Dec 16
In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — the agency charged with enforcing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), federal legislation that prohibits debt collection agencies from using deceptive, abusive or unfair practices — received over 140,000 complaints related to debt collectors. Despite this rather vast number of complaints, however, it appears that debt collection agencies are continuing to prey upon consumers in need of debt relief.
In fact, it appears that more and more of these agencies are turning to an alternative method of debt collection that is perhaps far more insidious than harassing phone calls or persistent correspondence.
Specifically, certain debt collection agencies are purchasing debts from companies and filing a lawsuit against the debtor to collect the money owed.
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Tags: Debt, Debt Collectors
Dec 09
It is no secret that creditors want to be paid. Perhaps in a perfect world every debt would be paid in full and on time. Unfortunately, life happens and sometimes individuals are not able to pay their debts. Creditors are aware of this and try to protect themselves with binding contracts and agreements. One clause that regularly appears is the “bankruptcy waiver.” The debtor agrees that he or she will not discharge the debt in a future bankruptcy case.
Waivers of future bankruptcy rights are not enforceable. In drafting the bankruptcy code, Congress expressly stated that the bankruptcy discharge voids judgments and operates as an injunction against the continuation of any action against a debtor personally, “whether or not discharge of such debt is waived.” See 11 U.S.C. § 524(a
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Nov 27
High rates of unemployment are known to cause many of the increasing numbers of personal bankruptcy cases in todays economy. Peter Coy, Economics Editor at Bloomberg Business Week, has come up with a unique analysis that indicates bankruptcy, or a bankruptcy-like debt forgiveness program may hold the key to lessening the unemployment rate and jump starting the economy again. The following is a summary of Mr.
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Tags: Economy, Stimulate National