Credit and Debt Blog

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the 2008 stimulus payments will be released ahead of schedule. Nearly 8 million taxpayers will receive their stimulus payments via direct deposit by Friday, May 2.

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Customers of LendingTree, a popular online mortgage lead service, have been informed that their personal information on file has been compromised.  Customers use the LendingTree service to have several different banks compete and see who offers the best terms on a mortgage.  Consumers provide personal information including their social security number, address, birthday, income and employment [...]

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On April 7, 2008 Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced a judgment of $1.3 million to be paid by a debt collector that violated collection laws. Ellis Crosby & Associates, including the owner Ted Ellis Crosby himself, engaged in willful violations of Florida’s Consumer Collections Practices Act and Deceptive and Unfair Business Practices Act.

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The Internal Revenue Service has quietly been studying the impact of refund anticipation loans (RALs) on both lower income taxpayers and on government revenues. The results of their study suggest that the IRS will close the loophole that allows tax outlets to offer refund anticipation loans.

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Recently released minutes of the Federal Reserve Board meeting reveal that the Fed is increasingly worried that the already beginning recession may be much worse than initially feared.

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Many unsuspecting debtors flock to debt settlement companies because they offer the lowest payment available for a debt relief program (excluding bankruptcy). However, a high number of debt settlement company clients find that the settlement company offers very little benefit at a very high cost. Worst yet, there are no protections from legal action.

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