example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to give home loans for properties in Mexico, but, so far, not for other Latin American countries.
One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners cannot buy land or homes within 50km of the coast or 100km from a border, while, in Honduras, they may buy beach front property. There are also different special rules regarding certain types of property: ejidos—communally held farm property—cannot be sold to anyone, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale.
Many websites advertising and selling Mexican and Central American real estate exist, but they may need to be researched.

Real estate as "real property" in the U.K.

In British usage, “real property”, often shortened to just “property”, generally refers to land and fixtures as such while the term “real estate” is used mostly in the context of probate law, and means all interests in land held by a deceased person at death excluding interests in money arising under a trust for sale of or charged on land.

What is Real Estate?

Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions, notably in the USA) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is stationary, or fixed in location. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, in some situations the term "real estate" refers to the land and fixtures together, as distinguished from "real property," referring to ownership rights of the land itself.
The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.

In law, the word real means relating to a thing (res/rei, thing, from O.Fr. reel, from L.L. realis "actual," from Latin. res, "matter, thing"), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. The oldest use of the term "Real Estate" that has been preserved in historical records was in 1666 .
The word is not derived from the notion of land having historically been "royal" property. The word royal—and its Portuguese cognate real—come from the related Latin word rex-regis, meaning king.