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If you’ve fallen behind in your bills, you’ve probably heard from your creditors. First, they send a notice through the mail, but if you don’t respond, you may get a phone call. Or two. Or hundreds. When the calls start, you’re probably embarrassed and apologetic. But then the calls continue. And the caller becomes nasty…. Read More »
If you’ve gotten behind on your credit card payments, you’ve got to be frustrated about the high late fees and the increased interest rate your bank has hit you with. But that may not be the worst of your troubles. Did you know that your bank could go straight to your employer and force them… Read More »
Debt relief is something that is on the minds of thousands of Americans. This is even apparent several years following the 2008 economic crisis. People lost their savings, their retirement funds, their homes, and everything they had worked for prior to the crash, and the recovery is still very much apparent. Furthermore, because of the… Read More »
Since the housing crisis of 2008, the term “predatory lending” has become very familiar to American consumers. A predatory lender is someone who exploits consumers’ financial difficulties to trap them into loans that benefit the lender much more than the borrower. The telltale signs of a predatory loan are easy qualification standards and ultra-high interest… Read More »
Much has been made following the last economic recession about how to educate consumers and prepare them to avoid debt. More than 43 states have mandated some form of financial readiness courses at the high school level, and efforts are being made to increase that number. However, studies suggest it’s not money skills that prepare… Read More »
If you’ve accumulated a lot of credit card debt, you’ve probably had occasion to speak to your bank about it. Perhaps you asked them to forgive a late fee, or questioned why they raised your interest rate so impossibly high that you will never be able to pay off your balance. If you’ve had these… Read More »
You may have seen ads or received direct mail from a “debt resolution” service promising they can settle your credit card debt for a fraction of what you owe. That may sound like just the solution you need, until you discover how they intend to do it. They want you to challenge the banks to… Read More »
Illinois law states the repossession of a car or truck is illegal if the consumer is not actually in default on the loan or if the creditor doesn’t have a valid security interest in the vehicle. But a valid repossession can become illegal if the repossessor used tactics that “breach the peace” when seizing the… Read More »
The recent film The Big Short has focused America’s attention once again on the housing crisis of 2008 and the government bailout of the banks that followed. The price tag at the time was $700 billion to stabilize the banking industry. But as Forbes reported last year, the total government commitment (that is, the taxpayer obligation)… Read More »
According to a joint study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, or PwC, and George Washington University, 28 percent of college-educated millennials (ages 23–35) have used payday loans and pawn shops to secure short-term financing over the last five years. As reported in a January 7 article from Reuters, these millennials defy the stereotype of the alternate credit… Read More »