From my “when it gets dark outside, the rats will come out and play” collection…

Several government agencies have formed a task force to stop scams on homeowners applying for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).  The agencies include the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Their goal is to shutdown fraudulent illegal operations.  Home Affordable Modification Program is funded by Troubled Asset Relief Program to prevent foreclosure and is administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury. They investigate companies that charge fees and falsely promise to lower homeowners’ mortgage payments through the Home Affordable Modification Program. read more »

How do you plan to shop this holiday season?  Do you plan to shop online by computer or smartphone and/or in the stores?

Price Grabber, a division of Experian – one of the credit reporting agencies, conducted a survey of 2,322 U.S. consumers who shop online. The survey was conducted from September 19 to October 17, 2011.   Compared to the responses last year, there was a slight increase of 1 percent in those who plan to shop online by computer, an increase of 44 percent who plan to shop online from a mobile device and a 26 percent decrease in those that will shop at brick-and-mortar stores.

Where they will shop

When the responders were asked all the ways they will shop this holiday season, here is how they responded: read more »

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), a viable alternative to hiring debt settlement companies, conducted an online poll of 2400 during the month of October, regarding debit card fees. Only three percent of responders would continue to use their debit card as usual if they were charged a fee.

Results

They were asked “If my bank were to impose a fee related to debit card use, I would…” Here is how they responded to the five choices: read more »

The latest data from the Federal Reserve G-19 Statistical Release indicated that consumer credit dropped in August 2011, which was the most in one year. Total consumer credit was $2.4449 trillion in August 2011; compared to $2.4544 trillion in July. The decrease was $9.5 billion or -4.6% from July 2011, compared to an $11.9 billion increase in July 2011.

Non-revolving debt (credit cards)

Most of the decrease was attributed to non-revolving credit, which decreased by 5.2 percent or $7.23 billion from July 2011; compared to a rise of $15.48 billion in July 2011.  This was the largest decline since August 2008. Non-revolving debt included student loans, auto loans and mobile home loans.  Loans secured by real estate, such as home mortgages and home equity lines of credit, are not tracked for this report. read more »

PriceGrabber, a division of Experian (one of the three credit reporting agencies), conducted their first winter holiday shopping survey.  It was conducted from September 7 to 15, 2011 on 3,070 U.S. online shoppers.  Almost all plan to spend the same or less than last year and are looking for bargains. Approximately 49 percent of those surveyed plan to spend the same amount in 2011 as they did in 2010, 45 percent plan to spend less and 7 percent plan to spend more.  Most (68 percent) attributed the economic climate to their spending. read more »

This is a continuation of The Institute for Financial Literacy’s Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Demographics Report for 2010. Part 1 of this blog covered income, education and cause of financial distress.  Part 2 covers the remaining areas: gender, age, employment and marital status.

Additional Key Findings

The largest increases from responders in the last five years were those in older age groups, self employed, and married. read more »

The Institute for Financial Literacy released its Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Demographics Report. This report included not only 2010 demographic information, but also comparisons to data collected since 2006. They surveyed their clients, who were fulfilling requirements according to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA).  The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 required individuals to complete mandatory credit counseling in order to be eligible to file a consumer bankruptcy case under the bankruptcy code. The law also required certain debtors to complete a mandatory financial management instructional course to receive a discharge of their debts.  For purposes of this study, they didn’t know if the client filed bankruptcy after the credit counseling.

The survey covered January to December 2010, and included 52,851 of their clients from the 50 states, Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands and Guam. The information surveyed included gender, age, education, income, employment, marital status and causes of financial distress. read more »

Equifax, one of three consumer credit reporting agencies that houses over 200 million consumer credit reports and markets and sells consumer credit scores, released their latest National Trends Report the end of September. Equifax used data from their consumer and business databases to provide consumer credit information on the following markets: auto, banking, credit cards, mortgage and student loans. The study showed growth in auto and bankcard. There was more new credit available in the first half of 2011 (January thru June 2011) compared to the last two years.  There was $370 billion in new credit available from January to June 2011, compared to $327 billion in the same period in 2010, and $338 billion in the same period in 2009. read more »

In previous blogs I have discussed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit Card Act or CARD Act). The Federal Reserve approved a rule that amended Regulation Z to clarify the Credit Card Act, which became effective October 1, 2011.  Before I discuss the rules, I want to refresh your memory on both the Credit Card Act and Regulation Z.

Credit Card Act

The Credit Card Act’s purpose was to protect consumers from certain abusive practices by credit card issuers.  Some of the changes involved unfair interest rate increases and changes in terms; advanced notification of increases; how payments are applied; fairness in due dates and times. For example, the Credit Card Act required that bills be mailed 21 days prior to the due date instead of the norm which was 14 days. read more »

Recording machines across the nation are being clogged with prerecorded phone calls from companies that claim to be able to negotiate significantly lower interest rates with your credit card issuers, if you just pay them a fee first. According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, consumers who get these interest rate reduction robocalls should listen to them with extreme skepticism, and delete them. Many are scams.

The companies behind the sales pitches claim to have special relationships with credit card issuers. They guarantee that the reduced rates they offer will save you thousands of dollars in interest and finance charges, and will allow you to pay off your credit card debt three to five times faster. They claim that the lower interest rates are available for a limited time and that you need to act now. Some even use money-back guarantees as further enticement. (The FTC frowns heavily on guarantees) read more »