From FoxBusiness: a look at the legislation Congress is mulling over to give bankruptcy judges more authority to modify residential mortgages.

Have you ever heard those radio commercials touting "debt elimination?" It usually has an announcer proclaiming that "my plan does not reduce your debt, it eliminates it!" One commercial in particular on a local station also has a speaker who says "using this system, I will be able to pay my 30 year mortgage in just three years making only the money I am making now." That sure does sound too good to be true. Well, it was a bad week for two scam artists from California who ran such an out. The Mercury News reports that on Tuesday they were sentenced to more than 25 years in prison for mail fraud.

Actually, this bit is yesterday's news, but it's worth mentioning: The New York Times reports that the mortgage crisis is not only affected lower and middle income borrowers. According to the report "affluent consumers with annual incomes of $100,000 or more ... are increasingly being ensnared in the home mortgage crisis."

And finally, here's something we might want to think about this weekend: is the US Dollar on its last leg?

Posted by Bill McLeod at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have written about so-called "debt settlement" companies that tout a benefit of paying off your debt quicker and cheaper. In the long run, consumers are left with less money and still at the door of the bankrutpcy court.

From the March 6 issue of Business Week:

The booming business has caught the attention of prosecutors and regulators, who say such programs can leave consumers in worse financial shape. Fees for the services run high. And when banks don't agree to settle—if the settlement firm contacts them at all—consumers get hit with late charges and penalized with higher interest rates, leaving borrowers with even more debt than when they started.

You may have missed...

"Be Debt Free in only 18 months!"
Thinking about Debt Settlement? Think about this...
And Speaking Of Credit Counseling Predators...
Credit Counseling Predators

Posted by Bill McLeod at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are ads on local radio stations that make this declaration. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit in New York against a couple that operated a variety debt settlement companies: The Debt Settlement Company, The Debt Elimination Center, Pay Help, Inc., Money Helps and Edge Solutions. According to the FTC, unsuspecting consumers looking for help visited websites such as idebthelp.com and moneycares.com and lured into a "debt meltdown program." According to the FTC,

The complaint alleges that, as a result of being in the defendants’ program, many consumers experience substantially increased debt because of late fees, finance charges, and overdraft charges, and suffer damage to their credit rating because of significant negative information such as late payments, charge-offs, collections, and garnishments, all of which may appear on their credit report for up to seven years.

Read more from the Arizona Republic.

Read more from the Federal Trade Commission.

Posted by Bill McLeod at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)