Category Archives: Consumer Law
How Do I Create a Budget?
What is budgeting? My definition is that budgeting is an estimate of money to be earned and expenses to be paid over some given time period based on past period’s data. I like to think of budgeting as a diet; it is only effective if you use it. Some tips to remember as you… Read More »
Tips for Negotiating with Creditors
I’ve helped hundreds of clients negotiate. I’ve negotiated residential and commercial real estate contracts, residential and commercial leases, Mediations, credit card debt, medical debt, student loan debt, secured debt, unsecured debt, deficiency obligations, pretty much every type of debt. I’ve negotiated court settlements and other agreements that involved something other than money. Over the… Read More »
What is the due date?
In reviewing contracts, court deadlines, and other time-driven factors, we get many questions related to how the time is calculated for purposes of a response or deadline. Typically, when counting days, day 1 is the day after the date listed (like we learned in math class). Therefore, if the “Effective Date” of a contract… Read More »
Freddie Mac Fraud Prevention and the Exclusionary List
I do have to give Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) credit for implementing programs to prevent fraud on consumers and to prevent Freddie Mac from purchasing non-investment quality loans. In my experience, however, the Exclusionary List casts such a wide net that it often traps those who may have innocently created a… Read More »
Bluffing your Creditors? Debt Settlement Ain’t Poker
In poker, people sometimes bluff when they have a bad hand, hoping the other players can’t read the truth and will surrender the chips they’ve already played although they have the better hand. In settling debt, bluffing rarely works because most of the time the borrower lacks leverage, and bluffing can seriously backfire on… Read More »
You may be able to Sue your Creditor for being too Aggressive in Collecting its Debt
As of March 2018, the United States Federal Reserve shows that there is over $3.8 trillion of consumer credit outstanding! Although failing to pay your Visa® bill (regardless of how much) will have virtually no impact on whether Visa® survives as a company, I think we can all agree that there is a TON of debt… Read More »
How do I Remove Someone from the Title to my House?
We received another listener question this week: “When I purchased my home, I had my daughter added to the Deed so that she could inherit the house when I die. However, we have not talked in years and I want to take her name off of the house and leave it to someone else. … Read More »
How Do I Come Off the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List?
Over the years I’ve created content around the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List – videos, Crushing Debt Podcast episodes and blogs. Put simply, the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List is a list of real estate professionals that Freddie Mac believes have taken some action, failed to take some action, originated loans, or have some systemic failure… Read More »
Can I Avoid Paying Business Debts by Shutting Down the Old Business and Opening a New Business?
We received another question from one of the listeners of The Crushing Debt Podcast: “I have an S-Corporation that is overloaded with debt. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay the debts of the company. Can I close my old company, then open a new company free of debt?” Great question, and… Read More »
Credit Unions, Cars, and Cross-Collateralization
This week, we have another question from a listener of The Crushing Debt Podcast. Rather than repeat the question (it’s a bit long) we’ll summarize it. The borrower financed his car through a credit union and also has a credit card through the same credit union. The car loan was paid off but there… Read More »
