| Selling Your Ecommerce Business
To web entrepreneurs who contemplate selling their online businesses, experts issue a single warning: Get your financial house in order. Online endeavors are frequently launched by people who have a great idea, a great passion or a distinctive skill set, but who often lack traditional business acumen. Partially-completed financial statements and an incomplete balance sheet might not impede day-to-day operations, but when it comes to selling the business, such disorganization can be a liability; a prospective buyer wants to see much more than a shoe box full of receipts. When you commit to selling your business, "you have to start running it like you are going to sell it today," said Mike Gravel, co-founder and managing director of eBizBrokers, Inc., a mergers and acquisitions firm specializing in Internet businesses.
BBB issues warning of surge in bogus loan websites
FORT WAYNEThe Better Business Bureau warns of a proliferation of websites impersonating legitimate lenders to steal money from consumers. Victims across the U.S. and Canada report losing money, sometimes more than $1,000 each. The websites in question promise loans to anyone, regardless of the person's previous credit history. "People with the poorest finances are being victimized. Many mistakenly believe they have no other option," said Michael Coil, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Northern Indiana. According to BBB experience, victims used Internet search engines to locate lenders that "guaranteed" low-interest rate loans for people with bad credit histories. After submitting the online loan application, they were contacted by a company "representative" who said they were approved.
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER PLUSMORTGAGE COMES IN FOR CRITICISM
Alliance & Leicester (A&L) is the latest lender to offer mortgages for more than the value of the property, just as experts warn that one more rise in interest rates could be the final nail in the coffin for the housing boom, writes Clare Francis. The Bank of England granted borrowers a stay of execution last week when it kept Bank rate on hold at 5.25%, but most analysts think that it will lift rates to 5.5% in the coming months. There are already signs that the three rate rises since August have started to hit the housing market, with prices falling by up to 2% in some areas and stagnant in many others, said Nationwide building society. Overall, though, property values are still rising. Mortgages such as those from Alliance & Leicester have attracted the tag "negative-equity loans" because borrowers instantly owe more than the value of the property, and if prices fell you would become even more indebted.
Mom uses daughter's ID, and damages her credit rating
Dear Annie: Recently, my husband and I decided to build a home. When we went to the bank about a loan, I discovered (via my credit report) that my mother had bought a computer and paid some utility bills using my Social Security number and her name. This happened six years ago, when I was 19. I confronted my mother, and she said she did this when she was poor and not working, and that I had told her she could have my information. Annie, I never told her she could put anything in my name, and she never asked. I also told her I now owe over $3,500 to collection agencies because of her. Mom has committed fraud and identity theft, and possibly grand larceny. I don't know what to do. I told her that until she paid the balance in full, she would no longer be allowed to talk to my daughter.
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