At first I had ignored the new film Zack & Miri Make a Porno but once I found it the premise of the movie was that they had run out of money and were struggling to get out of debt, I had to go see it. Here is the review that really made me curious to see it. Smith returns to the kind of characters he introduced in his 1994 debut Clerks - sarcastic but chronically underemployed service employees. Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been friends since first grade, share rent on a shabby Pittsburgh house and mismanage their money. The rent is three months in arrears, and the water and electricity are about to be shut off, all on the night of their 10-year high-school reunion. Humiliation is the order of the occasion: Nobody interesting recognizes Zack. Miri, who’s surname is Linky, is given a badge with her high-school nickname, “Stinky” Linky, and she makes a fool of herself by coming on to the class hunk, Bobby (Brandon Routh, of Superman Returns fame), who, she discovers, is living with his arch porn-star boyfriend, Brandon (Justin Long). Then Brandon tells Zack and Miri that they are YouTube celebrities, thanks to a teenager’s videophone images of their backsides, taken at the coffee shop where they work, which have been posted online. What seems like the nadir of their shame turns into an opportunity. Zack decides they should exploit their notoriety by making a porno to get out of debt. After all, he says, porn is as much a part of the mainstream as Pepsi or Coke. Eschewing the default celebrity-porn route (handheld video camera, hotel room), Zack discovers his inner auteur. Globe and Mail So I’m just back from the movie. If you like silly and stupid sophomoric humor, you’ll love this movie. I don’t want to ruin it for you but it’s not real poo. If you see the movie you’ll know what I’m talking about. And I fell for the movie rip off again. A medium soda was $3.50 but the large was $3.75 so I went for the large. When will I learn that I only have a 75% movie bladder. Sure enough, 2/3 of the way through I had to make a quick run to the restroom which would normally be not worth mentioning but I did walk into the restroom, all the way down to the end and while I was curious that there were no urinals, it did not hit me, till mid event, that I was in the women’s room. Doh! That’s a first, even for me. Seriously, I think I’ve heard hundreds of stories from people of what they have done and will do for money and believe it or not, this movie premise, making a porn for money, is not all that strange. Generally the ‘wild things I’ve done to get out of debt’ stories fall into two categories, stealing and sex related. But probably my all time favorite story was a woman who lived in a single wide mobile home with her husband. She convinced her husband that his cards had lower credit rates and that it made more sense to do a balance transfer of all the debt on her cards to his. The day after the transfer occured she split with her secret boyfriend and left him with the kids in the trailer. A combination of the stealing and sex theme. Sad, but true. Source: Using Porn And Sex to Help You Get Out of Debt Other Related Articles to Read No Related Post

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Credit card lenders include Discover Financial Services LLC, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Capital One Financial Corp., American Express Co. and HSBC Holdings have finally come together with the help of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling , Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Service Roundtable to start the process of creating a debt solution, other than bankruptcy or credit counseling . That could be potentially really good news for consumers as it starts to make some major movement towards the perfect debt assistance program I outlined before. At the heart of this new initiative is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency giving banks permission to write off up to 40 percent of the balance owed on credit cards on a case by case basis. If banks did this it would give consumers a possible solution to pay what they can afford without bankruptcy . That is good news. But with every good news story there is a catch, and pretty significant ones at that. Banks don’t want to book the loss on the loan until the consumer pays off the reduced balance through a payment plan. That will mask the true losses by the banks under this plan for years. But the primary reason for this is probably because the banks want to and will come back in full force and vengeance to collect the total amount due and then some, if consumers fail to complete the entire plan as scheduled. That could be very dangerous for consumers that have a slip or two during the long and difficult 60 months of repayment. Worse yet is that rather than in bankruptcy where consumers do not have to pay any income tax on the amount of debt forgiven, in this plan, they will. The group is asking that borrowers be able to defer payment of income taxes they will owe the IRS on the forgiven part of the debt until after the remainder was paid off. You have to pay income tax on forgiven debt, just as if you earned the money. That just puts the banks squarely ahead of the government and leaves the consumer with potentially years of additional debts payments to make after five years of paying back creditors. No Lingering Tax Liability - Unlike now, where any forgiven debt is taxed by the IRS as if it was earned as income, except for debt discharged in bankruptcy, the IRS needs to not bill consumers for the that amount owed that creditors may write off under this plan. Getting a tax bill for debt you already can’t pay is a strong disincentive for consumers to even bother with repayment. - The Perfect Debt Assistance Program And the forgiven debt tax issue is a big one. If banks write off a total of $60,000 worth of debt to help you avoid bankruptcy , depending on your tax rate you can wind up with an IRS obligation of $12,000, more or less. Finishing a long and hard repayment schedule over five years only to wind up owing the IRS and paying for another couple of years seems cruel and a huge disincentive. Scott Talbott, senior vice president at the Financial Services Roundtable is quoted as saying that under this plan “Both parties win”. I’m afraid that is an optimistic statements at this point and while we are potentially headed towards a good plan, we are not there. Right now I’d have to say the current plan heavily favors creditors. Currently, the only thing the plan does is potentially leads consumers into a five year payment plan that is not binding on the creditors under law, leaves the debtor owing the IRS at a latter date, masks the banks write offs until the reduced debt is paid. Since the plan is not binding, it will only take the actions of one creditor with excessive collection pressure, or arbitrarily changing their mind to conform with then current bank policy to continue participating to tank the whole repayment plan, maybe years into it. And creditor flip flops are not a worry of something that might happen, they happen now in a normal debt management plan , especially as creditors buy and sell portfolios of debts. If the plan fails years into the repayment plan, consumers will have wasted years of struggle and payments and potentially be in worse shape than if they just went bankrupt to begin with. In order for this plan to be effective it must be contractually binding, just like an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in the UK is. Even though I once served on the board of directors of a consumer credit counseling office that was a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), I have been hypercritical of the NFCC in the past, feeling as if they are not doing enough to defend consumers against bad creditor behavior and actions since they are primarily paid by the creditors. But for this effort of trying to create a new solution for debtors I’ll give Susan Keating, the president of NFCC, a provisional thumbs up for finally seeing the light that better solutions for problem debt need to be made available to consumers, other than the traditional debt management plan (DMP). I also see my old contact at Consumer Federation of America, Travis Plunkett, is quoted as saying that “In this case we have a clear common interest”, we do Travis but we’ve got further to go before this is a good plan for consumers other than bankruptcy , where no lingering tax liability exists and the plan is binding on the creditors. Keep up the good work Travis. Having spent the past few years in the UK and working with similar plans there, this new debt write off plan being put forward here could be something great but unless we tighten up some major issues, as I laid out in the perfect debt assistance program I’m afraid that it will not be as beneficial for both parties as it could be. A final sticking point is that this plan only address part of the consumers financial struggles and does not provide a single solution to address all debts, as bankruptcy does. Not mentioned in this plan is how consumers in trouble would be able to incorporate a failing mortgage into one single and coordinated solution handled by a third part in the time of monetary crisis. If a plan can be created that address all the issues and wraps things up into one package, then we’ve got a world class solution. Keep working on this guys, we are halfway towards a decent debt repayment solution for good people with bad debt. Steve Source: Banks Agree to Wipe Out Up to 40 Percent of Credit Card Debt But Watch Out. Other Related Articles to Read Catherine Asks If There Is Hope Or Help For Debt The Perfect Debt Assistance Program Credit Card Horror Stories: Tales of Credit Limit Reductions and Account Closures Lauren is Searching For Ways to Get Out Of Debt And Make Her Bad Credit Go Away Brenda Writes The Squirrel Asking For Advice. Is She Nuts!

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This article from the UK sadly demonstrates how debt is debt around the world. Debt is now the number-one problem for people in Wales, new figures from Wales’ Citizens Advice Bureaux showed yesterday. It is the first time in the CAB’s 69-year history that mortgage debt problems have become its clients’ main concern. Mounting fuel debt and rocketing credit card , store card and charge card debts in Wales are also revealed in the 2007/08 Citizens Advice Cymru report. To add to the misery, CAB volunteers say there is growing anecdotal evidence that despite Government calls for lenders to offer more help to householders faced with the nightmare of repossession, the exact opposite is happening in Wales with lenders becoming ever more aggressive towards those in mortgage arrears. The report reveals that mortgage -related and secured debt loan problems in Wales have rocketed by 60% in just 12 months, overtaking benefits and tax credit-related issues as the number-one problem in Wales. There were 105,544 debt client issues in Wales out of a combined total of 292,177 client issues last year. And while credit card debt enquiries across England and Wales as a whole have dropped by 4% in the past year, within Wales alone the CAB has seen requests for help with credit, store and charge card debts jump by 19%. Jonathan Edwards, head of public affairs for Citizens Advice Cymru, said: “While in more affluent areas people have been using credit cards to buy luxury items, which they are now foregoing, the situation is very different in Wales. “Here, where incomes are much lower than those in England, people are using credit, store and charge cards to pay for everyday items, including mortgage repayments. “We also have anecdotal evidence that lenders are becoming much more aggressive in terms of repossessions in Wales, despite all the fine words from Government about hoping for the exact opposite. “Citizens Advice Cymru welcomes the statements made by the UK Government requesting that lenders view repossession action as a last resort. “What we need is action to ensure that lenders do everything in their power to keep people in their homes.” There are also growing fears for the health and safety of thousands of people in Wales who are unable to afford to heat and light their own homes. Across England and Wales as a whole the CAB has seen enquiries about fuel debt rise by 11%. And in Wales alone that figure rose to 16% in 2007/08, with some 3,500 people unable to pay their gas and electricity bills. “With the onset of winter we expect that figure to get much worse,” said Mr Edwards. Fran Targett, Director of Citizens Advice Cymru, said: “With over £1.4 trillion of debt circulating in the UK economy, the number of debt cases dealt with by the CAB service in Wales has been increasing year on year. “The fact that debt-related cases is now the number-one issue for our clients is testament of the increasing money-related problems faced by individuals and households in Wales.” The CAB is now campaigning for financial inclusion to be more of a priority for the Welsh Assembly Government. “There is a clear case for financial inclusion to be pushed up the political agenda in Wales,” said Ms Targett. “We look forward to responding to the forthcoming Government of Wales Financial Inclusion Strategy and making the case for such a structure via the creation of a National Money Service for Wales.” Meanwhile, the Nationwide Building Society has just announced a three-year partnership with the CAB. Its £3m investment will fund the recruitment and training of 1,300 volunteers at more than 400 bureaux over the next three years who will provide financial education training and advice on money matters across the UK. David Harker, chief executive of CAB, said, “Nationwide’s support means that bureaux will be able to reach hundreds of thousands of clients in their local communities with financial education sessions and advice on money matters.” Source: Debt is number-one problem for people in Wales Other Related Articles to Read In this economy, layaway is in vogue Banks pull the squeeze play - Minneapolis Star Tribune Back to the future with layaway plans Searching For a Debt Consolidation Loan or Credit Card Counseling Service Therapist: Financial Infidelity Can End Couples

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At a recent home show, we were grabbed by a debt settlement company salesperson who offered to save us at least 40 percent in our effort to get out of debt — not that we have any. Another salesperson hawked a software program that would direct us how best to pay off debt. It works great, the salesperson testified. Upfront cost: $3,500! Unfortunately, families experiencing financial hardship often are prime targets for outrageously expensive solutions and outright fraud. When you’re concerned about your family, it’s easy to feel desperate. Click Here for totally free debt help, advice and answers . Read the rest here: Family Finances: When you’re desperate, look out for fraud Other Related Articles to Read District 17 Oklahoma State Senate Race - Tecumseh Countywide News Is The Government’s Financial Bailout Going To Help You Get Out Of … - PR-CANADA.net (press release) We must all live within our means - Rushville Republican Searching For a Debt Consolidation Loan or Credit Card Counseling Service Beware Of Zombie Debt Collectors

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An Israeli archeologist has discovered what he says is the earliest-known Hebrew text, found on a shard of pottery that dates to the time of King David from the Old Testament, about 3,000 years ago. Carbon dating of the ostracon (meaning “statement”), along with pottery analysis, dates the inscription to time of King David, about a millennium earlier than the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, the university said. The shard contains five lines of text divided by black lines and measures 15 by 15 centimeters, or about 6 inches square. Archeologists have yet to decipher all the text, but initial interpretation indicates it formed part of a letter and contains the roots of the words “default rate,” “cash advance,” and “ balance transfer ,” according to the university. That may indicate it was a legal text, which archaeologists say would provide insights into law, society, beliefs, and the earliest form of junk mail and promotional offers. More information about the real find is here. (I couldn’t resist.) Other Related Articles to Read Easy Come, Easy Go: Prosper.com Hits Regulatory Hurdle American Express Customers: Don’t Try This At Home Which Presidential Candidate Is Better For Debtors? Personal Finnance Bloggers Question of The Week. Payday Loans and Cash Advances Tony Writes In “I Have Too Much Debt On My Credit Cards”

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Average household debt in the United States is 130 percent of average household income, up 20 percent since 2005 and double what it was 20 years ago. The U.S. household savings rate is close to zero. Consumer confidence has plummeted with the value of 401(k) plans and retirement nest-eggs. Retail sales fell 1.2 percent in September, double the expected decline. Car sales are at a 15-year low. And credit card defaults look like the next shoe to drop as cash-strapped Americans have run up credit card debt to postpone the day of reckoning. Click Here for totally free debt help, advice and answers . Read the rest here: Redefining the American Dream Other Related Articles to Read As Economy Slows, Lenders Begin to Curb Credit Cards Hardships Past Haunt Europe’s Search for Financial Safety Tackling a mortgage meltdown of their own - Los Angeles Times Happy blirthday to Taking Charge - CreditCards.com In China, Pay Your Credit Card Bills or Get Hustled Off to The Bank

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Have you ever raised your hurting head the morning after the night before after a little to much fun and alcohol? You know, when you’ve got a bad hangover and possibly regret some of what happened the night before. It’s much the same thing that is going on at credit card companies right now. Now that the economy looks like it’s in free fall, credit card companies are looking to recover from their credit orgy and cut your available credit, raise your interest rates and possibly even close your account. Before you head on for upcoming holiday shopping it would be a good idea to contact your credit card company by phone or on their web site to make sure you know what your credit limit and balance are now. You don’t want to wind up like many have recently, surprised at checkout that their card was rejected. Be sure to open all the letters from your credit card companies to make sure one of those letters is not the typical blank checks, but a notification of changes to your account. A CNN story actually provides an unusual but logical bit of advice, if you only have one credit card that you are dependent on, get a second one. If you aren’t sure where to look for a good credit card to consider, you can look for the best credit card deals available right now . Source: Your Credit Card Company Is Waking Up After A Bender Other Related Articles to Read Soon, Where You Shop Will Control Your Credit Daniel Writes In - “How Can I Get Out of Credit Card Debt?” Europe puts tight controls on £4bn bank offer Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: It’s Credit Cards Would You Like to Be a Debt Collector?

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A story by CNN today makes my article on How to Hide From Debt Collection, the Debt Collector and Creditors even more timely. After several years in which Americans were buying stuff on credit they couldn’t afford, a rapidly increasing number are complaining about getting harassed and abused by bill collectors. Nearly 71,000 people filed such complaints with the Federal Trade Commission last year, roughly double the number in 2003. In addition, more than 14,000 complained to the Better Business Bureau. Thousands more lodged grievances with state and city officials. “And it is going to get worse,” warned David Polino, a Better Business Bureau expert on collection agencies and president of the BBB chapter in upstate New York. “With the recession, with the horrible credit problems, this is going to be off the charts.” Regulators and consumer groups say the rise in complaints reflects the rapidly increasing number of Americans who took on more debt than they could handle during the free-spending, easy-credit days that preceded the current economic crisis. The complaints are also being attributed to the explosive growth in the number of companies that buy up bad consumer debt at a discount and try to collect whatever they can. See CNN for more on this article. So now is the time to follow my plan on how to hide from the bill collector before things get too bad. You’ll find that my article offers some sound and practical advice on what to do so that you are not a target of bill collector harassment. Source: Complaints About Bill Collectors Rocket as Debt Collectors Get Tough Other Related Articles to Read How to Hide From Debt Collection, the Debt Collector, and Creditors Would You Like to Be a Debt Collector? Clinton Wants to Know “Am I Doing The Right Thing By Repaying My Debt?” Sunday, 9:30 PM, Christian Kills Wife Because of Debts Do I Tell My Creditors I Am Going Bankrupt?

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I just did an interview with the Christian Science Monitor and we were talking about holiday shopping. The question was if I thought people were going to significantly cut back on holiday shopping to live within their budgets. Sadly, I don’t think they will. Gift giving and shopping at this time of year are ingrained in our consumer DNA. While we have the best of intentions of spending within our budgets, the runaway shopping fever sweeps many up and leaves them with a regrettable January credit card hangover. The reason I don’t think there will be a significant change this holiday season is that financial pain has not manifested itself in a large number of homes yet. While retail predictions are down, they are only down by 2% or so and that still leaves holiday spending at 98% of last year’s levels. That’s a lot of money. So what will happen? My prediction is that with income dropping people will rely more this year on credit cards to purchase gifts. Those bills will hit around the middle of January and while people will make the promises to get the debt under control, continued reduced income or joblessness will make that impossible. As a result, bankruptcy rates should increase in the spring of 2009. So much of why we buy and overspend at the holiday time is driven by marketing messages, guilt, the feelings that we need to buy stuff to show we care or show our love. It is what we do, we’ve always done that. This year we are not going to have the home loans available to consolidate debt or as many home equity loans to tap to pay off bills. The home ATM is broken right now with lenders hesitant and economic prospects looking darker. If you can, if it is possible, I urge you to please spend only that money that you have on hand for holiday gifts this year. Do whatever you can to emerge in 2009 with no carryover holiday debt. Now is not the time to dig a deeper financial hole. Now is the time to start filling it in. Source: Bankruptcy Rates To Significantly Increase Next Spring From Ho-Ho-Ho Hangover Other Related Articles to Read Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: It’s Credit Cards New Indian Middle Class Gets Caught In the Whirlwind of Revolving Credit Despite What They Say This Is Not The End Of Subprime Loans Lowen Wants to Know “Can I Budget My Way Out Of Debt?” Ed Is Scared But Courageous In The Face Of His Debt

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Having worked for years in the medical field I applaud anyone that decides that they want to become a doctor. But I’ve met my share of people that seem to have become doctors for “the money” or who once they became doctors, wanted to do something else with their lives. Being a doctor is not easy, but being a medical student today is even harder. With student loan debt for medical school and studies, escalating, it is not unusual for doctors to wind up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. I’ve talked about the side effects of debt a lot. The depression, unhappiness, stress, lack of focus, etc. that comes a a byproduct of debt is not helpful when you are trying to focus on delivering excellent patient care. And our medical system is under assault. Medical debts are the leading cause of bankruptcy for consumers. people can’t afford medical insurance. Doctors malpractice premiums are unbelievably high. Medical technology costs a fortune but does not make care better. And needed changes in the way medical care is delivered in the United States may force down doctor salaries, even as they are carrying forward all this debt and obligations. New doctors in training are going through the toughest days. They are struggling to make it through medical school and their residencies with little sleep and much doubt. A 2006 study, Personal Life Events and Medical Student Burnout, by Dr. Dyrbe, found that Burnout appears common among U.S. medical students and may increase by year of schooling. Despite the notion that burnout is primarily linked to work-related stress, personal life events also demonstrated a strong relationship to professional burnout. The authors’ findings suggest both personal and curricular factors are related to burnout among medical students. Efforts to decrease burnout must address both of these elements. Dr Pauline Chew wrote a recent article in the New York Times, Medical Student Burnout and the Challenge to Patient Care , where she said: Medical school was not easy for me. I knew that I wanted to become a doctor to help people, but I had given little thought to the process. I was poorly prepared for many things: the pressure to excel in ways that seemed so far from caring for people; rapidly mounting debts I signed off on every semester; a roller coaster existence from chronic lack of sleep; hazing from the more experienced students and residents; and the realities of patient suffering despite my best efforts. Her statements really resonated with me. You see in the many years I have been helping people with debt problems, a number of those clients were medical students or young doctors, working hard to finish their studies and reach the golden paycheck. Thoughts of Doctor Suicide Related to Level of Debt In response to another inquiry, Dr. Dyrbye noted: We agree that debt is a substantial source of stress for today’s medical student. As reported, students reporting > $100,000 of educational debt had a 1.47 greater odds of suicidal ideation during the previous year than students with

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The 64-year-old ship captain and his crew, whose vessel has been stranded in the Netherlands for months due to a financial obligation gone awry between his employer and a local bank. It all started July 25 when a tugboat, the Alois, based in Orange, Texas, had been towing ship hulls from Romania, said Salem, who was days from retirement. Everything seemed fine until the vessel was in the Dutch port of Harlingen and an embargo was put on the ship by CommunityBank of Texas, he said. Shortly after the Alois was embargoed, another tugboat the company owns, the Gale Force, was also marshaled and placed in the bank’s custody. “There is a loan the owner could not pay for, so they put an embargo on us or seized the boat by court claim,” Salem told The Enterprise by telephone from Harlingen. “We cannot leave until this problem is solved.” Pat Parsons, president of CommunityBank, declined to be interviewed by The Enterprise. John Bergene, who owns both ships, told The Enterprise that he was surprised by what CommunityBank did. Bergene, who owned EJ Ventures in Nederland, said “the long and short” of the story is three years ago his company did a job and was not paid for it. Bergene said the company was stiffed for a little more than $750,000. He claimed to have been working with the bank during the last three years and had been making progress to get out of debt. Salem said he spends most days sitting on the docks and feeding the birds around him. But it has not stopped him from making friends in the village, as the city council and the harbor master have offered to put the sailors in hotel rooms for free, he said. The city council and harbor master even offered to pay for fuel so the boat’s generators can continue to run. Salem also said that multiple companies in the area have come together and told the crew they would pay for their flights home to see their families. “That’s what I wonder. How come there is a big number of good people concentrated in a small town like Harlingen, even the working families that cannot afford much?” he said. “I see a small family come by, and they have coffee and homemade cake with you. Many of them will take their groceries home and then come by the ship and give us food. “I have tried asking them their names, and they say, ‘We are brothers, and do not worry about our names. We are here to help you.’” Read the rest of this story in the Beaumont Enterprise Other Related Articles to Read Maria Writes In “How About Staying In The Stock Market?” San Wants To Know “We Need Some Way To Pay Off Our Debts” Steve Writes In “I Want to Cash Out My 401(k) And Pay Off Debt.”

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This reminded me of my article on Sexually Transmitted Debt (STD). What You Need to Know. that I wrote earlier this year. While most people know that infidelity in a relationship can cause it to end, one Valley therapist said that financial infidelity can be just as dangerous. What is financial infidelity? According to family and marriage therapist Donna Wilburn, it is when partners lie or keep secrets from one another when it comes to money. It can be anything from keeping credit card debt a secret to hiding money from a spouse. “I’d say finances and financial stress is one of the number one things couples argue about,” Wilburn said. “The whole idea of hiding money — of keeping a secret in a relationship — is a sign the relationship is unhealthy.” In these tough economic times, money is on everyone’s mind and dishonesty when it comes to finances can be a catalyst for failure to any relationship, Wilburn said. Therapist: Financial Infidelity Can End Couples Fox5 KVVU, NV - 41 minutes ago It can be anything from keeping credit card debt a secret to hiding money from a spouse. "I'd say finances and financial stress is one of the number one … Click Here for totally free debt help, advice and answers . Read the rest here: Therapist: Financial Infidelity Can End Couples Source: Therapist: Financial Infidelity Can End Couples Other Related Articles to Read Groups seek credit card debt forgiveness Outrage Over Credit Cards with 222% APR In this economy, layaway is in vogue Hardships Past Haunt Europe’s Search for Financial Safety Americans losing sleep over financial crisis

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A question I am often asked is if people need to tell their creditors that they are going bankrupt. If you’ve already decided to go bankrupt and you’ve met with a bankruptcy attorney who will handle your case, then there is no harm in telling them, but why? Once you have made the decision to go bankrupt you can direct all creditor calls to your bankruptcy attorney . They are now your legal representative in this matter. There are three primary reasons why telling your creditors is of little importance to me. If your situation and pressure are bad enough, then the immediate brain break from having to deal with your creditors as your case is being filed can be a good thing. The person who you would tell at the creditor does not give a damn. All they are going to do is make a note of it. Your creditor will find out soon enough once they receive the notice from the court. So, bottom line advice, tell them if you want but make sure you instruct them to call your bankruptcy attorney for all further communications about the included account. Rather than worry over the issue, put your feet up for a moment, there is going to be enough hard work ahead to rebuild your financial life. Source: Do I Tell My Creditors I Am Going Bankrupt? Other Related Articles to Read I Went Bankrupt. Our Bankruptcy Story About What It Was Like to Go Bankrupt. Tina Says “My CPA is Under Investigation For Fraud” John Had a Knee Operation And Says “I Can’t Pay My Bills” Ryan Writes In Looking For His Lifestyle Back Mark Writes In “I Need to Go Bankrupt in the UK”

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Even employees at American Express are going to be worried about debt next year. Apparently, AMEX is going to fire a lot of people and this isn’t the best time for hunting down a new job in the financial services sector. NEW YORK, October 30, 2008 — American Express announced today companywide reengineering initiatives expected to produce cost benefits of approximately $1.8 billion in 2009. The reengineering plan includes: reducing staffing levels and compensation expenses, cutting operating costs and scaling back investment spending. Elements of the program include: A restructuring charge of approximately $370 to $440 million pre-tax (approximately $240 to $290 million after-tax) in the fourth quarter. The charge is primarily associated with severance and other costs related to the elimination of approximately 7,000 jobs or about 10 percent of the Company’s worldwide workforce. The reductions will occur across business units, markets and staff groups primarily focusing on management and other positions that do not interact directly with customers. The Company is also suspending management level salary increases for 2009 and instituting a hiring freeze for open positions. The total benefit from these staffing and compensation-related decisions is expected to be approximately $700 million in 2009. Reducing operating costs by cutting expenses for consulting and other professional services, travel and entertainment, and general overhead. These steps are expected to realize benefits of approximately $125 million next year. Scaling-back investment spending on technology, marketing and business development, and streamlining costs associated with some rewards programs. The anticipated cost benefit is approximately $1.0 billion in 2009. Despite these cutbacks, the Company plans to continue to make substantial investments in selective growth opportunities during the next year. The aggregate benefit of $1.8 billion detailed above represents reductions from previously anticipated 2009 spending levels. In addition, the Company plans to move forward with pricing initiatives designed to generate significant additional revenue next year. “We’ve been engaged for the past few months in an intensive, companywide review of priorities and staffing levels,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express. “The reengineering program we announced today will help us to manage through one of the most challenging economic environments we’ve seen in many decades. It will also put us in position to ramp-up investment spending as economic conditions improve so that we can take advantage of the substantial opportunities that will be available to us over the medium to long term.” American Express first announced in July 2008 its plans to complete a companywide reengineering initiative in the fourth quarter 2008. Source: American Express to Cut 7,000 Jobs. Experience The Freedom Of Joblessness. Other Related Articles to Read Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: It’s Credit Cards Black ministers unite to save souls for the polls - Florida Times-Union ML Writes In, “I Can’t Pay My American Express Card.” Soon, Where You Shop Will Control Your Credit Credit cards face bad debt

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This has been a growing story over 2008 but I think it is a good example of the perils that consumers face when trying to get out of debt. We already have been ingrained to not trust credit counselors by the flurry of activity as the IRS targeted credit counselors a few years ago. But now lawyers acting on behalf of consumers are being targeted as well. Apparently the main players in this story, Laura Hess and Edward Kennedy of Hess Kennedy and The Consumer Law Center, Also included was attorney Jeffrey Campos of the Legal Debt Center. These lawyers have been really pushing the envelope but what caught my eye was the fact that Chase Bank, one of the creditors they were suing on behalf of their consumer clients, sued the lawyers and law firm. The Chase and state suits make essentially the same claims. They say Hess Kennedy and the affiliated Consumer Law Centers in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Fla., falsely told customers that their credit card companies had violated the federal Fair Credit Billing Act. The law firm or the customers then wrote letters to credit card companies disputing all charges. In a Feb. 21 news release, McCollum said Hess and related companies falsely told clients that they “did not have to pay creditors and creditors could not sue or otherwise take action against them” once the letters were sent to credit card companies claiming FCBA violations. Chase’s federal court suit said defendants misled card members into believing they can stop payments on debts dating back years “until Chase investigates and resolves the purported ‘billing error disputes’ to their satisfaction.” “Defendants’ conduct is entirely in bad faith and serves no legitimate purpose,” the Chase suit said. “Defendants’ ulterior goals are to extract fees from card members who should be paying the money to Chase to satisfy their debts and to maliciously harass Chase in an improper (albeit unsuccessful) attempt to coerce the elimination of their clients’ legitimate debts.” - See Law.com for more. The Florida Attorney General was very clear in his recent words about companies, lawyers or not, that claim to eliminate debt that you owe. “Most of what they’re doing, these debt organizations, is just plain malarkey,” McCollum said at a Capitol news conference. “I want to close these companies down. They are bad, bad, bad.” An egregious example are companies that promise to wipe out debt completely for a few thousand dollars, he said. These debt-elimination firms give their customers bank certificates purported to be get-out-of-debt cards, but in reality are worthless. “Don’t ever buy into debt elimination,” McCollum said. “Nobody can eliminate your debt.” Jeffrey Tromberg, a bankruptcy lawyer with the Florida Debt Relief Center in Fort Lauderdale, said many clients come into his office only after wasting thousands of dollars on debt-relief companies. He wants to see them outlawed, or at least banned from collecting up-front fees. “I’ve never come across a debt-relief company that actually did everything they promise to do,” he said. “The consumer, having tried to get out of debt, is left many times in a much worse position.” - See Sun Sentinal for more. Certainly all of that sounds like bad news but this little tidbit caught my attention. Capital One has agreed to forgive the credit card debts of 18,000 consumers who had contracted with debt settlement companies affiliated with Coral Springs attorney Laura Hess, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said Wednesday, following a $1.8 million settlement. The Attorney General sued Hess, her firm Hess Kennedy Chartered LLC and the Consumer Law Center for deceptive trade practices in February, saying the companies had promised to negotiate lower rates with their customers creditors but never made payments. But what looked like Hess Kennedy may have actually been able to get debts discharged became more clear with the following. Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a settlement has been reached in a case brought by Capital One against affiliated Hess Kennedy companies which engaged in fraudulent debt settlement activities. Under the settlement approved today, Capital One will forgive the credit card debt of approximately 18,000 consumers nationwide, including nearly 1,900 Florida residents, who contracted with the Hess Kennedy companies for the fraudulent services. Laura Hess and the Hess Kennedy Companies are currently in Receivership as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Attorney Generals Office in February. As part of this settlement, Capital One will receive a payment of $1.825 million from the assets of the Hess Kennedy companies. I applaud Capital One Bank for being proactive in assisting its customers who were taken advantage of by this scheme, and I encourage other banks and financial institutions to follow this excellent example and to work with my office on behalf of their customers who have also been victimized , said Attorney General McCollum. Earlier this month, Judge Ronald Rothschild in Broward County Circuit Court ordered Hesss companies be liquidated and settlements be reached to help provide restitution to affected consumers. Capital One will receive a payment of $1.825 million from the assets of the Hess Kennedy companies and the impacted consumers will soon receive letters from the Receiver containing additional information about the effect of the settlement on them. The Attorney Generals Office had sued and obtained injunctions and Receivership orders against Hess and her companies for engaging in deceptive debt settlement and debt management practices victimizing tens of thousands of consumers. Hess and the Hess Kennedy group of companies are now under Receivership as a result of the Attorney Generals lawsuit. Capital One cooperated with the Attorney Generals Office to assist in the actions against the Hess Kennedy companies and partnered with the Attorney General to have an injunction entered against Hess Kennedy to further protect consumers from Hess Kennedy’s abusive practices. The lawsuit against Laura Hess was filed by the Attorney Generals Economic Crimes Division and named Hesss Broward County law firm and several other Florida-based companies she controlled. The lawsuit accused Hess of signing thousands of credit card debtors up for debt management services and claiming the law firm would provide legal services to cancel debts for pennies on the dollar. Representatives of Hess allegedly told consumers that the companies had audited the consumers accounts and found numerous violations under the Fair Credit Billing Act, then sent notices to creditors disputing all charges. Consumers were falsely told that once these notices were issued, the consumers did not have to pay creditors and creditors could not sue or otherwise take action against them. This deception led to lawsuits and other actions against several debtors. A Receiver is a court-appointed individual who takes control of the operations of a company or companies for the purpose of protecting assets and customers under the authority of the court. - Attorney General of Florida The situation decompensated into the Hess Kennedy scam leading to revelations of wrong doing by the law firm and being sued by several states, including Florida. On Friday, July 18,2008, Broward County Circuit Court Judge Ronald J. Rothschild appointed Daniel J. Stermer of Lewis B. Freeman & Partners, Inc., to be the Receiver of the companies sued in the case of Office of the Attorney General, Department of Legal Affairs, State of Florida, v. Laura L. Hess, Esq., Laura Hess & Associates, P.A., Hess Kennedy Chartered, LLC, and The Consumer Law Center, LLC, Case Number CACE08007686, as well as Receiver for “all other entities operated, controlled or otherwise associated with the Defendants’ activities, including but not limited to Hess Kennedy Company Chartered, Consumer Recovery Team, Hess Kennedy Holdings Ltd., Legal Debt Center, Hess Kennedy Company, Laura Hess Inc., Hess Kennedy,m Legal Debt Center, LLC, Hess Kennedy Florida, Hess Kennedy Chartered, Hess Kennedy, LLC, Hess Kennedy Payment, Hess Kennedy Trust Company, The Consumer Law Center, LC, Hess Kennedy Florida, Hess Kennedy Trust Account, Global Payment Processing, LLC and Campos Chartered Law Firm. See notice . But these debt relief scams don’t just have nameless victims, they suck in real families that get hurt in these scams. Sadly, consumers are often their own worst enemy by thinking that debt can be magically erased with some trick, it just can’t. Brad Jewell said he wished he had known about Hess Kennedy and its practices before a radio ad caught his attention in the fall of 2007. The ad claimed that the Consumer Law Center could wipe away debt in 36 months, Jewell said. The Jewells had always carried some credit card debt, but the debt became unmanageable after Denise’s mother died in April 2007. The couple didn’t have enough cash, so they put $10,000 in funeral-related expenses on one of their credit cards, maxing it out. The interest rate nearly tripled to 29%, Brad Jewell said. By January 2008, when they signed up with the Consumer Law Center, they owed $35,000. Instead of reducing their financial problems, the company multiplied them. The Jewells, like many other consumers, paid the debt settlement company thousands of dollars in fees and monthly payments - payments that were supposed to be set aside to eventually pay off their renegotiated debts. On the advice of the company, the Jewells and other consumers stopped paying their creditors, with the understanding that the company would go to court and force a better deal. When that didn’t happen, the credit card companies sued. The Jewells said the Consumer Law Center told them they didn’t have to come to court, where a lawyer provided by the company would represent them. But no lawyer showed up in court for hearings on Sept. 19 or Oct. 2, and the judge issued default judgments against the couple. Because of the default judgments, the Jewells faced having a quarter of their wages garnished to pay back their debts, Brad Jewell said. They filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. - See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for more. The case of Wally Bowman is another example of someone that could have avoided the magic wand to resolve his debts, only leading him into an unfortunate situation. Wally Bowman, a part-time security guard in Miamisburg, Ohio, had roughly $15,000 in credit-card debt when he signed up with a “debt settlement” firm last year. The company said it could resolve his debts for far less than the amount he owed and advised the 63-year-old to stop making payments to his creditors, according to Mr. Bowman. Mr. Bowman paid hundreds of dollars in up-front fees and made regular monthly payments of $249 to Hess Kennedy, but the Coral Springs, Fla., firm never settled any of his debts, he says. By the time he dropped out of the program this summer, Mr. Bowman says, his debt had ballooned to about $20,000, due to interest and late fees, and creditors were threatening to garnish his wages. Finally, he filed for bankruptcy last month. “I wish I had done that to begin with,” Mr. Bowman says. “I’d have been much better off.” - See Wall Street Journal for more. Another persons case and claims against debt relief services. First, Roberta Krassner’s husband died. Then she was diagnosed with cancer. Finally, a debt relief company called and offered her some good news: help with the five-digit balance on her credit cards and renegotiating her adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed rate. She was alone. She needed help and it sounded like a good idea. So Krassner, who describes her age as “senior citizen,” signed a contract in February. It allowed the company to automatically withdraw $349 from her bank account every month, about half her Social Security check. Krassner, of Lake Worth, said the company did very little for the $1,750 she paid. As for her credit card debt, the company “made a couple of calls” and came back to her with a proposal to make a reduced, lump-sum payment of $5,000 - an amount she could not raise, she said. The company did secure a fixed-rate mortgage with an interest rate that added about $100 to her monthly mortgage payment. She expects the bank will file for foreclosure next month. “I’m not that savvy. … I didn’t know what I was signing,” said Krassner, who got a new Social Security number and established a new bank account to stop the automatic withdrawals. “This is highway robbery, thievery.” - See Palm Beach Post for more. The lessons to be learned here are that there are limits and boundaries that people can enjoy in getting rid of their problem debt. Ultimately bankruptcy is the only legal and binding action that will accomplish that goal for most. It is not as if groups and organizations might not have valid complaints to go against creditors with but fairly or not, debt relief groups are not only suspect at times but also up against large creditors and dealing with a problematic framework of multiple state laws when taking on cases from out of state. There is nothing wrong in taking on a firm or group to help you fight your debt as long as you realize that their efforts are an attempt to accomplish your goals and not a guarantee. When it comes to discharging or reducing debt, bankruptcy is the only real solution you can count on. Source: Lawyers Lose Licenses Over Debt Relief. Dangerous Waters For All. Other Related Articles to Read Soon, Where You Shop Will Control Your Credit The Perfect Debt Assistance Program VOTE YES ON CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 10: TACH Official Endorsement - The Auto Chanel Tackling a mortgage meltdown of their own - Los Angeles Times Don’t expect to find a banker down at bankruptcy court

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