The ZipDebt Blog
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Picking up where I left off yesterday on the debt elimination scam, I’d like to shift gears a little and lay down a challenge. I sometimes receive calls or emails from people promoting this system. Because I am easy to reach and I’m a well-known debt expert, they seem compelled to convince me of the worth and merit of their system. Often, the people contacting me are ignorant of the nature of the scam. That’s because this program is (Click to continue reading this post…)

Consumers seeking debt assistance are faced with a bewildering assortment of debt companies, services, programs, books, ebooks, and websites. How to tell the scams from the legitimate options? The purpose of this blog post is to help consumers easily spot and steer clear of one particular scam that is growing through network or multi-level marketing schemes. It goes under different names, such as debt elimination, debt (Click to continue reading this post…)

This item made the news today: “Late Payments on Credit Cards Showed Strong Decline in Fourth Quarter 2005.” (Source: American Bankers Association’s Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin) In the third quarter of 2005, the number of credit card accounts 30 days or more past due stood at 4.74%, while this figure dropped to 4.27% in the fourth quarter. (Click to continue reading this post…)

We set a new record for personal bankruptcy filings in 2005, with a total of 2,039,214 consumer filings. That’s a 30% increase over the prior year. Of course, some of the surge has to do with negative publicity surrounding the new bankruptcy law that went into effect in October 2005. Approximately 400,000 of those cases were under Chapter 13, with the rest being Chapter 7 bankruptcies. It will be interesting to see (Click to continue reading this post…)

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Charles J. Phelan
Manchester Publishing Company
132 N. El Camino Real #161
Encinitas, CA 92024

Telephone: (866) 515-2360

Website: http://www.zipdebt.com

Email: charles@zipdebt.com

Let’s call 2006 the year of the triple squeeze play against the indebted American consumer. With consumer debt at an all-time high, are things getting easier for people? Are there more options available for dealing with problem debt? No. It’s exactly the opposite. At a time when people most need help, they face a tougher set of challenges than ever before when it comes to tackling debt. (Click to continue reading this post…)

Under the new bankruptcy rules, a lot more people will be forced into Chapter 13 bankruptcy versus the preferred Chapter 7. The major difference, of course, is that Chapter 13 represents the worst of both worlds. You get the giant B-word tattooed to your forehead (well, your credit report anyway, which amounts to the same thing), PLUS you get to pay back a big chunk of the debts included in the bankruptcy. At least with (Click to continue reading this post…)

Debt collection attorneys who file affidavits in state courts in order to obtain wage garnishments can be sued by consumers under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This key decision, unheld on appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, is an important victory for consumer advocates and other critics of the collection industry. For decades, collection attorneys have been filing bogus documents with the courts, and getting (Click to continue reading this post…)

A big “thank you” to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. In a recent press release, they reported on the results of a survey of more than 60,000 consumers who were filing for bankruptcy under the ridiculous new law that went into effect last October. One of the silliest aspects of the new law is that it requires a credit counseling session within 180 days prior to filing. Leaving aside that this is a total (Click to continue reading this post…)