iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Accustomed to their gas-guzzling companions, many Americans are hesitant to buy an electric or hybrid vehicle. But dealers and government incentives are luring drivers into the fold.

John O’Dell, senior green car editor for Edmunds.com, has leased a Nissan Leaf with his wife for the last two years. He said he is not sure he would lease an electric car if the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 were not available.

In O’Dell’s home state of California, he also received a state rebate of about $5,000.

“The state rebate made it even sweeter,” O’Dell said.

Plug-in cars comprised less than one percent of total vehicle sales in the U.S. in the first four months of the year, according to Hybridcars.com. But plug-in sales figures are double those of the first four months of last year, with help from discounts and incentives, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The drawbacks of an electric car include limited battery life or power per charge and lack of charging stations in some parts of the country.

But the financial incentives are appealing.

People who purchase an electric car in or after 2010 may be eligible for the federal tax credit of up to $7,500, depending on the capacity of the vehicle’s battery. (The federal tax credit amounts per vehicle are described on the website FuelEconomy.Gov.)

Electric car buyers who owe less than $7,500 in taxes won’t get a full $7,500 in tax credits even if their electric car purchase is eligible for that amount. But some dealers who lease these cars are giving drivers a discount of the full $7,500 from the lease price.

Various states have different tax incentives. Among Georgia’s offerings, for instance, is an income tax credit to people who buy or lease a new zero emissions vehicle. The tax credit is 20 percent of the vehicle cost, up to $5,000.

At the time O’Dell leased the Nissan Leaf, it had a MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) of about $36,000. Today, its MSRP is about $35,200 before federal tax savings.

While O’Dell’s commute is 110 miles round-trip, he can take advantage of a charging station by his office. He also happens to have a solar-powered home, so his electric bill is only about $45 a month. For longer trips, he uses one of his family’s other three cars.

“The car pretty much pays for itself every month,” O’Dell said of the Leaf. He said leasing an electric car worked “wonderfully” for him, but he knows not everyone in the country will have the same situation.
But as the price of electric cars falls and battery technology improves, O’Dell said it makes more sense to lease an electric car than to buy one.

“Batteries have a finite life and no one knows what that is yet,” he said.

These days, he said monthly lease deals for electric cars can be as low as $199 a month, such as for the Fiat 500 EV. Cars like the Fiat 500 EV are only available in California, marketed there to meet the state’s stringent emissions standards.

“A lot of these eclectic cars are not available nationally,” O’Dell said. “They’re expensive to build with a limited market.”

Cars like the Ford Focus and Tesla S are marketed nationally.

Eric Evarts, senior associate autos editor with Consumer Reports, agrees that it is better to lease an electric car than to buy one.

“I would say electric cars are the one thing where we would unequivocally recommend people lease,” Evarts said, “especially with some of these low subsidized rates, depending where you live.”

Evarts’ advice extends to hybrids like the Toyota Prius, though he said the Prius has been around since 2000 and has a longer track record and higher resale value.

Evarts cautions drivers considering a lease to consider what they plan to do after their lease ends, which is typically two years.

“You can extend the lease, but it tends to be that longer leases are less financially good deals,” Evarts said, adding that eventually repairs and updates like tire changes can lead to more expenses for a leased car.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Think back over the past few months to more than a few high-profile Twitter hacks.

Burger King's account was hacked to look like McDonald's. Then there was Jeep's account, which sent out plenty of nonbrand-friendly language. And finally, and more seriously, the Associated Press' account was taken over by hackers who told the media outlet's millions of followers that bombs had exploded at the White House.

Starting on Wednesday, though, Twitter users will have an added security feature intended to help prevent those types of hacks. The social network has rolled out a log-in, or two-step, verification process, which requires users to confirm their identity with two pieces of log-in information.

When you enable the feature through the settings area on Twitter.com, you'll be asked to input your phone number. Going forward when you try to log in to Twitter, you will enter your regular password, and then Twitter will send you a text message with a verification code. When you get that text message with that code, you will then have to input that string of numbers and letters to get in. The idea is that there are two pieces of information to confirm that you are who you say you are.

"Two factor is two ways of authenticating who you are," McAfee security expert Robert Siciliano told ABC News. "Two factor, generally, by definition is something you know and something that you have or you are." In this case, you know your password, and you have your smartphone.

The new feature will be available on Wednesday to all Twitter users, although it does require a working cell phone to get it going. Also, it is only really useful to those who run independent accounts, not shared accounts. For example, the AP or ABC News account is run by multiple users, who don't share one cellphone.

Twitter says it is also working on additional features.

"However, much of the server-side engineering work required to ship this feature has cleared the way for us to deliver more account-security enhancements in the future. Stay tuned," Jim O'Leary of Twitter's product security team said in a blog post.

But just this step has given many users and security experts what they wanted.

"This is what they should have been doing years ago," Siciliano said. "Now that Twitter has become the de facto social network of major news networks and law enforcement agencies to get the word out, this was required."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Sales of existing homes rose 0.6 percent in April to an annual rate of 4.97 million units. Sales are up nearly 10 percent over the past year.

“The market is in a solid recovery,” says Walter Malony of the National Association of Realtors. “Sales are now at the highest level in 3 1/2 years, back when the market was spiking in response to the homebuyers tax credit.”

That was a temporary tax credit.  Since then, tight lending standards by banks and limited inventory have kept the total lower than it would be.

Wednesday’s report is the latest sign of improvement for the housing market. Existing home sales account for about 9 out 10 home sales each month.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Close to 35 million Americans will mark the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day weekend by hitting the road, a new forecast from AAA shows.

The automobile group projects 34.8 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home between Thursday and Monday -- a 0.9 percent decrease over last year.

“Although AAA expects to see more people traveling this summer as a whole, it looks like the summer travel season will begin with a relatively stable start,” Jessica Brady, spokeswoman, AAA Travel, The Auto Club Group, said in a statement.  “However, more Americans traveled during last year’s holiday weekend than initially projected, so we could again be surprised by an increase in people planning to take a trip this Memorial Day.”

AAA expects 31.2 million Americans will be traveling by car during the holiday weekend, while 2.3 million will be opting to travel by air.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Dramatic scenes of tornado-wrought devastation and wrecked properties in Oklahoma this week are another potent reminder to renters and homeowners all across the country to take an inventory of everything they own before a storm hits. It can make a big difference if your household suffers major damage.

“Go through your house with your smartphone,” suggests Kimberly Lankford, contributing editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. “Smartphones make this so much easier. Just take pictures and video of everything, because if you do have a claim, you don’t have to piece together everything yourself.”

Smartphone apps can help you compile a complete list. “There’s one called knowyourstuff.org that makes it really easy to get that list of everything,” says Lankford.

This can really help when making a claim to your insurance company. “Especially in a situation where so much is destroyed you don’t have to go through and look and remember. Also, if you can then email that to the insurance company that puts you ahead of the people who are still waiting to put their list together,” Lankford says.

After a big storm, fire or earthquake many people are trying to get their claims paid at the same time. Putting your information on a secure site online can help you file a claim quickly and thoroughly.

“Anything you can do ahead of time can make a big difference,” says Lankford. “Getting your inventory squared away is a key thing.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Brett Deering/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Even for those who don't lose a loved one after a tornado, the process to rebuild is "long" and "emotional," according to Tammy Cady, 59, who survived the tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011.

It took Cady, a graphic designer, and her husband, Kevin, 52, a year and eight months to rebuild their destroyed home in Joplin.

Fortunately for the Cady family, no one was injured, including their six children.  But when the tornado hit, they had no homeowner's insurance for the home they bought in 1994.  They had dropped their $50-a-month policy in 2010, after Kevin lost his job in construction.

"I think the worst part, especially at the beginning, is feeling helpless. I wasn't necessarily feeling helpless for ourselves, but I felt helpless for other people," Cady said. "That's how I feel right now.  The only thing that carried us through, from every moment of that time, was knowing that God was helping us.  He was definitely looking out for us.  He has provided for us every step of the way.  It makes me feel sad to the lost but also blessed to know we are taken care of."

After a devastating tornado hit Oklahoma on Monday, U.S. residents are mourning the loss of 24 people, including nine children.

"I can't imagine for people who lose family.  I didn't lose anyone in our tornado.  I'm really thankful for that," Cady said.

The government has more than $11 billion in its disaster relief fund, which may be enough for victims in the suburb of Moore, Okla., outside Oklahoma City.

The costliest U.S. tornado was the one that hit Joplin, which did about $2.8 billion in damage.  There were 158 deaths as a result of that disaster.

Judith Spry, partner in the insurance claims services practice at BDO Consulting, said insurance companies have already started to send their people to Moore.

Spry said normal homeowners insurance would cover fire and windstorms.  Tornados typically do not require separate policies, like flood insurance.

Record-keeping and paperwork will be important for homeowners and small businesses during the recovery process.  Spry said accountants and banks may be able to assist with certain records if they have been destroyed by the tornado.

Loretta Worters, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, said it could take weeks to calculate the number of insured losses and claims from Monday's tornado.

Worters said homeowner's insurance policies also provide for additional living expenses to support the cost of living away from home if you cannot inhabit your house due to damage from an insured disaster.

"It covers hotel bills, restaurant meals and other living expenses incurred while your home is being rebuilt.  So this will be a great help to homeowners whose homes have been destroyed by the tornado," Worters said.

Car damage is covered under the optional comprehensive portion of a standard auto insurance policy.

Three out of four U.S. drivers choose to purchase comprehensive coverage, Worters said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Jaclyn Fraley(ZALESKI, Ohio) -- An online fundraising effort has surpassed its goal to allow a 91-year-old man in Zaleski, Ohio, to buy back his home before his daughter has the chance to evict him from it.

Jaclyn Fraley, 35, and her grandfather, John Potter, started fundraising for enough money to make an offer on the home he built 56 years ago.

"It means a little bit of everything," Potter said, when asked what his home means to him.  "I bought the land when I was a teenager."

After an ABC News story last week described Potter's situation, Potter and his granddaughter have raised about $138,000, topping their goal of $125,000.

"So many people who don't have grandparents anymore have adopted him from so far away," Fraley said.  "A lot of people have said, 'I love you and you're my grandpa'."

Fraley said she is shocked and grateful by the 5,136 people who donated to the campaign in one month, including a large number of U.S. veterans.

"I kept refreshing the page," Fraley said of her GoFundMe fundraising website once the ABC News story was published.  "Everyone I knew was refreshing."

The story goes back to 2004.  It was then that Potter and his wife, who has since died, gave the general power of attorney to his daughter for future matters if they declined in health, including taking care of her autistic adult brother, now 63.

Potter's daughter Janice Cottrill eventually used that power to convey the deed to the one-story home to herself.  In 2010, Potter said he learned of the deed transfer and switched power of attorney to his granddaughter, Fraley.

Early this year, his daughter and her husband sent Potter an eviction notice, saying they had terminated his "existing lease." 

An eviction hearing will take place on June 12, during which the judge will have no choice but to evict Potter, Fraley told ABC News.

When Fraley called her grandfather on Thursday morning after reaching their fundraising goal, he said, "I never knew people could love an old man so much," according to her.

Fraley said the money from the GoFundMe is deposited into a separate account, and she said she is willing to be "completely transparent" with how the money may be spent.

Next up, the home is getting appraised on Wednesday before Potter can make an offer on it.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio