The offers stuffing your mailbox can sound enticing: Transfer a balance from a high-rate credit card to a new card and pay no interest for six months, a year or even longer. If you’ve been struggling to pay off credit card debt, such offers can help you pay off your balance, at no cost, over […]
Inside the Dark Labyrinthine, and Extremely Lucrative World of Consumer Debt Collection
One afternoon in October 2009, a former banking executive named Aaron Siegel waited impatiently in the master bedroom of a house in Buffalo that served as his office. As he stared at the room’s old fireplace and then out the window to the quiet street beyond, he tried not to think about his investors […]
Help Is on the Way for Repaying Student Loans
If you are struggling with student loans that you took out before October 2007, there is a new, more generous option in the works that may help you manage your debt payments. In June, President Obama signed an executive order that expanded the “pay as you earn” program, known as PAYE. The program caps monthly […]
Credit Scores Could Rise With FICO’s New Model
The creator of one of the most widely used and influential credit scores, FICO, said on Thursday that the latest version of its score would no longer weigh medical debts — which account for about half of all unpaid collections on consumers’ credit reports — as heavily as it did in previous iterations. The newer […]
Credit Scores vs. Credit Reports
Both are readily available for purchase online, but figuring out which is most accurate can be daunting. The advice from most mortgage professionals to first-time home buyers is to begin sprucing up their credit at least six months before applying for a loan. Credit scores and credit reports are readily available for purchase online, but […]
Debt Collection ‘Factory’ Preyed On Broke Americans: Lawsuit
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Attorney, Lee Perlman. Originally posted here by the Huffington Post. A federal watchdog is suing a collection agency that allegedly operated like a “factory” churning out lawsuits against cash-strapped borrowers, often using misleading, deceptive and illegal practices. The suit is the latest effort by regulators to crack down on debt […]
EDITORIAL: Student Loan Debt Should not be Exempt in Bankruptcies
Published in the New Haven Register here. In this July 18, 2013, photo, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, announces to reporters that a bipartisan agreement was reached on rates for government student loans in Washington. From left are Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., Harkin, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., Sen. Angus […]
Treasury Secretary Unveils Small Steps to Augment Loan Modification Program
Jacob J. Lew, center, the Treasury secretary, met with homeowners, housing counselors and counseling clients at the Greater Washington Urban League in Washington on Thursday. Credit Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Times The Obama administration will take further steps to ease foreclosures, rising rents and scarce mortgages, Jacob J. Lew, the Treasury secretary, said […]
Overdraft Fees Still Baffle Consumers
Originally published in the Money Advisor section of the New York Times, here. Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Attorney, Lee Perlman It has been nearly four years since rules went into effect to help clarify when banks may charge you penalties if you overdraw your checking account using your debit card. But many people remain […]
It’s Official: The Boomerang Kids Won’t Leave
By ADAM DAVIDSONJUNE 20, 2014 Adrianne Smith, 28, graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2008 and went to work as a behavioral analyst treating children on the autism spectrum. She was quickly making more than $60,000 a year, but in order to earn that money, “I had a huge caseload,” she said, handling […]
