"If you dare to file a claim on your homeowner's insurance policy, we'll cancel your policy no matter how long you've been our customer." That seems to have become the motto of the homeowner's insurance industry.

Just a few days ago, I received an e-mail from a homeowner who was insured with the same major national insurance company for more than 30 years. Last year she filed a $457 claim. The insurer paid because the loss was covered under the policy. But when her policy came up for annual renewal, the insurer refused to renew.  more...

I recently took an ecological footprint quiz and learned that it would take 21 biologically productive acres to support my lifestyle. If everyone on Earth lived like me, we would need 4.7 planets, and I was 12 percent below average for an American!

The only saving grace here is that so far most of the world has yet to achieve my middle-class American lifestyle.  more...

Benjamin, age 5, and his brother Joshua, age 9, were enrolled at a summer day camp. Their parents dropped them off where they were then picked up by a bus and taken to the camp.

Buford, an individual with publicly avowed anti-Semitic views, entered the day camp area and began shooting. His bullet hit Benjamin. Joshua was not shot, but he "perceived" Benjamin's shooting.

Purchase Bob Bruss reports online.  more...

Unless you have no sense of humor, never smile, never laugh, and wear a pocket protector for your pens (indicating you are overly cautious), you will thoroughly enjoy Frank Cook's latest real estate disclosure book, "You're not Buying That House are You?" In addition to being a semi-serious real estate "how to buy a home book," bookstores and libraries should also shelve it in the humor section.  more...

Dear Barry,

My neighbor has a brick shed built against the side of my garage. It encroaches onto my property and prevents me from painting the garage wall. I'd like him to remove it, but he refuses because it was there before I purchased the property two years ago. The city building department sent him a notice, but he won't tear the shed down. What should I do? – Yve

Dear Yve,  more...

DEAR BOB: In a recent article you recommended a home buyer get pre-approved in writing by a mortgage lender. You said to be sure the approval comes from a lender, not a mortgage broker. Since you didn't elaborate, it sounded like using a mortgage broker was a bad idea. As a mortgage broker, I realize there are some mortgage brokers who give the rest of us a bad name. But we honest mortgage brokers provide very valuable services. At our mortgage brokerage, our pre-approvals are based on underwriting approvals from the actual lenders.  more...