Debt Repair Tips
Debt Repair Tips
What starts out as manageable debt can quickly become overwhelming if you are not prepared. Credit card bills multiply, household expenses become unmanageable, and unexpected bills such as medical bills or auto loans make it impossible to meet your daily expenses. If you are sinking deeper and deeper into unmanageable debt, consider these tips for repairing your credit:
• Force the creditor to validate your debt. A creditor has to validate your debt to collect on it; otherwise, you do not have to pay them. The Statute of Limitations limits the time a creditor has to file a claim against a debtor, usually to between three and ten years. If your creditor misses filing a claim during this period, they lose their rights to collect. You then dispute or affirm the amount of debt.
• Create a debt management plan. Consider speaking to a debt counselor about how to manage your current debt and avoid accruing more. Debt management in North Carolina allows you to shift your payments, giving you a longer repayment time. It requires you to prioritize your debt and analyze your income and fixed expenses to understand what you can and cannot afford.
• Consider the pros and cons of debt consolidation. Consolidating debts into one can have benefits, but it is important to consider all of the relevant factors before transferring your balances. Debt counseling helps you analyze such important factors as introductory interest rates, non-introductory rates, balance transfer fees, and other relevant terms.
• Restructure your debt. A debt counselor also helps you restructure your debt by working with your lenders to alter the terms of the debt. This may include a new interest rate or a new monthly payment. Debt restructure in North Carolina can be tricky, so it is important to seek debt counseling before choosing this option.
• Negotiate a debt settlement. Another option is to negotiate a settlement with the lender for a lower outstanding balance. This is generally just a portion of the original debt, and the remainder of the debt is forgiven. However, although the amount owed is reduced, you must still pay taxes on the forgiven amount.
• Rebuild your credit. The final step in repairing your debt is to rebuild your credit by lowering your overall debt and making any future payments on time.
Contact us
If you are concerned about your debt and interested in learning how to repair it, the law firm of John F. Hanzel, P.A. can help. Our debt relief professionals work hard to stop harassing creditor phone calls and settle your debt in a way that works for you. Contact John F. Hanzel, P.A. today for the debt help you need.
Muni bond-rigging civil suit close to settlement with Wells Fargo
Along with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG, which settled earlier, Wells Fargo is close to settlement with municipalities over a muni bond-rigging civil suit. The other three mega banks had settled with the municipalities and federal authorities for a combined total of more than $500 million.
David Benoit of Marketwatch.com reported in “Wells Fargo to settle muni bond-rigging civil suit” that the allegations of bid rigging go back to the late 1990s and early 2000s and involved dozens of states.
The municipalities that bought the bonds were put at a severe disadvantage by the alleged collusive practices of the banks and bidding agents who somehow managed to manipulate the process so that the banks would end up both winning and losing the auction. As a result, the municipalities ended up with reduced potential payouts.
Municipal bonds are generally tax-exempt debt obligations issued by state or local governments to finance public projects such as schools, parks, highways, hospitals or sewer systems. Buyers of the bonds are essentially lending money to the municipalities in return for payment at a specified rate of interest.
Wells Fargo reportedly agreed to pay at least $37 million but could potentially pay more if it settles the allegations with various states' attorneys general. The future payouts could be about 65 percent of any settlement with law enforcement, if the amount was greater.
Attorneys for the earlier settlements were reputed to be seeking more in settlements and were not pleased with the earlier agreements. The Wells Fargo agreement has not yet been court-approved.
Information in this post gathered in association with a Criminal Law Attorneys in Reno.
$700 million of investor money lost in Citigroup deal
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pushing for a settlement with Citigroup for an amount that is less than half of the $700 million that investors in a housing-related investment reportedly lost.
The subject of the investment concerned a deal in which investors were allegedly led to believe that assets that created an investment instrument and were tied to subprime mortgages had been chosen by an independent group but were really controlled by the Citigroup subsidiary, Citigroup Global Markets.
According to David S. Hilzenrath of the Washington Post in “Investors lost $700M in Citigroup deal, Sec says,” Citigroup then bet that the investment would lose value, as it invariably did, resulting in profits of $160 million to the bank and losses of about $700 million to the investors.
The SEC has said it will accept the sum of $285 million, which includes the $160 million gained by the bank, interest of $30 million, and a penalty of $95 million. The SEC told U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff that not all the losses sustained by the investors were the result of the bank’s misconduct.
Calls to reject the settlement as grossly inadequate were made by at least one advocacy group, Better Markets. In response to Judge Rakoff’s concern as to why intentional fraud was not alleged, SEC attorneys said that the evidence “did not clearly establish an intent to defraud” and pointed to a disclaimer made to the investors that warned them that Citigroup’s interests may be adverse to theirs.
Information in this post gathered in association with Clearwater criminal lawyers.
Wireless Matrix USA Strikes Agreement with Acacia Subsidiary
The Telematics Corporation, a subsidiary of the Acacia Research Corporation, has announced a settlement of its patent litigation suit with Wireless Matrix USA.
The press release was reported in Tradershuddle.com in "Acacia Subsidiary Enters Into Settlement Agreement With Wireless Matrix USA, Inc." The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. With Telematics entering into a licensing agreement with Geotab, Inc., the litigation was resolved.
The Telematics Corporation develops and licenses technology systems that display a vehicle's location and other information. Other limousine and fleet management companies aside from Geotab, Inc. use the system as well, which combines GPS technology to keep track of drivers and vehicles by indicating location, speed, and fuel consumption. According to www.geotab.com, the device also tracks engine issues, monitors driver behavior, provides for more efficient trip planning, and instantly records and gives notifications of accidents.
Acacia Research has subsidiaries, such as Telematics, that partners with patent owners and licenses them to corporate users while sharing the revenue.
Wireless Matrix, headquartered out of Herndon, Virginia, also provides GPS tracking systems and offers a web-based method of tracking fleet operations with vehicle-mounted wireless data communication services.
Geotab, Inc. and Wireless Matrix USA, Inc. were two of the 10 defendants in a suit filed by Telematics Corporation in November, 2010. Other defendants are Actsoft, Inc.; Fleetmatics USA, Inc.; Fleetilla, LLC; Intergis, LLC; Networkfleet, Inc.; Onstar LLC; Procon, Inc.; and Skypatrol, LLC.
Other details of the settlement were not disclosed.
Information in this post gathered in association with Atlanta injury attorneys.