Free Republic

A growing number of schools and community colleges in California are refinancing voter-approved bonds to raise extra cash, a practice many financial experts say puts an additional burden on taxpayers and may violate state law. The process, known as cash-out refunding, is similar to refinancing a home mortgage to lower monthly payments and take out equity in cash. It's popular because the school districts get extra money - frequently millions of dollars - without going back to the voters. Most use the money to cover construction cost overruns, but critics say California law limits the use of refunded bonds for...

THINKING OF REFINANCING your mortgage? Welcome to the club. With mortgage rates so low over the past few years, the question hasn't been "should you refinance?" but "when"? While conventional wisdom once said you had to shave at least 2% off your loan in order for refinancing to make sense, these days it could be worthwhile with an interest reduction of just 0.75%, says Doug Perry of Countrywide's consumer-markets division. That's because soaring home values, increased competition and automated underwriting (which can approve or reject your refi application in a matter of minutes) have made refinancing quicker, easier and potentially...