Archive for June, 2007
Authorized Users No Longer Allowed to Piggyback On Credit Cardholders’ Credit Scores
It used to be that authorized users on a credit card account were allowed to “piggyback” on the cardholder’s rating. If that cardholder had great credit, the authorized user’s credit score got a modest bump as well.
But, according to MSN Money’s Liz Pulliam Weston, the so-called credit repair companies have ruined the benefit for the [...]
“Blame The Victim” Alive And Well in Boston Globe
Kris Frieswick writes for the Boston Globe on June 24, 2007, this piece entitled “Here Comes the Repo Man.” And if you had any doubts about where Frieswick falls in the subprime crisis debate, she effectively puts it to rest with the subtitle: “It’s easy to scold sub-prime lenders for the glut of home foreclosures. [...]
Oregon Protects Consumers From Payday Loans
From Consumer Law & Policy Blog by Public Citizen:
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski yesterday signed into law a package
of bills designed to protect consumers against abuses by the payday
lending industry and other short-term lenders that target vulnerable
borrowers with high-interest loans. Together, the new laws will, among
other things, cap interest rates, limit rollovers of short-term loans,
and attempt [...]
Identity Theft Resources
Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog has some resources collected in this post to assist consumers dealing with identity theft.
ID theft seems to have dropped off the media’s radar lately - we don’t hear as much about it as we used to. I guess they’ve moved on to the subprime/foreclosure crisis. But it’s still [...]
Monday Morning Quarterbacking the Closing
Far be it from me to suggestively place doubts inside a consumer’s head. So instead I’ll leave it to CNNMoney.com staff writer Les Christie, who gives us “Wow, I Could’ve Had A Prime Mortgage” - a heartbreaking tale of consumers being taken advantage of by mortgage lenders. (What?! Outrage! It would never happen …. oh. [...]
33% ARM Holders Will Lose Their Homes, According to This Analyst
Christopher Cagan, of First American CoreLogic, says that’s how many ARM mortgage holders who had initial teaser rates of less than 4% will face foreclosure - 1 in 3. Subprime borrowers might actually, for once, be more fortunate - their risk is 1 in 8.
Cagan warns that this is only the result of reset, [...]
FDCPA and Debt Collection Activities Getting New Press
I’m watching CNN Headline News this morning, over morning coffee, and I’m thrilled to see a “Top Tips” on unlawful debt collection activities. This seems to be motivated in part by the release of the FTC’s annual report for the past year. (See the full 13-page report here, in Adobe PDF.) Most of the FTC’s [...]
Keyword Cleanout Post!
Update: Fixed the link to Ms. Wilkinson’s website - my apologies, Dana! (And to the sculptor in Vermont - though, must say, nice work.)
Did you type in a phrase in Google to get here? This post, the first in what I hope to be a regular series (perhaps monthly, maybe more often if I get [...]
Update: Another Reason Harassing Collection Activity is Morally Reprehensible
Interesting timing for this post from Public Citizen’s CL & P blog: “Sixth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Claim Alleging That Discover Card’s Harassing Collection Activity Led to Cardholder’s Suicide.” The opinion can be found here, in PDF. (MacDermid v. Discover Card Services, Op. No. 07-0198.)
Briefly: In this opinion for the Sixth Circuit, the Court overturned [...]
“Worthless Scum”
That’s what they want you to think of yourself. That’s what they think. You know who I’m talking about.
The debt collector who left this comment on my blog, for one:
Alternatively, you could try paying your bills and then you wouldn’t have this problem in the first place.
Why shouldn’t a collector ring you. You owe [...]
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