A White House-backed program to allow property owners to pay for energy-efficiency improvements through property tax assessments may be shut down. The federal agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac says the program poses a risk to mortgage lenders.

Life insurance companies boost their bottom lines by holding on to death benefits owed to families of service members and millions of other Americans, an investigation by Bloomberg Markets magazine found. Cindy Lohman, whose son was killed in Afghanistan, says she feels betrayed by his life insurance company, Prudential.

Court-appointed attorney Irving Picard is facing an uphill battle as he tries to recover money from those who came out of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme as winners. With lawsuits pending to recover $17 billion, Picard hopes to return more than 50 cents on the dollar to the many losers.