Credit and Debt Blog

A new report by MSNBC examines a peculiar “coincidence” that involves Equifax and an E-book seller named Digismarket.com. Literally hundreds of internet shoppers have noticed unauthorized charges of $4.95 from Digismarket.com. The other connection many of them had was that they had also recently used those cards to purchase credit services through Equifax. Equifax conducted [...]

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The former IRS Commissioner known for scrutinizing many nonprofit credit counseling agencies has now been asked to resign from his most recent post. Mark Everson left the IRS to become President and CEO of the American Red Cross. In as little as 6 months, Everson went from top IRS official to embattled nonprofit executive.

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On November 27, the Internal Revenue Service released its official mileage rates for 2008. The standard rate will increase to 50.5 cents per mile for business miles driven. This is up from 48.5 cents per mile for 2007. Medical or moving purpose mileage actually dropped from 20 cents to 19 cents per mile. Volunteer miles [...]

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Citigroup announced in April that it would eliminate 17,000 jobs. Now it appears there may be up to 45,000 additional job cuts. The reductions are planned to offset the billions of dollars in subprime lending losses. What does this mean for cardholders?

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Chase Card Services announced that it will cease to penalize cardholders that made a late payment on other credit cards. Chase will no longer raise interest rates based on a review of a customer’s credit report. Their clear and simple program begins in March 2008. What is universal default? Who else is ending universal default? [...]

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Both a credit freeze and a fraud alert can stymie identity thieves that are looking to exploit your good credit and open accounts in your name. Each can halt the opening of new credit accounts. So why are both offered, and what is the difference?

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We anticipate a coming recession in 2008. As such, our counselors are planning for increased requests for assistance from financially distressed consumers. Leading economists now put the recession risk as high as 50% in 2008. This is more than twice previous estimates. Here is why.

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No, Slavic Village, Ohio is not the scene for the next Hollywood teenage drama. Far from it. Instead, the 44105 zip code has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in foreclosures. It doesn’t end there either.

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Discover and Experian recently announced a new arrangement that would provide Discover cardholders with a consumer credit score product. Known as Credit ScoreTracker, the service could allow Discover cardmembers understand how their credit usage affects their credit score. This tool comes at a substantial cost though. At $7.99 per month at the time of this [...]

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On Thursday, the House passed the Mortgage Reform and Predatory Lending Act of 2007. The House voted 291 to 127 to approve legislation that would curb common abusive practices in the subprime mortgage market. These abuses are blamed for massive foreclosures. The bill still requires Senate approval. Some consumer advocates, including the Center for Responsible [...]

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