Consumers have protections from their creditors, but consumers also have liability to their creditors. Knowing your rights and obligations is the best way to make informed decisions.
Debt settlement a bad alternative to bankruptcy By Liz Weston NerdWallet.com, Aug 30, 2017 (a summary from South Bend Tribune) Many people believe that hiring a company to settle their debts is better on their credit, will cost them less in the long run and will generally be better than a bankruptcy. This is what […]
“This is What Happens to Student Loans When You Die”. The following is a summary of USA Today article. It is important that you know the type of student loan (federal or private), the guarantors of the student loan (parents, etc), and the law of the state where you live. This article cannot walk you […]
Once again the New York Times reports on Wells Fargo’s fraudulent account scandal. No, this is not the same one from 2016, this is a new one where the bank just “found” more than a million additional unauthorized accounts, raising the total to 3.5 million accounts. “Every time we get one of these announcements, the […]
CFPB REPORT WARNS THAT TAKING OUT A REVERSE MORTGAGE LOAN CAN BE AN EXPENSIVE WAY TO MAXIMIZE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS Reprint from The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) (8/24/2017) CFPB issued a report warning older consumers about taking out a reverse mortgage loan in order to bridge the gap in income while delaying Social Security […]
CFPB – new report “Innovation Highlights: Emerging Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “CFPB” released a new data finding that nearly half of student loan borrowers leave school owing at least $20,000 – double the number of borrowers a decade ago. The Bureau also found that more borrowers are taking out student […]
Wells Fargo is on the front page AGAIN – this time for “allegedly” over charging military veterans for refinance loans. In an article published by Housingwire, author Ben Lane, Wells Fargo announced that it will pay $108 million to the federal government to settle allegations that the bank overcharged military veterans for refinance loans.
From Bloomberg: Student Loan Giant Faces Trial over US Claim it Duped Borrowers. Lawsuits brought by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorneys general of Washington and Illinois allege that Navient mistreated hundreds of thousands of student debtors by taking shortcuts to minimize its own costs, while adding what the CFPB said was as much as $4 […]
Contempt bankruptcy court order ends in prison time: In re Kenny G. Enterprises 16-55007 (9th Cir 7/26/2017) Kenneth Gharib refused to comply with a bankruptcy court order to turn over $1,420,000 belonging to a chapter 7 estate. The judge imposed sanctions for the contempt: civil contempt sanctions of $1,420,000, $1,000 a day until he complied, […]
From the New York Times: “Tens of thousands of people who took out private student loans to pay for college but have not been able to keep up payments may get their debts wiped away because critical paperwork is missing, . The troubled loans, which total at least $5 billion, are at the center of […]
New policy governing credit reporting criteria. Photo by CafeCredit under CC 2.0 Starting July 1, 2017, the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, are starting a new policy that will raise about 12 million consumers’ credit scores as much as 10 points. This could mean the difference in qualifying for a better […]
