Debt settlement a bad alternative to bankruptcy

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 […]

Tags: debt consolidation, debt settlement, settling debts

September 4, 2017

Do Student Loan Debts Die With You?

“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 […]

September 3, 2017

Wells Fargo Discloses More Fraudulent Accounts

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 […]

Tags: fraudulent accounts, Wells Fargo

September 2, 2017

Why Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Can Be Doomed for Failure

The American Bankruptcy Institute ‘ABI’ released a report addressing the astronomically high failure rate of chapter 13 bankruptcy.  The findings are not surprising for those of us who work in this world, but are shocking for the rest of the consumer community. It is likely that many bankruptcy judges have never had a successful chapter […]

August 30, 2017

Reverse Mortgage – good or bad idea?

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 […]

Tags: delaying social security, reverse mortgage

August 24, 2017

Tool to Help Navigate Student Loan Repayment Programs

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 […]

August 18, 2017

Wells Fargo Pays $108 Million for “Allegedly” Overcharged Veterans

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.

Tags: fraud, veterans, Wells Fargo

August 15, 2017

Mortgage Lenders & Servicers Are Not Your Friend

When Mortgage Lenders Monkey With Your Loan By Bill Purdy The following are some excerpts from a very informative blog on a well-known consumer bankruptcy advocate’s web site: www.BankruptcySoapBox.com. Spoiler Alert:  As a borrower, you are an expendable resource in home loan servicing to be exploited for fees and charges. Borrowers just trying to keep […]

Tags: mortgage lenderes, mortgage servicers, OCWEN

August 14, 2017

Did Navient Illegally Over-charge Student Loan Borrowers?

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 […]

Tags: Navient, student loan fraud

August 8, 2017

Can You End up in Prison After Filing a Bankruptcy?

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, […]

Tags: contempt of bankruptcy order

August 6, 2017

Typical Foreclosure and bankruptcy con artist scam

A typical story of a homeowner and the con artist scum who prey on desperate homeowners: “I tried to keep my home despite the fact they started foreclosure proceedings. I self represented myself and filed initial bankruptcy chapter 13 forms which stopped the first trustee sale/ auction date. I got stuck on the second set […]

Tags: Arizona foreclosure

July 21, 2017

Collection of Private Student Loans Tossed Out of Court

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 […]

Tags: National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, private student loans

July 18, 2017

12 Million Consumer Credit Scores Raised July 1, 2017

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 […]

Tags: credit score

July 13, 2017

Credit Repair Scams – $2 Million for Misleading Consumers & Illegal Fees

CREDIT REPAIR SCAMS – COMPANIES SUED FOR CHARGING ILLEGAL FEES AND MISLEADING CONSUMERS The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), June 27, 2017, filed two complaints and proposed final judgments in federal court against Prime Credit, LLC, IMC Capital, LLC, Commercial Credit Consultants (Accurise), Blake Johnson, Eric Schlegel, Park View Law, fka as Prime Law Experts, […]

Tags: Arthur Barens, Blake Johnson, Commercial Credit Consultants, credit repair, credit repair scams, Eric Schlegel, IMC Capital LLC, Park View Law, Prime Credit LLC, Prime Law Experts Inc.

July 3, 2017

Physical and financial abuse go together, by Prof. Andrea Littwin

Study finds domestic violence, ‘coerced debt’ often go together The following is an excerpt from a post by GreenPath regarding an study about the tie between physical abuse and financial abuse, by Susan Ladika/CreditCards.comm 26 September 2012 Abusers take control of their victims by saddling them with unwanted debt (credit cards, buying vehicles, houses or […]

Tags: domestic violence, financial abuse

June 25, 2017

Wells Fargo in Trouble Again & Again

According to an article in USA Today “Wells Fargo faces new accusations that it tried to capitalize financially on its customers without their permission — this time by allegedly modifying mortgage terms for people who had filed for bankruptcy protection. With the smoke still lingering from the firestorm that erupted from the bank’s opening of fake […]

Tags: banking, scams, Wells Fargo

June 22, 2017

Supreme Court Finds Debt Buyers Free to Collect on Old Debts

May 15, 2017: Resolving a split of circuits, the Supreme Court held 5/3 in Midland Funding LLC v. Johnson  6-348 (Sup. Ct. May 15, 2017) that a debt collector who files a stale claim that is “obviously” barred by the statute of limitations has not engaged in false, deceptive, misleading, unconscionable, or unfair conduct and […]

Tags: debt collectors, harassment by debt collectors, stale debts

May 21, 2017

How to Rebuild Your Credit – guest post

How to Rebuild Your Credit Are you overwhelmed by financial challenges?  Do you want to rebuild your credit?  Many people try to solve their problems in the privacy of their homes, rather than asking for guidance.  Fortunately, the Internet allows them to research answers to their financial questions, without exposing their situation to neighbors, co-workers […]

Tags: fixing credit, rebuild credit

May 7, 2017

Despite Dismal Past Failures Congress Unleashes New Tax Debt Collection Policy

April, 2017 – according an article in the New York Times, Congress instructed the Internal Revenue Service is going to use private debt-collection companies to collect overdue payments from taxpayers, despite this idea being a complete failure in 1996 and again in 2006.  This new provision was buried in a $305 billion highway funding bill […]

Tags: collection of taxes, debt collectors abuse

April 22, 2017

Bank of America Penalized $45 M for Wrongful Foreclosure

In re: Sundquist v. Bank of America, NA | Bank of America Hit with $45 Million in Punitive Damages for Stay ViolationsQuick Page Index1 In re: Sundquist v. Bank of America, NA | Bank of America Hit with $45 Million in Punitive Damages for Stay Violations1.0.1 Bank of America willfully violated the automatic stay by:1.0.2 […]

Tags: B of A, Bank of America, wrongful foreclosure

April 18, 2017