Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, reached a settlement last month with Universal Underwriters Life Insurance Company who unlawfully withheld insurance premiums from more than 12,000 Texans who paid off their vehicle loans early.
Under the terms of the settlement, Universal Underwriters agreed to refund insurance premiums worth $2.4 million to Texas policyholders whose loans terminated between [...]

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 [...]

Employers may use consumer reports when they hire new employees and when they evaluate employees for promotion, reassignment, and retention provided they comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (sections 604, 606, and 615).  A consumer report is any report that contains information about a person’s personal and credit characteristics, character, general reputation, and lifestyle.  [...]

Never lend it to anyone. 
Never sign a blank charge slip. Draw lines through blank spaces on charge slips above the total so that the amount can’t be changed.
Never put your account number on the outside of an envelope or on a postcard.
Always be cautious about disclosing your account number on the telephone unless you [...]

In his article "Student Loan Market Faces Scarce Times" Andy Miofsky discusses the anticipated reduction in the number of lenders that will continue to provide guaranteed student loans.
On the heels of this news comes a report in the Washington Post that Sallie Mae, the largest student loan provider in the country, will begin charging an application [...]

Many companies and individuals claim they can clean your credit.  When I see these advertisements - my skin crawls!  If you see one of these offers, do yourself a favor (and save yourself some money) - don’t believe the statement.  If you have had a repo, foreclosure, bankruptcy or been behind on your bills in [...]

Major lenders, representing over 12% of the market, according to Associated Press Business Writer Marcy Gordon, have decided to stop issuing student loans, placing the availability of future loans in doubt.  Over 50 companies pulled out of the government subsidized loan program in the first four months of 2008 due to lower government subsidies and [...]

Debt to income ratio is the percentage of a consumer’s monthly gross income that goes toward paying debts.  This sometimes includes more than debts.  Debt to income ratio can also include certain taxes, fees, and insurance premiums.  For a more detailed explanation, click here.
If you liked that post, then try these…Cost Of Debt - More [...]

Recent data demonstrates that consumers are not paying their credit card bills in a timely fashion.  The credit card charge off rate was up to 5.59% in February 2008.  Now, we have all heard that you can get a statistic or a politician to say pretty much whatever you want them to say, but this [...]

 In a previous article on this site, IRS Warns Of New Credit Scam Via Phishing Email, Susanne Robicsek discusses a variation on phishing scams.
Phishing, is an attempt to illegally acquire information about you such as your bank account numbers, social security number and passwords.  The e-mail appears to be from a legitimate company such as ebay, [...]