Q: Is it legal for a mortgage company to all of a sudden demand a deferment balance from 10 years ago now, or will they foreclose on the home I am one month behind on the monthly payment?
A: That sounds a lot like a balloon mortgage (a mortgage in which a large portion of the borrowed principal is repaid in a single payment at the end of the loan period) where after some time, the balance is due in full. The preceding years are typically interest-only payments. If you don’t pay the balloon payment due, you can be foreclosed on since you would default. For more answers on balloon mortgages or balloon notes see this.
Q: A creditor did not provide their phone number on my credit report. Can I dispute it?
A: Dispute it directly with the credit reporting agency. You can generally do this after logging in to access your report. You can get a free credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Q: If a creditor refuses to accept payment because it’s not a big enough payment is the account considered paid in full?
A: No.
Q: Can my borrower postpone monthly payments without asking the lender?
A: Sure, it would cause them to default on the loan, and the lender will start collections and could take legal action to collect.
Q: Why should I have to pay a high house payment if I’m made to vacate my home I own while my wife lives in it?
A: Sounds like a divorce situation or some other legal requirement to vacate. In a divorce situation, I would direct you to read your divorce agreement and see what your responsibilities are. Of course, you could always stop paying and risk violating whatever caused you to have to leave. In addition, failure to pay will impact your credit score and credit rating and potentially lead to foreclosure.
Q: Is a lower credit score mean that you are a lower risk for a potential creditor?
A: No. It means you are a higher risk.
Q: If a credit score is higher than 56 percent of US consumers, is that good?
A: Well, it is better than 56 percent of other people, but you are probably still below 670.
Q: How to clear up or find out why credit score went down in 2 months with no late or bad payments and no request for loans or closing credit cards or anything?
A: There are several major reasons this could happen. For example, your balances may have increased, or a new account finally started being reported. One place to check your credit score is CreditKarma.com. They have a credit score calculator that can show you what could be bringing it down.
Q: Why am I responsible for a credit card I never received nor even activated due to the creditor mailing card to a previous address of mine?
A: What address was on file with the creditor when it was issued? If you did not have a credit card with that creditor when the card was sent out, it would be fraud, and you would be the victim of identity theft.
Q: Is there a public listing of your creditors in Chapter 13?
A: Yes. Bankruptcy filings are available through Pacer.
Q: Will, a creditor, sue you for 1500?
A: If they want to.
Q: If someone wants to send money to you thru Bank of America and I don’t have an account with Bank of America, can I still pick it up?
A: No.
Q: Is there a financial person who would take over paying bills and saving money?
A: Yes. See the Association of Daily Money Managers for more information.
Q: What documents are required for a student loan borrower defense case against Strayer University?
A: The Department of Education says you will need:
- Verified account username and password (FSA ID)
- School name(s) and program of study
- Your enrollment dates
- Documentation to support why you believe you qualify for borrower defense and to demonstrate financial harm to you, if applicable
Q: Not knowing how quickly the economy will recover should I put money in savings instead of paying extra on my mortgage?
A: Ultimately, it comes down to your ability to forecast your financial future and how much you currently have in readily accessible cash in case of an emergency. Paying extra on your mortgage will reduce the mortgage but also not be accessible anymore.
Another option is to put the extra payments in savings and then decide how things are going at the end of the year and make a large payment towards the mortgage then.
Q: What happened to debtors many years ago before the passing of bankruptcy laws?
A: They went to debtors prison. Before that, they could be locked up in the town square. Read my History of Bankruptcy post.
Q: If a debt collector has not reported your debt to the credit bureau, can the file a money complaint
A: I’m assuming you mean to file a lawsuit. Yes. Reporting to credit bureaus is a voluntary action. As Equifax says, “Creditors are not legally obliged to report at all. It’s a voluntary practice, so it’s up to them to decide when and how often they do it. This also means that some companies report to all three nationwide credit bureaus, while others only report to one or two, and others may not report at all.”
Q: How can I stop a wage garnishment by an Indian tribe telephone payday loan that I did not make nor receive any proceeds from?
A: Start with filing a complaint with your State Attorney General. You can find your Attorney General here.
Q: I need to know if Finman Financial Services is legit?
A: What does “legit” mean to you?
Q: Want to negotiate a payoff Navient loan that is 28k.
A: If this is a private student loan with Navient, talk to Damon Day for advice.
Q: Am I the only one who was pushed into a forbearance/deferment cycle time after time with Navient?
A: No. This is the subject of many actions against Navient. Navient even asserted they had no requirement to provide good advice and guidance to student loan debtors in a court case. See Navient Says They Are Not Required to Provide Good Advice to Debtors.
Q: If you pay your card off, can you call the credit card company and have them send it to your credit report right away?
A: See these posts on credit scores. Data is dumped to credit bureaus automatically, and typically updates will not occur until the next data dump by the creditor. According to Equifax, “For credit card companies, this is usually the day that they issue your charges for the most recent billing cycle, also known as your statement date. For most companies, these dates are spread throughout the month so that they don’t have to produce every customer’s statement on the same day.
For example, if a credit card company has 25 billing cycles, they could send 25 files to the nationwide credit bureaus each month. Smaller companies may only send one file a month that contains all accounts in their portfolio but only includes data as of the statement date. Some credit card companies will report your information in the middle of the month, while others do their reporting at the end of the month. Ultimately, however, there’s no set day, time, and frequency credit card companies have to report, as long as they meet the general guidelines.” – Source
Q: Can I get a student credit card after accepting a college?
A: A credit card is a credit card. There is no need to wait to go to college before being an intelligent consumer and searching for a card that best fits your needs.
Q: Get a private student loan while not enrolled?
A: That would be up to the lender.
Q: If the student is employed, will she still get approved for a private student loan?
A: Depends on the private student loan lender and their approval criteria. A job alone would not be a guarantee of being approved.
Q: Top consumer reviews for debt consolidation?
A: The term Debt Consolidation can mean a number of different things. You might be talking about credit counseling, debt settlement, a loan, or one of the many scams that are pitched to consumers. What exactly are you looking for?
Q: Can a household of 2 people take a debt consolidation loan and a mortgage loan at the same time?
A: Sure.
Q: Is it smart to do debt consolidation if I’m overwhelmed by credit cards?
A: It might be smarter to consider other options, including bankruptcy. Talk to Damon Day to discuss your specific situation. Also, see my answer above regarding debt consolidation.
Q: What can you do if you received a debt settlement letter and paid it on time, but they don’t report it settled?
A: Make sure you always keep that settlement letter and never lose it. You can dispute the incorrect item with the credit reporting bureau to have it listed accurately.
Q: Can a debt settlement be reported to the credit bureau without any collection ever being reported?
A: Sure. Reporting to credit bureaus is voluntary. See the answer above.
Q: Can I get out of a debt settlement after I enroll?
A: Yes. If you are talking about terminating after enrolling with a debt relief company, you should refer to your client agreement for the termination process.
Q: How many days does the Federal Trade Commission go after a scammer when it comes to money?
A: They may never go after a scammer. The Federal Trade Commission, like everyone else, has limited resources and pursues action based on budget, available resources, and the scammer involved. Complaints to the FTC create a pattern that determines who will be the subject of enforcement actions.
Q: If we take out a Sallie Mae student loan, can we assign the loan to the student at the time of repayment?
A: I can’t see how you could do that. The lender would have to agree, and it is doubtful they would do that.
Q: Is it illegal to own a Fraud Bible?
A: No. According to Fraud.net “A fraud bible is, simply put, a collection of techniques, hacks, and instructions for committing fraud in a huge variety of ways. There is information for people wanting to commit credit card fraud, identity theft, wire fraud, BIN fraud, and everything else under the sun. There are even fraud bibles out there that detail how to go about creating a completely new identity for one’s self.”
It is not illegal to own sharp kitchen knives, but it is illegal to stab someone with them.
You can know how scammers commit crimes without doing it yourself.
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Q: What can you do if you received a debt settlement letter and paid it on time, but they don’t report it settled?
A: If you’ve entered into a settlement to be paid in installments, the settlement might not be reported on your credit until the payments have been fully completed. If you’ve already completed your settlement but nonetheless received a settlement offer letter, contact the collector to discuss. If necessary, you may engage with an attorney to represent you in enforcing your settlement agreement.
Q: If we take out a Sallie Mae student loan, can we assign the loan to the student at the time of repayment?
A: Most likely, it would be the student that would be the primary borrower on a student loan with Salle Mae. As such, no assignment to the student would be necessary. Furthermore, generally speaking, creditors don’t allow obligors to unilaterally re-assign an obligation to repay a debt.
**Not legal advice. Consult with local counsel to understand your rights and remedies.