If you have fallen behind on debt payments, so much so that you are years behind on repaying your debt, and are constantly hounded by creditors and collections agencies, knowing the statute of limitations for your debt can help you defend yourself if taken to court by your creditors and rid yourself of years old debt. The statute of limitations is the amount of time that creditors have to file charges against you after you have missed payments, and this time is unique to Florida. Continue reading
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Eliminating Payday Loan Debt Through Consolidation Loans
The slippery slope of payday loan debt begins when a financial emergency and poor credit leads you to take out payday loan. You have every intention to repay the loan as soon as you are paid, but something else comes up, forcing you to take out yet another payday loan or postpone paying off the original payday loan. Continue reading
Statute of Limitations on Debt in Rhode Island
The statute of limitations on debt refers to the period of time during which creditors can legally take you to court for failing to meet your debt obligations. After the statute of limitations on your debt has expired, you are still legally responsible for paying back your debt, but federal law under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act bans debt collectors from winning a judgment against you in court. If your creditors violate this law, you are entitled to a file a complaint and sue them, but before you can do that you must first determine whether or not the statute of limitations on your debt has expired. Continue reading
Help, I’m in Debt!
Debt is a difficult burden to carry on one’s shoulders. It often seems easier to just ignore it than to try to sort through massive amounts of bills, but this is the worst thing to do. So what can be done to help you regain control of your financial situation? Continue reading
Debt Negotiation Begins with a Convincing Letter to your Collector
When you’re in debt and the situation is only getting worse it can be overwhelming to imagine ever escaping your debt, but negotiating your debt may provide an escape from your circumstances if you have debt from credit cards, lines of credit, hospital bills, unsecured bank loans, or home mortgages. Continue reading
A Debt Management Consultant is Often a Credit Counselor
The path to a debt free life can be difficult to follow, but debt management consultants can make finding and sticking to the best path for your situation easier to accomplish. Debt management consultants, also referred to as credit counselors, are specially trained to handle the problems of those in debt, and can be immensely helpful when negotiating with creditors. Continue reading
Avoiding Phone Bill Cramming
For years small businesses and individual phone customers have been complaining of phone bill cramming, or phone companies’ addition of unauthorized charges to their phone bills. Unfortunately, despite the illegality of this action, and the hefty fines it can carry for guilty companies, it is still occurring. For this reason, you will want to check your bills carefully to make sure you are not falling victim to cramming efforts. Continue reading
The Dangers of Paying Off Debt With a 401(k) Loan
If you are in debt, there are many aspects of paying off that debt with a 401(k) loan that are very alluring. For instance, you will likely receive a very low interest rate on your loan, around 4.25%, and a lower interest rate means a lower monthly payment. The fact that you can borrow any amount (less than a quarter of your balance or $50,000) as long as you have money in your account does not help dissuade many borrowers. Despite these two facts, there are other factors that make this a poor choice to manage your debt. For instance, if you take out a 401(k) loan and decide to switch jobs (or are laid off), your employer will likely require you to repay the loan within sixty days. If you do not meet that deadline, the outstanding balance will be considered a distribution on which you will owe tax, and if you are under fifty-five a ten percent penalty will be tacked on as well. Additionally, some plans do not allow you to contribute to your 401(k) while a loan is outstanding, which results in two things. First, you will end up with a lower account balance at retirement, and second, since you will not been making contributions, your taxable income amount will increase, thus meaning you will pay more taxes. Continue reading
Credit Card Miles Tricks to Avoid
When considering a new credit card, incentives such as mileage points good towards airline tickets or hotel stays can seem truly beneficial and easily draw one in. This is especially true if it has been a while since you and your loved ones have taken a vacation. Although such cards may seem like the best way to enable the purchases you are already making to give you a well-deserved vacation, before signing up for a mileage reward card there are a few sneaky tricks utilized by many credit card companies that one should know of. Continue reading
What are hard inquiries and why do they matter?
On your credit report you can find a section entitled ‘credit inquiries’ that lists every instance that a business has pulled your report for review. These inquiries can be divided into two distinct groups: hard pulls and soft pulls. The first distinction between these two groups lies in the reason your credit report was pulled; hard pulls are those that occur when you apply for a credit card, loan, or enter into other financial obligations including new cell phone and apartment contracts. Conversely, soft pulls are typically those performed by you personally or your current creditors. The second, and arguably the most important, difference between hard and soft credit pulls is their effect on your credit score. Continue reading
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