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Katie Sandford is a Brockton housing activist and young mother who worries about how foreclosures have damaged her city.

Boston officials asserted yesterday that the stalled Filene’s redevelopment meets the legal definition of a blighted property, which would allow the city to take control of the Downtown Crossing site and find a new development team that can move the project forward.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday threatened to revoke permits for the stalled Filene’s redevelopment and even take the property by eminent domain, accusing one of the developers of enacting a policy to deliberately sit on idle properties to pressure government officials to provide funding.

You can still get credit if your finances are a mess. It will just cost dearly. A sweeping credit card law that took effect yesterday is supposed to prevent banks from employing tactics that push borrowers deeper into debt. Yet loans and cards with crushing terms still beckon.

Beginning tomorrow, some of the more outrageous practices of credit card issuers will be outlawed. But, just like a bully on a playground who doesn’t punch when the teacher is watching, lenders will find ways to continue pummeling consumers.

Credit card bills will get more user-friendly on Monday, one of the most obvious ways a new federal law will try to help frustrated customers.