Consumer Credit NewsNews and information about consumer credit, how to mangage it, and laws / proposed legislation impacting credit.Katrina's Disaster Victims Face Social Security Issues- August 31, 2005 August 31, 2005 As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) swings into high gear to provide disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina, ACCESS has learned that the Social Security Administration has no procedures to help many of these same victims get back on their feet. The problem that many victims face is that they escaped with only the clothes on their backs; meaning that they have too little iformation for the Social Security Administration to reissue them Social Security...http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/493/50/ Homeowners Need to Update Insurance Prior to New Bankruptcy Laws Taking Effect- August 30, 2005 On October 17th a new bankruptcy law goes into effect across the United States. While Congress claimed that the purpose of the law was to crack down on deadbeats, it is apparent that little or no thought went into how the law treats victims of circumstances that are beyond their control. ACCESS has made note on a number of occasions that this group is largely made up of people who lose their jobs and those that lose their medical coverage and then get hit with catastrophic medical bills. But...http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/491/50/ MyPerfectCredit.com Not So Perfect- August 19, 2005 MyPerfectCredit.com (MFC) is a website that supposedly provides consumers with copies of their credit report for free. But what the company is actually doing to consumers is anything but ethical, and it certainly isnt free.http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/483/79/ Experian Agrees to Settlement with FTC for False Advertising- August 17, 2005 August 16, 2005 - FreeCreditReports.com, a subsidiary of Experian, has agreed to settle a law suit with the Federal Trade Commission over false and deceptive advertising claims. The FTC had accused Experian of using the offer of a free credit report to consumers as a lure to get them to subscribe to a paid credit monitoring service. The suit alleged that consumers were not told that they would be billed for credit monitoring unless they cancelled the service within 30 days.http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/482/50/ Can Going to the Library Hurt Your Credit- August 16, 2005 If you have overdue books at the local library, you may want to return them now. Thats because a number of cash strapped libraries have started using collection agencies to collect fines and fees that are owed to them for overdue books. And once your name is turned over, there is a pretty good chance that you will find your library fines showing up as unpaid bills on your credit report.http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/481/50/ Credit Card Interest Rates Going Up It Could Be Because Of Your Electric Bill.- August 10, 2005 August 10, 2005 There are a lot of people carrying large credit card balances which they will be lucky to pay off in their lifetime. Some consumers are being hit with interest rates in excess of 30% even though they have never been late on their credit card payments. The reason for this is that many credit card companies now use a system called "universal default", which allows them to raise your interest rate for reasons other than being late in the payment of your credit card bill.http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/478/50/ |