Category Archives: Debt Articles
- Get a Free Friends and Family Health Kit
Okay, I admit this might not be the best freebie in the world but apparently the government wants to spend money sending out publications and information to help people deal with medical issues. What can I say, besides it’s a freebie and it looks like it’s for the ladies. The pitch to order these publications [...]
- Best Debt Consolidation Loans
Finding a legitimate debt consolidation loan program can be frustrating, depressing and darn near impossible. We’ve all seen the advertisements promising loans for people with bad credit or loans with no credit check. In my experience those companies are often high priced, that is if you actually get a debt consolidation loan and not get [...]
- You Have Not Failed if You File Bankruptcy
A frequent and quiet chorus says people who file bankruptcy have failed in some way, but let’s set the record straight on that myth. It’s not true. Bankruptcy is the law of the land in many countries. It allows people otherwise tightly gripped by unmanageable debt to find a way to break free of an [...]
- IRS Form 982 is Your Friend if You Got a 1099-C
Just because you got a 1099-C form from forgiven debt is not a reason to immediately panic and think you are automatically going to owe a lot of taxes on the forgiven debt. In the debt world a point of contention for me is the chronic misinformation about forgiven debt from debt settlement or a [...]
- Taxes May Be Due on Mortgage Settlement Checks. Slap!
Double Whammy: Mortgage Settlement Payments Will Be Taxed (via Credit.com) If you are one of the more than 1.8 million people who have received a check from the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) settlement — or if you have one coming — don’t spend it all in one place. These payments are considered taxable income for [...]
- The Role Credit Counseling Plays in Debt Relief
The following is a guest post. And while I personally might not agree with some of the points of view, I think it is important for people to hear from different sides. Given what I think is going to be an exploding retirement crisis I am now more convinced that for those near or over [...]
- The Big Profits Behind Student Loan Interest Rates
The Big Profits Behind Student Loan Interest Rates (via Credit.com) If insanity is defined as repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different result, the student loan interest rate throwdown that’s about to be reprised in Washington, D.C., warrants an intervention. You may recall that at this time in 2012, Congress was in a [...]
- Are No-Cost Mortgages Always the Best Deal?
Are No-Cost Mortgages Always the Best Deal? (via Credit.com) A program made popular in the height of the subprime lending environment was the no-cost mortgage. No-cost mortgages have gotten quite a bit of exposure lately, as consumers seek to better understand loan terms, interest rates and how to qualify for mortgages in an ever-tightening credit [...]
- Soldiers Wounded by Debt, Not Bullets
by Paul Kiel, ProPublica, and Mitchell Hartman, Marketplace, May 15, 2013, 5:50 a.m.by Paul Kiel and Krista Kjellman Schmidt, ProPublica, May 15 This story was co-produced with Marketplace. Listen to their coverage. Seven years after Congress banned payday-loan companies from charging exorbitant interest rates to service members, many of the nation’s military bases are surrounded [...]
- Maybe You Should Not Go to College
I hear all the arguments about the value of a college education. And I agree with much of that. But the fact is not everyone who goes to college and takes on student loan debt graduates or even graduates into a field that pays enough to service the student loan debt. In fact 75 percent [...]
- 6 Ways to Not Be a Broke Ass American After Kicking Your Debt
I spend almost all of my time focused on helping people to get out of debt. But today I wanted to take a moment and focus on what to do once that crisis has passed and I’ve added a new section about life after debt to my free guides on dealing with debt. Let’s talk [...]
- How to Pay Off a Shitload of Credit Card Debt
How to Pay Off A Mountain of Credit Card Debt (via Credit.com) Credit card debt is a big problem in America today. One recent study found that 1 in 4 people have more credit card debt than savings. Households with credit card debt on average have about $15,000 in debt, and that makes it incredibly [...]
- Foreclosure Rescue Scammers Plead Guilty to Fraud
The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) today announced that Mark S. Farhood, 49, formerly of San Diego, Calif., and Jason S. Sant, 37, of Lecanto, Fla., pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy charges in connection with their operation of a nationwide online foreclosure rescue scam that went [...]
- Ways to Build Credit Without Relying Solely on Credit Cards
For those who prefer to pay with cash and avoid the credit card debt cycle altogether, building a solid credit history and high FICO score can be a challenge – but it doesn’t have to be. Only a small portion of your FICO score is based on having and using revolving credit. The first step [...]
- How Installment Lenders Put Borrowers in a World of Hurt
by Paul Kiel ProPublica This story was co-produced with Marketplace. Listen to their coverage. One day late last year, Katrina Sutton stood at a gas pump outside Atlanta and swiped her debit card. Insufficient funds. But that couldn’t be. She’d been careful to wait until her $270 paycheck from Walmart had hit her account. The [...]