In Australia, United States and United Kingdom, credit card use appears much the same. The names are familiar – Amex, MasterCard and Visa are the dominant players in all three markets. But the card issuers responsibilities to consumers aren’t quite equal. While U.K .and U.S. consumer protection schemes have convened into a general code for credit card users across the ... Read More »

This is a guest post from Philip Taylor, founder and editor-in-chief of PT Money: Personal Finance. Learning about and applying the rules for living a frugal lifestyle are common principles in the area of personal finance. Controlling your budget and spending less can certainly help you avoid the cycle of debt. And that’s a great thing! But there’s a point ... Read More »

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 state and federal income tax ... Read More »

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 lather over the subsidized student… ... Read More »

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 market. And…   Read More »

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 is to understand what goes ... Read More »

Help! I Found a Judgment on My Credit Report (via Credit.com) It’s scary enough to owe money you can’t pay back, but what may be even worse is finding out that you have already been sued for a debt, but didn’t even know it. Mark wrote on the Credit.com blog: I received a letter stating there was a judgment against ... Read More »

How Student Loans Can Keep You From Buying a Home (via Credit.com) As student loans take on an increasing presence among the 20-something generation of college graduates who have traditionally made up a high proportion of first-time homebuyers, the impact of student loan debt on a mortgage application becomes increasingly important — especially as about two-thirds… Read More »

NY officials vow attack on predatory debt-fixing (via The Dispatch) Federal authorities announced a crackdown Tuesday on predatory businesses that cheat “desperate and vulnerable” people harmed by the 2008 financial crisis with phony promises to consolidate their debt. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference that charges were brought against the owner and… Read More »

The Future of Credit Cards (via Credit.com) At a recent conference devoted to travel and credit card rewards, executives from Chase, Barclaycard, US Bank, Capital One and American Express were on hand to share their views on the future of credit cards — and there was a broad consensus on where the industry is going in the next few years. ... Read More »

The article below was contributed by a site reader who wanted to share their path out of debt. I really want to be a good advocate on helping others around me with the same situation as it goes very deep, but even in my darkest time, I am no quitter and was bond to see this whole process through. I ... Read More »

With the tough economic times and high price of gold right now, it is a perfect time to cash in on your gold and diamonds and get out of debt. Gold prices continue to hit all-time highs, so you can get thousands of dollars for gold jewelry that would have been worth hundreds only five or ten years ago. There’s ... Read More »

See February 9, 2013 update at bottom for takedown request received from EFA Processing. This article was written and contributed by Jason Spencer, the former Managing Partner of Dextral Capital Management Fund. He shares his observations and experiences from inside the debt settlement industry. I asked Jason why he wanted to share this story. He said, “The reason is that ... Read More »

As the looming crisis of student loan debt nears, some enterprising debtors are no doubt getting desperate. Student loan debtors are being hounded by collection agencies night and day, tax refunds are being intercepted, and wage garnishments are inevitable. So some enterprising debtors are getting the idea to transfer their student loan debt to credit cards with the idea of ... Read More »

As the start of 2013 is upon us, nonprofit credit counseling agencies will be trying to anticipate the needs of their communities, by knowing what to expect in the New Year. We don’t have a magic eight ball or special insight into the future, but by looking backward, we think it’s possible to help understand what’s on the legal and ... Read More »