[The opinions expressed in this guest post are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of anyone else. If you would like to submit a guest post as well, click here.] About six months ago, I received a letter from the Social Security Administration informing me that it …
by Eric Olsen, attorney and Executive Director HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm I recently read a question on a website that helped persons with credit card debt. The answer given is typical of the deceptive, incomplete, and false answers many websites and their experts provide to seniors with financial problems. Here is the question posed from …
Question: Dear Steve, I have 25,000 in credit cards –I’m 85 years old–retired —my wife is still working she is 78—this is how I’m able to pay —she will not be working much longer–she does not know about the credit cards—I had no Int on all my credit cards for 12mos. In Feb of 2020 …
By Eric Olsen Executive Director HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm A senior couple recently contacted me. They were served with legal papers for around $5000 for an old credit card they owed. They had never been sued before. They had heard that a judgment would become a “lien” on their home and worried about what that …
This guest post by Eric Olsen is a great example that not all debt experts need to agree all the time. Eric presents a very valid point of view and mine is slightly different. Eric describes a situation where seniors may consider it unnecessary to file bankruptcy. In my experience, bankruptcy in similar situations can …
By Eric Olsen Executive Director HELPS Nonprofit law firm, www.helpsishere.org You may have received a notice about a defaulted student loan and do not know what to do. There are many articles on the internet with incomplete information that scare seniors into thinking that they are going to lose their social security. This article will …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a useful report a few days ago on student-loan indebtedness and older Americans. Here are some of the CFPB’s key findings: “The number of consumers age 60 and older with outstanding student loan debt quadrupled from 2005 to 2015, increasing from about 700,000 to 2.8 million.” During this ten-year …
Question: Dear Steve, Father in-law needed help getting his house fixed(roof,plumbing and furnace). He asked my husband and I to take out a personal loan and fix his house and for us to pay the personal loan. We told him we were unable to do that due to a personal loan and our auto loan …
Question: Dear Steve, Hi – I have a question – my mother is in a nursing home, Medicaid pays for the home – she must turn over her social security and small pension to them each month. She has no money – she has a credit card from Bank of America with $3500-$4000 on it …
“Dear Steve, My mother is 77 years of age. Her memory is no longer the best for her finances and she gets confused as to who gets paid what and how much. the debts, even though she doesn’t even use the cards but one walmart for groceries the interest rates and payments have gone over …