Articles by Mike Killian


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Author Bio: Mike Killian is founder of Learning Credit and Debt Management. He has been writing and teaching about credit and debt management issues for over 12 years. His articles have been referenced by various members of the media, including MSNBC and The Motley Fool. Mike has also offered debt elimination seminars to businesses and community colleges for many years. He has an MS in counseling and is a nationally certified as a Personal Finance Counselor. Mike can be found at LearnCreditManagement.com/.

Collectors Called Constantly Scared of Foreclosure, What Can I Do? – Roy

 
“Dear Steve,
I have recently taken over management of finances and bill paying from my wife. I always knew we had some lingering credit card debt that had been following us since college, but I had no idea what the real situation was.
At this point we are $51,000 in credit card debt. We have a [...]

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Will Banks Negotiate My Student Loans? – Russell

 
“Dear Steve,
4-1/2 years ago I decided to go back to school for Dental Hygiene. My wife would not let me work during the four years of school and her income did not quite meet all our expenses. I took out private loans to pay for school and living expenses plus rolled an old HELOC loan [...]

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How Do I Get My Foreclosed Home Forgiven? Carl

“Dear Steve,
My home was forclosed they did not forgive my debt how do i get it forgiven
Carl”
I asked my friend Mike Killian to answer your question for you. I wanted to make sure you got an answer as quickly as possible as I’m a bit backed up at the moment. I’ll be watching the [...]

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Boilermaker Seasonal Financial Despair and In Super Hot Water – Heidi

“Dear Steve,
My husband is a boilermaker which is a feast for famine type of job. By the time we get caught up on basic utilities and rent and car payments, his job ends and if we have been able to save anything its used within the first month to survive we have 4 children and [...]

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Sorry We Went With Debt Management – Amber

“Dear Steve,
About 6 months ago, my husband and I decided to go with a debt management company to help with the relief of our credit card debt. It’s been a bigger mess than I ever thought it would be. There have been no payments made to any of my credit card companys because apparently the [...]

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Collections Sued But I Didn’t Go to Hearing. What Now? – Sara

“Dear Steve,
Couldn’t pay full payments for 2 credit cards. They went to collections. Collections sued but I didnt go to hearing. They sent a form asking my bank account info and income information. What do I do now?
Sara”
I asked my friend Mike Killian to answer your question for you. I wanted to make sure [...]

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How To Get Bank To Reduce Interest On Personal Loan – Jena

“Dear Steve,
I have a personal loan with BofA and it’s somewhere at 23%. I’ve been trying since i got it to have the APR lowered but keep getting excuses as to why they wont. Now i’ve lost my job and can’t afford the payments. When I called BofA once again they said they couldn’t lower [...]

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Cashout 401k and Then Reimburse? – Roger

“Dear Steve,
Cut back in hours at work. Hard to keep up with the bills. Now have to do something!
Why not cash out or take a paritical cashout. Could you not pay off high intrest loans or credit cards. The money you would save intrest would save money. Then increase what you were putting in your [...]

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Reduce Interest To Reduce Payments w/o Affecting Credit – Christina

“Dear Steve,
We have too much credit card debt and rely on overtime to pay our bills. In the current climate it appears that the overtime is going to be pulled back and we will lose that extra income.
Is there a way to reduce the interest on our credit card payments, thus, reduce our payment amounts, [...]

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Divorce Debt Mountain While Trying To Get Security Clearance – Robert

“Dear Steve,
I went through a divorce in 2004 and i was stuck with most of the bills. I am in the military and i am trying to get a security clear., but am having trouble due to all the bills that went past due and charged off from the divorce. I have paid on alot [...]

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Reaffirmed Car To Be Repossessed After Bankruptcy – Ray

“Dear Steve,
I filed bankruptcy and reafirmed my car. I then lost my job. Now my car is going to be repossed. I am several months behind.
How can I keep my car now that I have found steady employment and can make the payments
Ray”
I asked my friend Mike Killian to answer your question for you. I [...]

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What Can I Do with 0% Interest Ending? Harsha

“Dear Steve,
I have 2500 balance on a 3500 credit limit divident platinum mastercard. i am on the 6th month of 6 month 0% apr offer, i have not missed a payment till now, and my credit history is like 9months old, i have 2 credit cards one is master card frpm citi and pther 600$ [...]

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No Way Out Of Mess. Wish I Had Never Gone to School. I Have Nothing to Offer To Anyone – Lisa

“Dear Steve,
I am currently $96,095.00 in student loan debt and it is quickly increasing because of the interest. I was laid off this past June. With having my mortgage and utilities I have little left from my unemployment check to make the payment of $724.00 per month. I have very little hope right now. I [...]

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Statute of Limitation – Will Debt Go On Forever? – Jennifer

“Dear Steve,
I had my bank account bounce for a 263.00 credit. now I have over $900 and counting in bank fees.
I am berried in debt and unemployed, I want to know how long a debt is valid (statues of limitations) but I don’t understand what is written for the “Oregon statutes of limitation” listed below, [...]

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Need My Car and 3 Months Behind. What Can I Do? – Rita

“Dear Steve,
My husband has been unemployeed and I work full time. We had to move out of last home due to toxic mold. I am 3 months behind in car payments and they want to take my car. It is the only way i can get to work to get groceries for my kids and [...]

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Bankruptcy Is Not the Honest Christian Way to Solve Problem? – Kristen

“Dear Steve,
We have aprx. $80,000 in unsecured debt. We are a family of seven. My husband, myself and our 5 children. We are drowning. I was making the min. payment on the credit cards until they started charging obscene interest rates. I have recently fallen behind – or – well refused to pay them their [...]

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How Much For How Long Would a Settlement Hurt My Credit Score? – Leanne

“Dear Steve,
I have credit card debt on one card of $18,000. They are willing to settle with me through their settlement dept. for $10,800. I am only making the minimum payments on this account. My credit score is in the 7 hundreds and I don’t want to do much damage because I would like to [...]

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$25,000 at 19.99% Interest- What Can I do? – Elisabeth

“Dear Steve,
When I previously left my previous employer I took a Bank of America Loan out for 25,000 to pay off all of my credit cards so that i could get 1 payment. My understanding was that it was a loan at 5.5% in 2006 as it turned out the rate was 19.99%~
Now it is [...]

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Can Claim Be Dismissed Because of Expiration of Statute of Limitations? – Christopher

“Dear Steve,
I received a Summons to appear in Civil Court. The Plaintiff is a collection agency, attempting to collect over $18,000. The Summons included a fax cover sheet from Chase Bank, with whom I had an account years ago. I live in Missouri, and the SOL for open accounts is 5 yrs. My credit report [...]

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What Do I Do to Consolidate Bills? Mary

“Dear Steve,
Need help with consolidating bills. What do I have to do in order to start this process?
Mary”
I asked my friend Mike Killian to answer your question for you. I wanted to make sure you got an answer as quickly as possible as I’m a bit backed up at the moment. I’ll be watching the [...]

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Barely Getting By… What Do I Do? Jennifer

“Dear Steve,
I went through a traumatizing divorce and got a lump sum with which I paid down all the credit cards. I had to live on them for a while. I have 2 small kids that are sick alot and one is ADD/ Dyslexic so I am not able to work a full time job. [...]

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Credit Card Company Put Someone Else’s Name On My Account- Help – Heather

“Dear Steve,
Discrepencies on credit report and credit card mess. Question The cc company accidentally put someone elses name on myaccount. I couldn’t have access to the account while they investigated and when the reopened it there were tons of late fees and penelties. It was not my fault. Someone opened a lot of credit using [...]

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Deceased Spouse Left $33,000 Worth of Credit Card Debt. What Can I Do? – Judy

“Dear Steve,
My husband passed away rhe end of 2008. I had been iill in 2007 and was not working. Other than the horrible fact he died, I did not know we were in financial trouble. Two days after he died, I opened mail I had never seen and found out he had been carrying close [...]

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What Can I Do With the Payday Loan Vicious Cycle? – Dodie

“Dear Steve,
Payday loan overload. I am broke and getting worse every payday.
I am in the vicious cycle of payday loans and i am delinquent on some and they are threatening me with garnishments and employer contact. I can not seem to get out of this debt cycle and it takes all my paycheck to pay [...]

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Unemployed, Pregnant, and Can’t Afford the Payments – Erin

“Dear Steve,
Unemployed, pregnant, and cant afford the payments demanded by the debt collectors.
I am trying to make the demanded payments by the debt collectors, with out defaulting on my car payment, insurance, and medical bills. Do I have to send the collection agency the payment they are demanding, or can I send what little [...]

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Converting 8.9% Variable Credit Card to 3.4% Variable Equity is Bad Deal. George

“Dear Steve,
I have $22K in credit card debt(on one card) with an 8.99% variable rate. Minimum payment is about $450/month. I have recently began to pay more than the minimum(last month i paid $1000) since I would love to pay this off or at least bring it down so my minimum payment isnt so high. [...]

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Creditor Jurisdiction Overseas – Jonny

“Dear Steve,
Moved overseas to New Zealand a couple years ago. Went overseas with about $8000USD in credit card debt. I’ve tried to pay it off but a couple “life accidents” with employers have left me at about the same amount. I’m setled in the South Pacific and have no intention of returning to the US [...]

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Is There a Way to Get Out of Debt for Free? – Steve

“Dear Steve,
I was unemployed for 7 months in 2007 and moved to Texas for employment, The company shut down the project in Novemeber of 2007 then fired 35 people in January of 08. During this time My wife lived in New Jersey and never came to Houston and filed for divorce. I never thought that [...]

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Can I Refinance My Car or Consolidate All Debt? – Rose

“Dear Steve,
I have about $45K worth of debt. I have four credit cards with balances of $500 each. I have IRS debt of $1600 and $3000 balance on Best buy card. And a $38K auto loan. Truthfully, its the auto loan that is killing me. I pay 13% interest. SO now my loan is upside [...]

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I Used to Have a Drug Problem. Now I’m Left With Debt. – Jayme

“Dear Steve,
In my younger years, I had a drug problem so I just didn’t care about all the court fines that were mounting. I’m now 28, two sons and a full time job for 3 years. Although I’m paying $100. a month to the collection company that the court sent these fines to, I’m just [...]

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I’m Living in a Trailer With My Girlfriend and Interest Rates on Cards Are High. – John

“Dear Steve,
I make 30,000 a year, have 12,500 in credit card debt and an un-secured loan for 10,000 (borrowed to buy the trailer I’m living in) lot rent is 240 a month loan payment is 250 a month and min payments on cards total 250 per mth. My live in girlfriend makes enough to cover [...]

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Can I Call My Credit Card Companies and Ask Them to Lower My Balance? – Yianni

“Dear Steve,
Can I call a credit card company and ask them to lower the amount and I can pay that in full. So if I owe 2800 for one card can I tell them I can afford to pay 2200 right now to pay it all off. Maybe they have a hidden 10% option? I [...]

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