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 »
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 …
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 »
The New York Times Magazine ran an interesting article on the “dark, labyrinthine, and extremely lucrative world” of consumer debt collection. Its principal characters were an ex-Wall Street banker and an ex-con. Frankly, it read like the cast of characters from a comedy movie like Repo Man. One of the topics the article raised was …
New York Bankruptcy Is Better Than Paying a Fraudulent Debt Collector Read More »
File under non-bankruptcy options: What are some ways to pay down those credit card debts, stay out of New York bankruptcy, and possibly raise your credit score? Here are some answers: (1) Obtain your credit report. By federal law, you’re entitled to up to three free credit reports from the three credit reporting bureaus for …
Seven Tips for Paying Down Credit Card Debt and Raising Credit Scores Read More »
Marriage and bankruptcy has come up on this blog recently, and because married couples often share debts, one obvious question is how they can use the bankruptcy process to their advantage. Here are several ways married partners can do so. (1) Because married partners aren’t obligated to file jointly when one of them encounters difficulties …
It should be common knowledge by now, but for whatever reason it isn’t always the case: Households take on credit card debt because of sudden shocks to their incomes and savings—not because of financial irresponsibility. It follows that people attempting to discharge unsecured debts in New York bankruptcy do so for the same reasons. The …
Study Shows Credit Card Debt Driven by Health Care Costs, Unemployment Read More »
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