Monthly Archives: August 2006

Fed Report on Fair Credit Reporting Act

August 22, 2006 – 1:29 pm

The Federal Trade Commission and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System have released their joint “Report to Congress on the Fair Credit Reporting Act Dispute Process.” The report makes for some pretty dry reading, even for someone like me who’s really into this stuff. But there are also some fascinating tidbits of [...]

By Charles | Posted in Debt & Credit | Comments (1)

Consumer Credit Spikes Upward in June 2006

August 11, 2006 – 12:05 pm

Consumer credit jumped by $10.3 billion in June 2006, according to the latest figures released by the Federal Reserve. Of that amount, $6.65 billion was in the form of revolving (credit card) debt. With most analysts predicting an increase of just $4 billion in June, these figures were much higher than expected. In addition, the [...]

By Charles | Posted in Debt & Credit | Comments (0)

Debt Collection Madness in Massachusetts

August 10, 2006 – 11:26 am

The Boston Globe recently ran a scathing 4-part special report on abusive debt collection practices in Massachusetts. Part One, “No Mercy for Consumers” describes the tactics of two area collection agencies that purchase old delinquent debts and enforce collection by filing lawsuits in small claims courts. The preferred method of forcing payment is the repossession [...]

By Charles | Posted in Debt & Credit | Comments (0)

Is the Collection Industry Good for the U.S. Economy?

August 2, 2006 – 9:38 am

The debt collection industry is good for the U.S. economy! I’ll bet you didn’t know that, right? This conclusion was reported recently in a study commissioned by ACA International (the trade organization for the collection industry). Surprisingly, there has been very little media attention about the report, “Value of Third-Party Debt Collection to the U.S. [...]

By Charles | Posted in Debt & Credit | Comments (0)