The good news: mortgage rates are going to stay for a while near 5%, the lowest they've been in our lifetimes. The bad news: Unlike a couple of years ago, merely having a pulse is no longer enough to get a mortgage refinanced. Demand is high, standards are tougher, and approvals are relatively scarce. Read on to learn what you should know before you refinance.

Yes, credit card companies are adding tons of fees and clamping down on any kind of infractions, but there are still loopholes for persistent customers. Find out the best way to ask for your card company to lower your fees.

If you're someone who needs to establish or rebuild your credit, you're probably in the market for a secured credit card, backed by your own funds rather than a bank's. But offers for such cards are plummeting as banks shy away from taking on more risky debt. So how can you get a secured card if you really need one? Read on to learn some helpful strategies.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 357-70 today to pass the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, which would begin protecting consumers from abrupt interest-rate hikes and unfair or deceptive billing by July 1, 2010. A similar bill in the U.S. Senate is yet to go to a full vote and is considered less certain to pass. Read on for the fine print.

Nearly 34 million Americans admit they've been late making credit card payments, and about 18 million people say they've missed payments entirely. That's hardly surprising, given how many Americans are struggling these days. Are you? Here's what to do about your debt.

Small-business owners and entrepreneurs are fuming as credit-card processors, desperate to turn the tide of red ink and avoid their own bankruptcies, have begun demanding cash reservers from their customers -- and, in some cases, seizing cash from their cardholders' bank accounts. For a small business, the effects of such actions could be dire, even fatal. Read on to learn about a new threat to small business.

With fees for credit cards going up all the time, many people may be thinking about just closing the cards. What's wrong with that? The Dolans give you the good and the bad of that decision.

Your credit-card company just pumped up your interest rate. It's no surprise you're angry, especially if you've actually been diligent about paying your bill on time and without maxing your card out. But check the fine print -- terms can change "at any time, for any reason." And there's no reason that resonates quite like the one-two punch of today's credit-crunch and default explosion. Fortunately, you do have options. Here's how to plan and execute an effective response.

President Obama this week called 14 top banking executives to the White House to announce he would support legislation protecting cardholders from abrupt interest-rate increases and fees, among other practices. Card issuers are fighting two cardholder-protection bills circulating on Capitol Hill -- one was cleared on Wednesday for a House vote, and another will be examined next week in the Senate. Read on to see how the U.S. is trying to change eight controversial card-company practices.