A common saying when I was young (in the last century) was the old adage that lawyers are people who wish to make a lot of money but are risk-averse. That observation certainly rang true when I went to law school in the 1970s. I graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I have multiple payday loans. A company offered me debt relief. Is First Choice Advocacy legit? Jamaal Answer: Dear Jamaal, I have written about First Choice Advocacy before and I would direct you to these posts. The term “legit” is always problematic. I have no idea what that means to you. As … Read more
Parents trying to do a good thing and send their loved kids to college often blindly take out student loans. In the federal loan space, these undergraduate loans are Parent PLUS loans. The best way to think of these loans is where only one parent is financially responsible for the loan, but all the benefit … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I was doing chemotherapy at the time. I’m a colon cancer survivor. My daughter is a single parent of two small boys and had to move to Tracy, CA cheaper cost of living. I needed to babysit so she could work along with continuing my treatment. Long story short, Anyway, all was … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, In debt and I’m with a debt consolidation company know. Mediator Law Group What is debt validation? Is this a smart way to work on debt? Most of the debt is an unsecured bank loan along with credit card debt. The bank loan is for 38 thousand dollars. Is it unrealistic to … Read more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action recently against an income share agreement (ISA) provider for mispresenting its product and failing to comply with federal consumer financial law that governs private student loans. Better Future Forward, Inc., through its affiliated companies, provides students with money to finance their higher education, in the form of … Read more
In response to the COVID pandemic, the Department of Education allowed student-loan debtors to skip their monthly loan payments without penalty until September 30, 2021. That pause was recently extended to January 30, 2022. Thanks to the Department’s forbearance, millions of college-loan borrowers are enjoying a respite from making loan payments, knowing that DOE will … Read more
The Department of Education has just announced a new policy that subjects third parties to up to “criminal penalties that include a fine of not more than $20,000, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, beginning one day after the date of publication of this notice.” It does appear that nonprofits get a … Read more
Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Richard Fairbank, CEO of Capital One Financial Corp., will pay a $637,950 civil penalty to settle charges that his acquisition of Capital One Financial stock violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Fairbank’s recent multi-million dollar compensation package included over 100,000 Capital One Financial shares in 2018, which increased his … Read more
By Patrick Young The time when you could expect a stable, secure job for life has long passed. Self-employment is at an all-time high, and the “gig” economy is the new normal. To survive and, indeed, thrive in 2021 and beyond, workers must embrace the entrepreneurial mindset: If you want financial security, essentially, you will … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I need help paying off my title loan to keep my truck and make money because I am homeless and unemployed, and all I have is my truck, and I’m sleeping in it. Dennis Answer: Dear Dennis, You are trapped in a vicious circle. You probably took out the title loan for … Read more
Joss recently wrote Steve Rhode (the Get Out of Debt Guy) and asked for advice about a student loan her father took out to help finance her college education. Joss co-signed the loan but understood that her father would pay the loan back. He didn’t. Joss didn’t know her father was not paying down the … Read more
An uncontested DIY divorce could cost $300. For a messy, high-stakes parting, add zeros (knowing that the sum will be short of Jeff Bezos’ $38 billion). When the nuptial knot frays, average divorce costs add up to several thousand. Specifically, $13,000, on average, when a full-service lawyer handles the split, Nolo found. But all kinds … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, Spring Legal Group, a debt resolution group. They are supposed to be helping, and about $4000+ has been automatically deducted from my checking account. It went to a “third party” holding financial institution. Today I reviewed the account (8/27/2021), and there is only $97 in that account. The review shows all kinds … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My father took out student loans for me, and I was a co-signer. I took out my own student loans in only my name as well. We agreed that we would each pay the loans in our own names. So after I graduated, I began making payments on the loans in my … Read more