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.

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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.

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‘Debt-relief’ companies banned from charging advance fees over the phone

Posted by admin in Bankruptcy News, Debt Relief on October 25, 2010

Starting next week, telemarketing companies peddling debt-relief services to consumers will be banned from charging customers advance fees. Any unscrupulous companies that flout the new rules will be caught and punished, the Federal Trade Commission announced.

The modifications to the Telemarketing Sales Rule, first announced last July, represent an effort by the commission to rein in abuses by an industry that’s profited from thousands of financially-distressed Americans during the Great Recession.

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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

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Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich

Posted by admin in Articles, Foreclosure on July 11, 2010

Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: July 8, 2010 on NYtimes.com

The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed to the suburban middle class is striking the upper class in privileged enclaves like this one in Silicon Valley.

read entire article on NYtimes.com

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