In 2009, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act). Its goal was to prevent banks from taking advantage of credit-card users with excessive fees (mainly over-limit fees and late fees) and other tactics. A few of its notable provisions include setting minimum payment deadlines to 21 days after bills are …
The Evidence Is In: The CARD Act Helped Consumers Read More »
First came credit cards in the 1970s, then debit cards in the 1990s, and now there are what the financial industry refers to as “stored-value cards”: cards that function independently of a line of credit or a demand account. The cards’ balances are pre-funded, much like secured credit cards, which I wrote about here. Stored-value …
On November 17, The New York Times ran an editorial that rambled a little bit but ultimately reached the conclusion that state governments are much too lax when it comes to protecting the public from debt collection agencies. Debt collectors’ harassing—and occasionally illegal—behavior can force people into needless bankruptcy. Among some of the interesting points …
New York Times Editorial on Debt Collectors Makes the Case for Cash Read More »
Usually lawyers’ role in debt collection is to represent creditors or debtors. Rarely is the core of their business collecting debts. The big debt collection money comes from buying old debts from banks for a fraction of their value and hoping to recover enough of them to make the purchase worthwhile. It often is. For …
There are many debts that are not covered by a discharge order in New York bankruptcy, so it might be tempting to try to transfer one to a credit card and then file bankruptcy to get rid of it. This is a bad idea and it probably won’t work, especially for tax debts. Moreover, it …
Paying Debts With a Credit Card Before Bankruptcy Can Backfire Read More »
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was passed back in 1977, long before typical American households had so much as one computer, much less the smartphones of today. The FDCPA even discusses communications by debt collectors over telegrams. Consequently, there’s been some anxiety over collectors using social media to locate debtors or communicate with …
Credit scores were primarily invented to help lenders gauge debtors’ creditworthiness with a handy, neutral (hopefully) benchmark rather than relying on references or worse, insider dealings. It didn’t take long, however, for other parties to start using them, like landlords seeking reassurance that their tenants would pay rent on time. With employers, however, it’s different. …
New York City to Ban Credit Checks for Job Candidates Read More »
Late last year I wrote about the federal government’s investigations into zombie debts that were persisting on people’s credit reports after they filed New York bankruptcy. Uncorrected errors on credit reports like these can cause serious consequences for those trying to obtain new credit, especially those who’ve exited bankruptcy. The good news on this front …
New York Attorney General Announces Settlement With Credit Reporting Bureaus Read More »
You would think state regulators would be monitoring debt collectors already, but it turns out there were gaps in the law that allowed some debt collectors to go about their business unsupervised. The result, as you can imagine, was many people—including some who had completed New York bankruptcy—suffering abuse. The state’s Department of Financial Services …
New York Regulators to Crack Down on Abusive Debt Collectors Read More »
A few months back, we had the problem of the fraudulent debt collector, but more recently The New York Times Dealbook blog gives us the menace of the bank that neglects to report debts canceled in New York bankruptcy as properly discharged to credit reporting bureaus. Apparently the U.S. Trustee’s office is so concerned that …
Government Investigating Zombie Debts on Credit Reports Read More »
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