What is a Debt Collector?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) defines the term “Debt Collector”  to include ”…any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, [...]

Just when you thought you had heard it all in the world of credit card rip-offs, debt collection and bankruptcy, something interesting happened in the office last week.  I met with two different potential clients who stated that their credit cards were cancelled, despite the clients having zero balances on the credit lines and decent credit [...]

The financial crisis in the mortgage market is causing a tightening of available credit in the credit card arena.  As falling real estate prices decrease home equity borrowing, more consumers are turning to credit cards.  Investment firm Merrill Lynch reports an 8 per cent increase in revolving credit over last year, the highest increase in [...]

Jay Fleischman, an expert at making credit card banks behave themselves, recently posted an article describing another win for the consumer.  In How Long Does A Creditor Have To Sue On A Debt? Jay describes how the foreign law provisions of the credit card agreement were enforced against Captital One Bank.
It seems that the credit [...]

As if the current credit crisis wasn’t enough, Americans are turning toward what I like to call unconventional financing more and more these days.  Just 12 short years ago in 1996, Americans were only in 500 billion dollars worth of credit card debt.  Now, only 12 years later, we have doubled that number with an [...]

A “Consumer Report” is a report that bears upon a consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living.
A consumer report can be transmitted by oral, written or other means of communication.
Information contained in a consumer’s file with a credit reporting agency is not a consumer report until it [...]

In Texas, a business can not penalize you for paying with a credit card. Businesses that add a surcharge to those who pay by credit card might be violating provisions of the Texas Finance Code.
However, businesses can discount the regular retail price of an item for consumers who pay cash. If you believe a business [...]

A recent study suggests that critical interest rates may be artificially low because banks are fibbing about how high their rates might be.  In turn that interest rate is used in all kinds of financial transactions, including adjustable rate mortgages, to set the payments owed to lenders.
The Wall Street Journal has been reporting this year [...]

When applying for credit, a consumer has to be very wary of what will happen upon default.  I know that only a lawyer would want to consider the possibility of default before signing a contract, but consumers today face a whole host of remedies available to the creditors in case of default.  Arbitration is the [...]

A recent Bank Rate story on early mortgage relief plan reports that credit scores are used to determine eligibility for governmental help.  Credit scores are based on the information in credit reports.  However, studies show credit reports are notoriously inaccurate.
The announcement that the government was going to accord decisive effect to credit scores pushed me [...]