After Bankruptcy 2. – Don’t put it on plastic
Use consumer credit as little as possible and only as a last resort. This doesn’t include a mortgage or perhaps a car loan.
Don’t be surprised if after bankruptcy you’re inundated with credit offers because creditors know that you’re starting with a clean slate, and they’re eager to get you back into the credit world.
After Bankruptcy 1. – Spend smart
After a bankruptcy, the first thing you need to do is to figure out how you got into financial trouble in the first place.
Was it simply that you didn’t live within your means? Or did you lose your job or suffer a serious illness?
Credit card debt related to housing crash
Like many Northern Nevadans, 34-year-old Jack Zenteno and his wife, Betty, found their finances taking a severe hit from the area’s housing crisis.
“My wife went into real estate right when the market began to fall apart,” Zenteno said. “And it occurred at the same time I lost my job.”
With no savings to draw from, the [...]
Spotlight lingers on credit ills
This has turned out to be a bumper year for headlines on credit problems, mortgage woes and the like. As pundits debate the merits of the White House mortgage-relief plan, many other issues also affect cash-strapped consumers.
It’s in the mail: With all the worry over subprime mortgage borrowers, you would think credit-card companies also would [...]
Bankruptcy Laws Make it Harder to “Write-Off” Credit Card Debt
Some of the biggest names in credit card issuers, including Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Washington Mutual, spent about $25 million between 2004 and 2005- working to get changes to bankruptcy laws that would help protect their profits when people filed bankruptcy.
They got what they wanted—and it is increasingly [...]
Student credit card use a growing concern
A California law has reduced the number of credit card companies soliciting students every week.
Credit cards can be very useful to people who are traveling, experiencing temporary shortages of cash, or who are trying to build credit in order to purchase a car or a home.
But the dangers hidden in high interest rates and fees [...]
Credit Card Debt a $915 Billion Disaster-in-Waiting for Banks
Think the estimated subprime debt load carried by the big international banks is big, at $1 trillion? How about this: Americans now owe nearly as much – a record $915 billion – on their credit cards alone.
And defaults and delinquencies in the credit card sector are piling up – which means big banks are on [...]