Published on February 22, 2010 by
Robert A. Kraft
As many people know, today is the effective date of the largest section of the new federal law regarding credit cards, and especially the parts governing what the credit card companies can do and say. This excellent page of official information is from the government Web site of the Federal Reserve:
The Federal Reserve’s new rules for [...]
Published on January 10, 2010 by
Robert A. Kraft
The lawyers and staff at Kraft & Associates have been helping Texas consumers for more than 30 years with their personal injury and Social Security disability claims. But we have only recently added an experienced bankruptcy and consumer law attorney to our team. So for the early part of 2010 we are going to offer [...]
Published on December 22, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
As many of you in the Dallas area may have seen lately, a company called “FinallyFast” is heavily advertising on television. Their product is a program that they promise will speed up your computer by clearing out the junk files that accumulate on computers over time.
You would think that as a bankruptcy lawyer, I would [...]
Published on December 10, 2009 by
Robert A. Kraft
As Dallas bankruptcy lawyers we see far too many clients who have gotten into financial trouble by misusing their credit cards. Pamela Yip, the personal finance columnist for the Dallas Morning News had an excellent article recently on the hazards of using credit cards for holiday shopping. The gist of the article is that there [...]
Published on November 6, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
Home foreclosure is one of the biggest fears our Dallas and Fort Worth bankruptcy clients face. Potential foreclosure is often the triggering factor in causing people to contact a Dallas bankruptcy attorney. Now the federal government has taken a small step forward in helping homeowners attempt to avoid foreclosure.
In a bid to avoid an overload [...]
Published on October 15, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
According to an article in the Journal of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the failure by mortgage companies to pursue voluntary modifications of mortgages may renew the push to allow judges to modify mortgages within bankruptcy cases. Since the “Home Affordable Mortgage Program” (HAMP) went into effect in March 2009, only about 360,000 homeowners have [...]
Published on October 13, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
According to the National Association of Attorneys General, the top three topics for consumer complaints to state attorney general offices are debt collection, auto sales, and home repair/construction. Complaints regarding credit cards tied for fourth place with complaints regarding goods and services provided over the internet.
Complaints concerning predatory lending and mortgage practices were sixth, with [...]
Published on October 6, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
Amherst Securities Group analysts predict that the crash in U.S. home prices will probably resume because about 7 million properties that are likely to be seized by lenders have yet to hit the market. The “huge shadow inventory” reflects mortgages already being foreclosed upon or now delinquent and likely to be, which compares to 1.27 [...]
Published on October 1, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) are proposing legislation that will advance the implementation date to December 1, 2009, for the regulations limiting credit card interest rates and fees. The regulations, approved by Congress and signed into law earlier this year by President Obama, were scheduled to take effect on February 22, 2010. [...]
Published on September 15, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
If you are receiving calls from debt collectors, telemarketers, or scam artists from a toll-free number, you can find out who those callers really are and read notes from other people who have had experience with those callers. The website 800Notes allows you to enter the phone number that has called you, and link into [...]
Published on September 14, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
A few years ago, if you tried to use your debit card and had insufficient funds in your bank account, the transaction would be denied. Eventually, banks realized that allowing the transactions to go through and charging overdraft fees for the transactions could generate enormous fees. To increase such fees even more, banks typically [...]
Published on September 10, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
National Mortgage News reports that the major mortgage servicers are preparing for the Treasury Department to roll out a short sale program and they are signing up vendors that specialize in handling these difficult real estate transactions that help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Loan Resolution Corp. chief operating officer Travis Olsen said one of the top [...]
Published on August 28, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
A reverse mortgage allows people 62 and older to convert equity in their homes to tax-free income without having to sell the home, give up title, or take on a new monthly mortgage payment. When the borrower leaves the house, the property reverts to the lender to pay off the loan.
Although reverse mortgages have been [...]
Published on August 21, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
One of the unfortunate trends of these difficult financial times is the increase in landlords failing to return security deposits to renters. Although rental deposits are supposed to be held in trust for tenants, many landlords are finding themselves in financial difficulties and are dipping into those funds, and are then unable to refund [...]
Published on August 19, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
Having a bankruptcy filing on your credit report is obviously not a positive event. The bankruptcy notation stays on your credit report for 10 years, and does have the effect of lowering your credit score. However, there are steps you can take to minimize the negative effect of the bankruptcy notation, and rebuild your credit [...]
Published on July 28, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
On May 22, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act. As noted in our blog article on July 28, 2009, certain provisions of that act go into effect in 2010 concerning the disclosures that must be made on credit card statements. Other provisions that regulate how credit [...]
Published on July 27, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
Although sweeping new regulations affecting credit card issuers were signed into law in May 2009, those provisions do not go into effect until 2010. One change that takes effect in February 2010 is the requirement that credit card statements spell out how long it will take to pay off the bill if only minimum [...]
Published on July 23, 2009 by
Robert A. Kraft
Bloomberg News reported, “A congressional staff investigation into the biggest U.S. consumer debt-collection arbitrator found ‘deeply disturbing’ abuses, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich said” yesterday at a hearing before a House subcommittee he chairs. “A report on the investigation, released yesterday, claims that the National Arbitration Forum, a Minnesota company that handled most consumer debt-collection arbitrations [...]
Published on July 19, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
Even though Congress passed sweeping credit card reform legislation this month, it does not go into effect for almost a year. That gives credit card companies plenty of time to devise new methods for squeezing profits out of consumers while they still have free rein.
For instance, JP Morgan Chase recently raised minimum payments on many [...]
Published on July 14, 2009 by
Kathleen Munden
The Attorney General is the official in the State of Texas who is responsible for protecting consumers and businesses by enforcing the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and other consumer and business protection legislation. The website of the Office of the Attorney General contains a wealth of information for consumers, along with complaint forms, hotline numbers, [...]