It may sound obvious but most people contemplating bankruptcy are behind on their bills, and have rapidly deteriorating (or bottomed-out) credit scores. But everyone who contemplates filing a bankruptcy case is entitled to consider what impact the case will have on their lives going forward. When it comes to credit scores, there are a lot [...]

Imagine getting a knock on the door and finding a deputy sheriff outside. He hands you a fat envelope and departs without much formality. You’ve been sued. If you’ve fallen behind on your debts, chances are its a creditor who’s suing you. But when you look over the paperwork, the plaintiff is a name you [...]

One of the most perplexing things a bankruptcy attorney can come across is clients (and potential clients) who are overly obsessed about their credit scores. With some folks, its almost as if the FICO score itself is some sort of IQ number, indicative of intelligence, self-worth, or some other positive attribute. If you are thinking [...]

According to the Boston Globe, more than 1 of every 4 Boston taxi passengers now pays by credit card, an option that has made cabs more attractive to riders but provoked tension among drivers, passengers, and city regulators. What’s got the cab drivers riled up is the combination of fees that they are charged for [...]

We were having a little bit of an economic recovery the past few months, which, needless to say, was badly needed. But now rapidly rising consumer prices are threatening the fragile recovery. As a result, a lot of people in our Merrimack Valley area are being put through what I call “the squeeze.” When they [...]

As the February credit card bills start to pour in, a lot of folks are making that calculation for themselves. Just how long will it take to pay off your credit cards? You can use this handy calculator from Bankrate to figure it out! http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/credit-cards/credit-card-payoff-calculator.aspx If the answer shocks you out of complacency, it might [...]

The final figures for 2010 are in, and the number of residential foreclosures in Massachusetts, no surprise, was sharply higher. All told, 12,233 Massachusetts homeowners lost properties to bank seizure, nearly 32 percent more than in 2009, according to the Warren Group, which tracks real estate trends. As bad as that sounds, do you think [...]

Credit card default rates fell last month, but recent improvements in getting late payers to catch up slowed down instead. According to the Associated Press, the major banks all said that charge-offs fell in September to the lowest level of 2010. Charge-offs usually represent accounts that are more than six months behind — or in [...]

Initial reports from the financial markets last week would seem to bode well for the consumer economy: according to syndicated columnist Michelle Singletary, Americans appear to be paying down the balances on their credit cards. Trans Union said that average balances on bank-issued cards had dropped for a fifth consecutive quarter. CreditKarma reported that consumer [...]

Nationwide, credit card debt has fallen to the lowest level in the past eight years, according to an AP article by Eileen Connolly. The highest levels of credit card debt are in Alaska, and people in Alabama have been paying off their cards the most. Massachusetts and new Hampshire are about in the middle as [...]