Living with debt breathing down your neck can be a daunting experience. Not only is owing money stressful, but it can also be extremely damaging, even ruining your credit or friendships and relationships if you are unable to keep up with it....
Many companies offer to help consumers repair their credit by erasing debt from their credit reports, but many consumers fail to realize they can do the same thing themselves for free. The process takes time and will not work in all cases, but the...
As more and more Americans find themselves increasingly saddled with debt, many people are searching for new ways to legally erase what they owe to creditors. Contrary to what some online scams would have you believe, the only effective and legal...
Negative debt is debt owed on accounts on which the debtor has defaulted or accounts on which the debtor is in poor standing due to a high unpaid balance or a history of late payments. When you have negative debt, you are considered a high risk by...
Outside of a highly unlikely forgiveness of your debt by the issuer, generally the only way to truly erase your debt is to pay it off or file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Negotiating your debt with your creditors may get you a reduction in balance or...
Debt consolidators can seem like a godsend when you are drowning in debt. A mediator who promises to make the collection calls stop, slash your payments and ease your mind may sound too good to be true, and in some cases, it is. Making sure that...
If you've paid the balance of a delinquent account that has been turned over to collections, you've done the right thing by making good on the debt. But if you look at your credit report, it may seem as though no good deed goes unpunished. Debts...
The Fair Debt Collection Act determines what collection agencies can and can't do by law when attempting to collect a debt. This federal act also gives debtors the right to request that collection agencies cease phone contact and provides legal...
Consumer debt statistics reported in a July 2008 "New York Times" article are staggering. Federal Reserve Board data indicates that there's been a 22 percent increase in consumer debt since 2000, with Americans holding $2.56 trillion in consumer...
Each record that appears on your credit report has a predetermined "life," points out the financial advisers at Credit.com. Most old items, including negative reports of charged-off accounts, repossessions, collections records and foreclosures,...
Hospital bills can be a significant financial hardship for many people, especially those with inadequate or no health insurance coverage. According to a study led by Dr. David Himmelstein at the Harvard University School of Law, medical bills were...
According to IndexCreditCards.com, the average American is $4,013 in debt. The average household owes $7,861 on credit cards. No matter how much you owe, it is possible to eliminate credit card debt if you have a plan in place, are willing to make...
According to the 2009 Nilson Report, the average consumer household held around $10,000 in credit card debt alone. It's a sobering statistic for a less than thriving economy. When you are drowning and debt and feel helpless when trying to control...
Debt relief is basically the forgiveness of certain accumulated debt. This is common among nations or corporations, but it can also happen at the individual level. Debt relief is often applied in cases of mortgage payments and credit card debt and...
Collection agencies strike fear in the hearts of those who owe money. They conjure up visions of a constantly ringing telephone, financial demands and threats. Fortunately consumers have many rights when dealing with debt collectors. The law...
CNN Money reports that the average household in the U.S. has at least one credit card--and almost $11,000 in credit card debt, a particularly bad type of debt due to high interest rates carried on the balance. If you want to get out from under...
Many credit consolidation assistance companies advertise the ability to help you get your unsecured debt under control, but that's not much help if you don't understand what it is. If you're in debt and looking for ways to manage your finances,...
Sleep disorders and personal schedules can damage sleep quality. Kristen Knutson of the University of Chicago says "there is laboratory evidence that short sleep durations of four to five hours have negative physiological and neurobehavioral...
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy generally erases all of your outstanding debt, particularly credit card debt, and prevents your creditors from calling or otherwise pursuing you in an attempt to collect the debt. When you file, you must list all your...
When you file for bankruptcy, you will lose all credit cards. This is because all debts will be erased and companies will most likely cancel your cards as a result. What this means is you will need to start from zero, building up credit and...
According to Bankruptcy Action.com, the most common reasons for filing personal bankruptcy are loss of a job, credit that has become extremely overextended, divorce and health-related costs. A 2005 Harvard Study found that more than 50 percent of...
There are two types of debt: secured and unsecured. Unsecured debt is any financial obligation that doesn't require you to put up collateral that could be taken back (repossessed) if you fail to make the agreed upon payments.
Life after bankruptcy is not necessarily a life with property that only can be bought with cash. Consumer affairs experts report that bankrupt people, particularly those who filed for Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7 bankruptcy, have often...
There are different ways of addressing overwhelming unsecured debt that you cannot get a handle on. One method to protect yourself from creditors is by filing for bankruptcy. You also have the option of ignoring all of those "past due" notices...
A payday loan, sometimes referred to as a paycheck or cash advance, is a short-term loan designed to offer a borrower enough money to make ends meet until his next payday. While helpful in theory, payday loans come with very high service fees....
