Articles revolving around debt related issues. These are geared towards advice for consumers and general debt news.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today filed a lawsuit in federal district court accusing a California-based software company and its owner of providing assistance to illegal credit-repair businesses. The CFPB alleges that Credit Repair Cloud and CEO Daniel Rosen have violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 … Read more
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
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
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
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
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
If you are between the ages of 17 and 24, the U.S. Department of Labor plans to launch a program to teach you how to fly drones through a company Spirit Technologies under the name Drone Corps. In fact, the goal is to get 80,000 new drone pilots online with the promise of paying between … Read more
American universities are in a tight spot. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, almost all of them closed their campuses and switched to online instruction. Result? Students filed hundreds of lawsuits against the colleges, claiming–rightly in my opinion–that online teaching is inferior to face-to-face instruction and wasn’t what they paid for. In many … Read more
A reader sent in a mailer they received from Payoff by Happy Money. You can see the front of the letter below. What caught my eye was the address on the back of the mailer. It says PO Box 129, Palatine, IL 60078. This mailer was sent to me through my I Buy Junk Mail … Read more
Every year, millions of students go to college in the United States. Whether they are entering college for the first time or returning for their sophomore, junior, or senior years, they’re looking for ways to save on dorm shopping. After all, since they’re not working or they’re only working part-time, and they have to take … Read more
Many seniors do their banking with a credit union. They like the personal attention a credit union provides, and they might like that they are a “member” of the credit union. Sometimes the fees are less at a credit union. For the most part, credit unions do a good job. However, there is one area … Read more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently filed a proposed settlement to resolve a lawsuit against a debt collection enterprise and its owner. The CFPB alleges that Fair Collections & Outsourcing (FCO) violated federal law by failing to establish or implement reasonable written policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information it … Read more