Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

When young people get behind on credit card payments and may be facing the possibility of consumer bankruptcy , are they more susceptible to scams that promise to help with debt burdens? According to a recent article from Consumer Reports , the Better Business Bureau recently conducted a study in which it ultimately identified Millennials—the current generation of younger people generally in their 20s—as being “most susceptible to scams.” For many Americans, the results of this study are surprising given that Millennials tend to be more educated and “consider themselves to be savvy consumers.” What else do you need to know about the study? How can Chicago-area residents help to avoid “optimism bias” when facing consumer scams and debt practices ? Learning More About “Optimism Bias” Among Millennial Consumers As the article reports, younger Americans likely are more susceptible to consumer scams because of something called “optimism bias.” What is optimism bias? The...

Last week was National Consumer Protection Week , a yearly coordinated campaign that seeks to encourage consumers to learn more about their rights when it comes to issues such as credit, consumer debt , banking, and identity theft. Among other tools, the campaign provides important information to Chicago residents to about repairing credit after bankruptcy , dealing with debt collectors, and knowing your rights when it comes to debt collection. The week-long campaign aims to raise awareness about issues plaguing consumers and to help debtors learn steps to help themselves. While raising awareness is important, is it actually changing the lives of Chicago consumers for the better? During National Consumer Protection Week, an article in The Telegraph reported that Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office released its “annual top 10 consumer complaints for 2015,” and matters concerning consumer debt ranked at the top of the list. Education-Related Complaints and Student Deb...

If you receive a call from someone who claims to work for the government and asks for sensitive personal information or money to pay off a debt , what should you do? It is extremely important to be aware of government imposters in the debt collection industry. According to a recent article from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency has received numerous reports about fake government agents trying to scam consumers. Learning More About Government Imposters in the Debt Collection Industry According to the FTC article, this is not the first time that “those pesky government imposters” have attempted to deceive consumers. These fake callers take many different approaches in their efforts to con consumers out of money. In some cases, the government imposters will tell you that you have won a contest and will indicate that they need more information about you (from your home address to your Social Security number) in order to deliver your winnings. In other cases, f...

Although we have entered into a new year with promises for fairer debt collection practices, dishonest and deceptive debt collectors continue to target consumers. According to a recent news release from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal government recently announced “four cases against debt collectors who did pretty much everything wrong.” In other words, the FTC is starting the year off by immediately targeting debt collectors who are not abiding by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Recent FTC Focus on Dishonest Debt Collection As the news release explains, the FTC has been taking relatively large steps over the last year to eradicate deceptive debt collection practices. It announced 115 new cases against collection agencies back in November, working with “more than 70 law enforcement partners” to close down these dishonest debt collection operations. In 2015, the FTC filed cases against 52 different defendants, which was the largest n...