Borrowers

Eugene Schoene maxed out a credit card, drained his checking account and borrowed money from a relative. It was the only way, he says, to pay an unexpected property tax bill of gigantic proportions. His tab from the city Bureau of Treasury Management's Collections Division: $21,939. Schoene is part of a group of Baltimore homeowners who have recently gotten hefty property tax bills going back four years after revelations that they were improperly collecting "homestead" credits — a widespread problem highlighted in an investigation published Sunday by The Baltimore Sun. A 65-year-old schoolteacher, Schoene says he didn't know he was getting undeserved breaks on three rental homes in Northeast Baltimore.

The Capital Debt Affordability Committee, dominated by appointees of Gov. Martin O'Malley, raised the state's debt limit by $150 million Monday over the dissent of Comptroller Peter Franchot. The move increases the state's capacity to borrow money for such projects as roads and school construction from $925 million to $1.075 billion. The committee's action in effect borrows lending capacity from the future, saying the extra spending during the coming budget year should be repaid in 2017.

The Capital Debt Affordability Committee, dominated by appointees of Gov. Martin O'Malley, raised the state's debt limit by $150 million Monday over the dissent of Comptroller Peter Franchot. The move increases the state's capacity to borrow money for such projects as roads and school construction from $925 million to $1.075 billion. The committee's action in effect borrows lending capacity from the future, saying the extra spending during the coming budget year should be repaid in 2017.

European leaders are working feverishly to create what German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling a "fiscal union" to restore private investor confidence in Europe and rekindle growth. Unfortunately, what she advocates will thrust Europe into a deeper economic crisis and leave European leaders without the fiscal and monetary policy tools necessary to combat recessions. The reforms Chancellor Merkel is pushing - hard caps on national government deficits - would ensure the ultimate demise of the euro, years of economic stagnation or worse.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been working to design mortgage documents that makes it clear to homebuyers the cost of their loan and other important details. It has posted sample documents, asking consumers to weigh in on which form is best. Now, it's working with the Department of Education to do the same on federal student loans. The CFPB posted a sample loan form , requesting comment. But that's not all. The Bureau also launched a tool to help borrowers struggling to repay loan to understand their options.

The Obama Administration announced it will accelerate changes in the federal loan program to make it easier for certain students to repay their loans. Students enrolled in the Income Based Repayment Plan will have their payments capped at 10 percent of discretionary income starting next year, and any remaining balance after 20 years will be forgiven.  The Income Based Repayment Plan has been available since 2009 and has limited monthly payments to 15 percent of discretionary income with remaining debt is forgiven after 25 years.

The number of borrowers defaulting on federal student loans continues to rise in Maryland and elsewhere. But even during the long and painful economic recovery, many of these defaults likely are unnecessary. The federal government has long offered leniency for borrowers in financial hardship. But two years ago it added an income-based repayment plan that caps monthly payments based on a borrower's income and family size. If a borrower earns little or nothing, the monthly payment would be zero.

About 320,000 student borrowed who started to repay their loans in 2009 were in default by the end of 2010, according to the latest figures from the Department of Education. The department said that 8.8 percent of borrowers who started repaying loans in 2009 were in default by the end of last year. In comparison, 7 percent of students who started repaying in 2008 were in default by the end of 2009. Debbie Cochrane, program director at the Institute for College Access and Success, says the problem is more severe than these figures suggest.

The headline pretty much says it all. Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder, who should be the Orioles' top target during the offseason, came to the ballpark unprepared Thursday. With the sun in his eyes, he rushed to the Brewers dugout for sunglasses. When his teammates had nothing to give him, he got a little help from a fan. I'm not sure why the Rockies fan wanted to help out an opposing player, but it was a pretty cool moment.

A string of terrible luck brought Deborah Goldring to the brink of foreclosure. Her husband died. All their savings were exhausted paying down bills from his long illness. Then she lost her job. But just as the Baltimore woman's lender notified her that her time had nearly run out, a new federally funded program was launched to help homeowners like her. Now Goldring is about to close on a no-interest loan that will allow her to catch up on her mortgage and that will cover a large chunk of her monthly payments while she looks for work.