[cliffmaster]

OMG ! It worked ! Thanks so much chrishajer. But I must add that I moved bbpress to a upper level above my WP install and used a sub domain for the forums. Because following 1and1 instructions stated above in their email response, it did not solve the problem until I placed

Options -MultiViews

At the top of the htaccess file.

Now permalinks work just fine.

Thanks again !