Blogs

The Phantom Debt

In late June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint in federal court in North Carolina against a debt collection company in that state. Allegedly, the debt collection company took money from consumers for fake (so called “phantom”) debts. In other words, for debts that the consumers did not actually owe.

CNBC’s Diana Olick reports that two major lending changes mean it may be easier to qualify for a mortgage.

Recently, CNBC posted an article about concerns that have been raised with Student Loan Servicers giving incorrect or not enough information on the various types of relief from student loan debt that is available.

The total number of Bankruptcy filings in May of 2017 rose 5% over May of 2016.  The actual number filed in 2017 was 69,668, up from 66,138 cases filed in May of last year according to the American Bankruptcy Institute & Epiq Systems.

Commercial or Business Bankruptcy filings for the month of May also increased at a 5% clip to 3,572 up from 3,412 in May of 2016.

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the nation’s three largest credit reporting agencies, announced back in March of this year that beginning July 1 they will no longer include tax liens and civil judgments on credit reports.

Takata, the Japanese auto maker who has been embroiled in a deadly airbag scandal, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Sunday.  Takata’s airbags are the subject of the largest recall in U.S. history.  The airbags have been blamed for at least 16 deaths, and Takata has been hit by more than a billion dollars in penalties and costs.

Security clearance issues, it seems, are in the news just about every day as of late. The news covers a lot of areas.

According to a recent CNN Money report, another giant retailer is struggling to keep its head above water. Gymboree, a children’s clothing retailer, recently filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 to restructure and attempt to stay in business.

We have just finished honoring our military servicemen and women on Memorial Day, the holiday where we pay homage to our veterans who have died serving this country.   But in addition to such celebrations, we can do more by insisting that our veterans be treated fairly by the department in charge of their care.  The scandal involving the hospitals and me

In my last blog entry I discussed Kentucky Social Security Administration (SSA) disability attorney Eric Conn’s guilty plea and fine for a variety of misdeeds relating to his SSA disability practice.  It was the latest of several, as I have covered a number of othe