Debt Collection Education

Latest Guides

  • Don't Let Medical Bills Ruin Your Credit
    Medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy according to AARP. Unfortunately, many people neglect their medical bills without realizing the impact that those unpaid bills could have on their credit score.
  • Debt Consolidation Scams
    While there are some reputable companies who can help you reduce or eliminate your debt, there are many more who only offer misleading statements and outright scams. Learn how to tell the difference between the two.
  • Credit Card Charge-Offs
    After six months of late payments, your credit card issuer will likely charge-off your account. But this doesn't mean your debt has been canceled. Find out how charge-offs continue to haunt you and your credit report for up to seven years.
  • What Creditors Can't Do To You
    Credit card debt, like any other debt, does not give your creditors license to harass you. There is a Federal law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, to protect you and your state may afford additional legal protections. The U.S. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act forbids 17 specific creditor actions. We explain each, and what they mean to you.
  • Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Explained
    Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, certain methods of collection are prohibited, and fair debt collection is guaranteed. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not relieve you of responsibility for debts incurred, but does ensure that you have rights when it comes to repaying those debts. We give you full and complete answers to 8 commonly asked questions regarding this law.

Latest Blog Posts

  • Rodney Anderson Pioneers the Medical Debt Relief Act
    Should medical debt should hurt your credit score in the same way that other types of unpaid debt do? Rodney Anderson doesn't think so.
  • Friday Grab Bag - The Evil Edition
    Some of the more interesting tidbits from the world of personal finance served up with a side of the macabre. Take a walk on the dark side of credit, debt, and identity theft with us. Just make sure to leave breadcrumbs...
  • Credit Recipes: Cooking up Credit Score Greatness
    Like a slow-simmering chicken cacciatore, your credit score requires certain ingredients and ample time to bring out its full potential. The credit score recipes we show here will make the most out of the ingredients you already have in your “pantry” at home.
  • Friday Grab Bag - 8/28/2009
    It's Friday again, and that means it's time for the weekly SpendOnLife grab bag post. Here we share some of the week's more interesting tidbits from the world of credit and identity theft. Enjoy!
  • Can My Credit Card Company Sue Me?
    When you signed on the dotted line of your credit card agreement, you promised to pay off any debts you incurred on that credit card. If you default on that debt, your credit card provider may seek a judgment against you in a court of law.
  • Round-Up of FTC Consumer Resources
    The Federal Trade Commission is the government agency designed to "protect America's consumers." It was created in 1914, and has gained greater and greater authority through the years. Here's a round-up of the key online resources the FTC offers you.
  • Credit Card Arbitration and You: Get Ready to Rumble
    We all know the credit card companies aren’t playing fair. They’re jacking rates, slashing limits, raising minimum payments, or sometimes cancelling accounts altogether. Did you also know that they've most likely buried a mandatory arbitration clause in your contract, to avoid costly class-action lawsuits?
  • Listen Up, Ladies: He's Just Not That into Credit
    The relationship that a guy has with his finances will more than likely mirror the other relationships in his life. If he doesn’t take care of his credit by paying back debts and curbing his spending, chances are, he's neglecting the other responsibilities and people in his life too.
  • Today is National "Let It Go" Day!
    You might not know this, but today is national Let It Go Day. Because we’re a credit and finance blog, we think you should let go of all those past credit mistakes that you can’t go back in time and fix.
  • How Can I Raise My Credit Score?
    We get a lot of questions from readers asking "How can I raise my credit score?" Truthfully, there is no quick and easy fix, but there are some steps you can take that will help (some more quickly and dramatically than others).
  • Annoying Debt Collector Calls Unwarranted
    Every day for the past couple of weeks, I've come home to a beeping answering machine. This is annoying to me for several reasons. First, the beep is way too loud. Second, the machine is upstairs, so it takes me a minute to get to it after I sort the mail and set down my bags. And third (the biggest annoyance), is that I think I know who the voicemail is from: a debt collector.
  • Be Smart with Your Tax Refund
    How will you spend your tax refund this year? If you have debt (and, really, who doesn’t?), consider using your check from the IRS to do some serious good…for your credit score.
  • Vaden v. Discover: Six-Year Credit Dispute Reaches Supreme Court
    Betty Vaden, a consumer who refused to pay down her $10,000 Discover card balance in 2003, is obviously a fighter. A series of counterclaims and appeals has led her case against the credit card company all the way to the Supreme Court.