Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

Have you ever received a call from a debt collector concerning a debt that you did not actually owe? Consumers in Chicagoland should know that they have protections under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). According to a recent article in the Cook County Record , an Illinois woman has filed a possible class action claim in relation to a Chicago debt collection company’s practices. Did the debt collector violate the FDCPA? As the article explains, the consumer alleges that the collection company “improperly attempted to collect a medical debt she owed, under a payment plan she maintained she never agreed to, and even though she was never placed into collections.” The consumer filed the potential class action suit because she think the Chicago-based debt collector may have treated other consumers in the same way. Cook County Lawsuit Implicated Harris & Harris Ltd. What do you need to know about the recent lawsuit? According to the article, the pl...

If you are currently dealing with student loan debt and have enrolled in an income-based repayment (IBR) plan, you may have found that the monthly payment you owe is much more manageable. However, for debtors in Oak Park and throughout the country, the promise of a manageable student loan payment can end up leaving you with a completely unmanageable tax bill at a later date. As a recent report from CNBC explains, there are only two types of student loan forgiveness: public service loan forgiveness, and forgiveness based upon decades of timely repayment under an IBR plan. While the former forgiveness plan does not come with a tax burden, the latter does. What do you need to know about tax debt following student loan forgiveness? And is a tax bill linked to student loan forgiveness dischargeable if you file for personal bankruptcy ? Understanding Tax Bills When Student Loan Debt is Forgiven As we mentioned above, there are two ways for consumers with student loan...

Are any private student loans less risky for consumers than others? Many Chicago residents know that it is extremely difficult to discharge student loans by filing for personal bankruptcy , and private student loans are not eligible for the federal income-based repayment programs. According to an article in Inside Higher Ed , a couple of months ago Amazon.com announced a partnership with Wells Fargo to become a new lender of private student loans through which Amazon Prime Students members would “be eligible for a 0.5 percentage point reduction on their interest rate for private student loans taken out through Wells Fargo Education Financial Services.” But does such a reduction really amount to much in the long run? And what are the continuing limitations of private student loans as the national student loan debt continues to rise? As we will explain, concerns about the partnership ultimately resulted in Amazon.com and Wells Fargo deciding against the private student loan...

If you pay attention to news concerning big banks in America, you might already have heard about a big consumer fraud matter. Wells Fargo, the biggest bank in the United States, “scrambled . . . to contain the fallout from an investigation that found its employees set up 2 million fake accounts that customers didn’t ask for to get bonuses,” according to an article in the Chicago Tribune . Wells Fargo customers did not ask to open a new account, yet they had accounts fraudulently set up in their names by bank employees. Since the financial crisis began in 2008, most of the big banks in our nation have paid fines and settlements to remedy bad and sometimes fraudulent banking practices. Yet, as the article suggests, the recent issue “involved pervasive misconduct involving thousands of bank employees,” which begs the question of whether fines are sufficient to prevent “bad behavior” among banks and their employees. Moreover, what are banks doing to address the important issu...

If you are in substantial debt in the Chicago area and are living in a paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, you may have taken out a payday loan to make ends meet. While payday lending is illegal in a number of states due to the predatory nature of these loans, it remains legal in Illinois. As a result, many debtors in the state have used payday lenders, and far too many of those borrowers cannot repay what they owe. According to a recent article from Progress Illinois , consumers have filed complaints about payday lenders in the state, illuminating a need for federal rules that address harmful lending practices . Predatory Payday Lenders and Protections for Consumers Due to the perceived predatory nature of payday loans, twelve states in the country have banned these lenders from operating completely, according to a fact sheet from loans.org . The states that currently have laws prohibiting payday lenders from operating include Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Mary...

If you have an elderly parent who is considering filing for bankruptcy , or if you have limited income and are no longer working, you might be thinking about how bankruptcy protection can help you. While personal bankruptcy is not for everyone, it can be an important way for debtors to deal with the constant anxiety from creditors’ calls and contact from debt collection companies. In some instances, consumers who have significant debt but have other limited assets and income may be eligible for “fee-only” Chapter 13 bankruptcy. According to a recent report from Bloomberg BNA , a bankruptcy court just held that an elderly couple could in good faith file a fee-only Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan. While only a handful of circuit courts have addressed the issue of fee-only bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code, this recent decision could pave the way for a similar decision in Illinois. Learning More About the Recent Case Although the recent bankruptcy case, In re ...