Debt Counseling Companies

As long as there have been credit cards, there have been people with credit problems. There are lots of companies out there willing to help get these problems under control, but they come with some strings attached.

Consider this:

• Lending institutions have more than one billion cards in circulation - four for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
• Last year, Americans charged up to $400 billion on their credit cards, according to credit-card tracker RAM Research.
• According to the Federal Reserve, more than $1.65 trillion in debt remained outstanding in 2001.
• On average, households have more than $8,500 in credit card debt.
• Finally, according to a survey conducted by Gerogetown University, more than 2 million Americans sought assistance from debt-counseling agencies last year. Read more
  

Debt disaster lurks in the fine print

Miss a couple utility payments and your lights go out. And your credit card interest rates might go up. And your auto and homeowner insurance might go up. You may not even get the job you thought you had in hand.

The practice of one creditor penalizing an account holder for paying another bill late has been around awhile, but now nearly one-third of all card issuers do it, experts say.

Read more at: Tucson Citizen

InCharge Debt Solutions is a national, non-profit, credit counseling agency offering confidential and professional budget counseling, debt management and financial education programs to consumers across America.

Medical Bills Cause Half of Bankruptcies

A new study finds that health care costs lead to about half of all bankruptcy filings in the U.S. NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports.

Listen at npr.org

Congress Expected to Pass Bankruptcy Bill

The House and Senate are expected to pass a measure that would make it harder for debtors to avoid their obligations through federal bankruptcy laws. Bill backers say too many people abuse the practice. But critics say the legislation makes no distinction between those who truly need relief and those who have been irresponsible.

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Bankruptcy Bill Will Be Tough on Debtors

NPR's Ed Gordon talks to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. John Corzine (D-NJ) about the bankruptcy bill passed by the Senate last week. Critics and consumer advocates say the new bill, which President Bush has promised to sign, will make it harder for consumers trying to get out of debt and make a clean start. The banking and credit card industry support the bill and say it's long overdue.

Listen at npr.org

Court to Hear Dispute Over Student Loans

The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider whether the federal government can seize a person's Social Security payments to pay off student loan debts that are at least a decade old.

Justices agreed to hear an appeal by James Lockhart, a disabled man who says he needs his monthly check to pay for food and medication. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the U.S. Department of Education, which wants to seize his Social Security checks.

Read more at: SFGate.com