Credit delinquency rates are at all-time highs according to the American Bankers Association.
According to an article on Reuters, U.S. consumers are falling behind on loan payments at a faster rate than has ever been seen before.  The mounting number of job losses is seen as a major reason why delinquent payments hit an all time [...]

We’ve all heard the saying that the best offense is good defense.  The same goes with student loans.  The best offense is to be defensive in applying for student loans.  Historically, students and parents borrowed money for a majority of college expenses. However, over the last two years, more parents and students are become more [...]

Many people ask me about discharging student loans when they’re looking into filing for bankruptcy.  Typically, student loans aren’t discharged during bankruptcy proceedings.  It’s not impossible to accomplish if you can show that paying the student loan debt “will impose an undue hardship on you and your dependents”.  Bankruptcy judges use various tests to determine [...]

Car title loans are marketed by creditors as a savior for the little guy; but these high interest loans are much like payday loans in that they can carry a triple-digit annual interest rate and are very difficult to repay in full when you’re already struggling financially.  Let’s take close look at car title loans [...]

Increasingly, down-on-their-luck Americans are turning to companies who offer payday loans to make ends meet one month in the hopes that the next will be better, allowing them to pay off the amount of money they borrowed along with the interest charged by the payday lender.  There’s just one problem with that scenario.  The sky-high [...]

According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, only about 7 percent of small businesses added to their workforces in the second quarter of this year, while 24 percent implemented job losses.
The article said:
“Small-business owners who have cut jobs over the past year are in no hurry to start hiring again just because the [...]

Your credit score is calculated by factors that are often counterintuitive.
One of the largest problems people face when trying to improve their credit is that they are ill informed.  You heard your friend so and so say that this could help your credit, or your other friend said that could help your credit.  Well don’t [...]

Consumers still covered with high unemployment stats can protect property
The latest Gross Domestic Product report indicates that the recession will end this spring, and at the latest by the end of the year.  Some analysts are evening predicting some growth in the last quarter of this year.  The not-so-silver lining though is that job growth [...]

According to an article in the Star-Telegram, job losses may take an extra toll on those who are married as opposed to their single counterparts.
The article said:
“Unemployed husbands and wives reported experiencing stress more often than single job seekers, 81 percent to 51 percent respectively, according to a recent survey.”
The survey also found that more [...]

We know it’s tempting, easy access to next week’s paycheck when last week’s paycheck is already spent. But taking out a payday loan may actually send you to the poorhouse and sink you into so much debt that it may be impossible to dig yourself out. Taking out just one payday loan could turn into [...]

In 2007, Congress passed a 36 percent rate cap on payday, auto title and tax refund anticipation loans to the military. The move was prompted by a Defense Department report that stated that “predatory lending undermines the morale of troops and families.”   The payday lending industry charges the typical borrowers (non-military) a whooping 500 percent [...]

It’s Christmas time again and many Dallas-Fort Worth residents find themselves financially stretched. Buying gifts for family and friends can often completely deplete bank accounts, credit cards and even the kid’s piggy banks. Unfortunately for many, when January 1st rolls around, they still have the mortgage/rent to pay and other necessities, often forgotten [...]