Category: Articles

Government starting to crack down on debt collectors

Posted by admin in Articles, Debt Collection on November 17, 2010

Last week, a Minnesota-based debt collection firm with a long history of shady practices and consumer complaints was slapped with a whopping $1.75 million fine by the Federal Trade Commission. It was the second-highest fine ever issued in a civil trial against a debt collection company. Among the offenses committed by the company, Allied Interstate, Inc., were charges that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the FTC said. Allied also tried to collect debt without proof or checking for accuracy – the same accusation that’s now roiling the foreclosed mortgage market.

read entire article

No Comments

10 tips for dealing with debt collectors

Posted by admin in Articles, Debt Collection on November 17, 2010

Debt collection is big business and because of its potential impact, the government has established very strict rules about how it should be done. Clearly, as we wrote in our story about the aggressive tactics collectors sometimes use, not every company plays by the rules.

Here are some tips for dealing with debt collection and understanding the rules:
read entire article

No Comments

Debt Collectors Using Aggressive Tactics

Posted by admin in Articles, Debt Collection, Debt Relief on November 17, 2010

Debt collectors using aggressive tactics to pursue payments

Jorgen Wouters

When Betty Perez bought new bedroom furniture for her children earlier this year, she never dreamed that being a few days late on her payments would result in a collection agency barricading her front door and threatening to call the police.

Perez is just one of an untold numbers of consumers, many of them struggling to make ends meet in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, who are facing increasingly aggressive tactics by debt collectors determined to do whatever it takes to make people pay up.

read entire article

No Comments

Caution: Loan Modification Can Hurt Your Credit

Posted by admin in Articles, Mortgage Modification on November 17, 2010

Sheree Curry, HousingWatch Contributor

A homeowner was dumbfounded to discover that his near-perfect credit score of 750 fell more than 100 points after joining a trial mortgage assistance program. And it happened despite never having fallen behind in his mortgage and even though he made the trial’s payments on time.

It’s a dilemma facing many homeowners seeking loan modifications, says CNNMoney. In this case it happened to a Chicago-area municipal employee who simply sought assistance after his work hours were cut.

read entire article

No Comments

Avoiding Foreclosure: Declaring Bankruptcy Sometimes Helps

Posted by admin in Articles, Foreclosure on July 28, 2010

Americans are increasingly filing for bankruptcy in order to avoid foreclosure.

Katherine Porter, a bankruptcy expert at Harvard Law School, estimates that 75 percent of Chapter 13 filings fall into this category. “Despite all the government programs, bankruptcy is probably the most commonly used foreclosure prevention technique,” Porter tells HousingWatch.    read entire article on housingwatch.com

No Comments