Posted by admin on February 2, 2010
Q: When I sold my condo last spring, the homeowners association billed the escrow for my share of painting the building. Now the association says it made a mistake, and I owe $750 more. Am I obliged to pay this?
A: "Hang on, you owe us more money": That's got to be one of the most unwelcome phrases in the English language.
If you knew the original bill was wrong, you should have pointed out the error then, and you should pay the correct amount now. Otherwise, talk to a lawyer about where you stand legally. But ethically speaking, you're not obligated to pay up. Organizations with bookkeepers and accountants are responsible for getting their bills right. Your former homeowners association knows that in real estate, closing means closing and escrows don't have do-overs. So that $750 shortfall is their problem, not yours.
Questions? Email Money Magazine’s ethicists – authors of “Isn’t It Their Turn to Pick Up the Check?” (Free Press) – at FlemingandSchwarz@right-thing.net.
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Personal finance from around the Web:
- After just two years of a no-loan policy, Williams College reintroduces "modest loans" to their financial aid packages. [Inside Higher Ed]
- Google-owned YouTube is testing the movie rental waters. Its first experiment, renting five indie films, netted $10,709.16 in 10 days. [Bits]
- The U.S. officially crushes the competition…when it comes to racking up humongous amounts of credit card debt. See how other countries stack up in this info-graphic. [Man vs. Debt]
Follow More Money on Twitter at http://twitter.com/moremoneyblog.
Add More Money to your favorite RSS reader. Subscribe at http://rss.cnn.com/moneyfeatures.rss.
Posted by admin on
Personal finance from around the Web:
- After just two years of a no-loan policy, Williams College reintroduces "modest loans" to their financial aid packages. [Inside Higher Ed]
- Google-owned YouTube is testing the movie rental waters. Its first experiment, renting five indie films, netted $10,709.16 in 10 days. [Bits]
- The U.S. officially crushes the competition…when it comes to racking up humongous amounts of credit card debt. See how other countries stack up in this info-graphic. [Man vs. Debt]
Follow More Money on Twitter at http://twitter.com/moremoneyblog.
Add More Money to your favorite RSS reader. Subscribe at http://rss.cnn.com/moneyfeatures.rss.
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President Obama, in his proposed 2011 budget, is calling on Congress to make a number of tax changes for individuals.
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Filed Under: Taxes
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Question: My mother-in-law, who’s in her early 60s, was recently widowed. She now has Social Security and approximately $300,000 from a life insurance policy to live on. She’s not comfortable taking on much, if any, risk but she does need to generate income from the life insurance proceeds. Any recommendations for how she should invest this money? –Chris, Atlanta, Georgia
