The ZipDebt Blog
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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 information, and if you know anything at all about “credit repair” there is some useful material in the report as well. (Click to continue reading this post…)

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 May numbers were revised upward from $4.4 billion to $5.88 billion. Total U.S. consumer debt, not including mortgages, now stands at $2.19 trillion. (Click to continue reading this post…)

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 of vehicles under court order, a tactic which often leaves (Click to continue reading this post…)

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. Economy: Survey and Analysis.” Given the mountain of bad publicity (Click to continue reading this post…)