The Columbus Dispatch says that Ohio lawmakers…
loans
U.S. Debt Collecting Being Outsourced To India
By 4.24.08
The New York Times looks at the blossoming foreign market for debt collection services, and describes a call center in India where the employees are reminded to bring up the 2008 stimulus checks when they call U.S. households, and where everyone claps three times when the first “deal” of the day is made (“”Rajesh, for $35 a month for three months,” the supervisor yells across the center.)
Tampa Woman Tries To Collect Loan Made By Her Great-Grandfather During Civil War
By 4.21.08
Some debt collectors are mighty persistent.
Bank of America To Stop Making Private Student Loans
By 4.18.08
Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank and one of our largest student lenders, today announced that it would stop making private student loans and instead “do more lending under a federally guaranteed program,” says the Wall Street Journal.
Sallie Mae Stops Student Loan Consolidation, Will No Longer Pay Origination Fees On Stafford Loans
By 4.15.08
Consolidation loans are no longer profitable for Sallie Mae, so it’s saying goodbye to them. SmartMoney points out that ultimately this shouldn’t matter for students taking out new loans, since the original point of consolidation—converting lots of variable rate loans into a nice predictable fixed rate loan—is no longer relevant (all federal student loans are now disbursed with fixed interest rates.) SmartMoney says if you still have variable rate loans you need/want to consolidate, check out the government’s consolidation offering—”You’re likely to pay the same consolidation rates you’d pay if you did so with Sallie Mae,” they write.
Sallie Mae Has No Idea Where Your $1500 Is
By 4.15.08
Then I finished my enlistment, was honorably discharged, and waited for the last payment to come in. It was 4 months late and when it got there (mid-December), it looked like it was $1500 MORE than what was left owed on my account. I called the Army and they confirmed that they had payed the correct amount they owed me, taking interest into account. The overpayment belongs to me. Yay, more free money!
By 4.12.08
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Uh-oh, someone forgot to pay their bills! Exciting new data from the American Bankers Association shows that late payments on consumer loans have risen to 2.65%—an 8.6% increase from the previous quarter. People are finally wising up to the fact that ignoring your mortgage is the fast path to the easy lifestyle you always wanted. [FiveCentNickel]
Corruption: Mystery Shoppers Expose Refund Anticipation Loan Abuse
By 4.10.08
As an educated consumer you may wonder why people would choose to use a Refund Anticipation Loan when they can e-file and receive their refund in only a few days.
You Have $2.54 Trillion In Consumer Debt
By 4.7.08
The amount of new consumer debt is increasing more slowly than in previous months, growing only $5.2 billion in February, says Bloomberg. It sounds like a lot of money, but it’s a much slower rate of growth than the $10.3 billion increase in consumer credit seen in January.
Student Loan Credit Crunch Coming?
By 4.7.08
If you’re thinking of attending an expensive college, but don’t have access to huge sacks of cash, you may have a problem says USAToday:
Are You Smarter Than A 12th Grader?
By 4.6.08
U.S. News & World Report posted an excellent six-question financial literacy quiz that most 12th graders can pass. Can you?
Zillow Offers Anonymous Mortgage Shopping
By 4.4.08
Zillow has a new tool for those of you who wish you could do your mortgage shopping while wearing a ski mask and speaking through one of those things that makes you sound like Darth Vader — the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.
By 4.4.08
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More debtors are behind their loans than at any time since 1992. [American Banker’s Association]
GMAC And Car Dealership Scam Old Lady For Nearly $8,000
By 4.2.08
A volunteer in Chicago claims that her client, a 65-year-old woman with dementia, was given a GMAC auto loan for a new 2007 Pontiac, even though she only makes $900 a month and has no driver’s license. Now the car has been repossessed and the car lot is saying she owes them nearly $8,000.
How To Get An "Iffy" Loan Approved
By 4.1.08
Sometimes when you’re trying to get a borrower approved for a mortgage the system will tell you something stupid like “this person is not qualified.” Luckily, this internal document from Chase shows a few tips and tricks you can use to tweak a borrower’s profile so they can get a stated-income asset loan (which recently has received the unfair pejorative of a “liar’s loan” by the sensationalist media apparatchik) a piece of The American Dream. It’s specific to Chase’s internal loan approval system. Irregardless, many of the principles have universal application, no matter what level of the fast-paced exciting field of sub-prime mortgages you work. Highlights:
Arkansas Attorney General To Payday Lenders: Shut Down Or I'll See You In Court
By 3.31.08
On March 18, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel sent letters to 156 payday lenders, ordering them to stop issuing new loans and void any current and past due loans or face legal action. McDaniel charges that the lenders are violating Arkansas’s constitutional prohibition against usurious interest rates.
38.6% Of Reported Debt Collectors Demand More Money Than Is Legal
By 3.28.08
Debtors have rights, and sometimes they get violated. The FTC released its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report, part of which documents the number of complaints they get about debt collectors violating consumers rates. FTC received 70,951 DCPA violation complaints in 2007. Of them:
Should I Get A Debt-Consolidation Loan?
By 3.26.08
Consumer advocate radio show host Clark Howards thinks most people are kidding themselves when they spring for a debt-consolidation loan:
It’s been my experience that when people do a debt-consolidation loan, all they really end up doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. With one transaction, their credit card bills suddenly stop, and those people then say, “Oh, how nice, it’s all so tidy now, I now just have everything on one convenient bill.”
