President Obama unveiled a plan Monday to provide a measure of mortgage debt relief for some homeowners who are underwater on their home loans. Obama announced his plan from the front porch of a home in Las Vegas, which has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Using executive powers that bypass Congress, [...]

A Rhode Island Superior Court has agreed to a request by the state attorney general to shut down a Providence-based mortgage debt relief firm for allegedly charging customers illegal advance fees. East Coast Fidelity LLC, also known as Fidelity Corp., allegedly charged the unlawful fees in exchange for promised home loan modification and foreclosure rescue [...]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued a California-based debt collection operation for unjustly collecting more than $9.4 million from alleged victims in a little more than two years, many of whom actually owed no debts. The FTC described the sophisticated operation, which involved seven businesses, several of which shared a couple of addresses in [...]

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Tuesday filed separate lawsuits against three Chicago-area debt relief companies for operating fraudulent credit card debt settlement and mortgage debt reduction schemes that bilked consumers out of thousands of dollars. Madigan’s lawsuits allege that the companies took large advance fees from consumers â€” a practice that’s illegal in Illinois â€” in [...]

A Florida debt relief company that offered to help consumers settle credit card debts for less than what was owed is under investigation by the state attorney general’s office for taking customers’ money but failing to provide any debt relief service. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Margate-based United Financial Systems Inc., a supposedly [...]

Mortgage debt relief and credit card debt relief are the most common types of scams that target financially distressed consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In these scams, desperate consumers are often told that they can have mortgage payments significantly reduced or credit card debts slashed and settled for far less than what [...]

As the economy struggles and bills pile up, consumers are piling on credit card debt while eschewing credit counseling, debt management, debt settlement, and other debt relief programs that offer to help consumers get their finances back in order, according to a new study. The study, by CardHub.com, found that while poverty has increased and [...]

Arizona home values have fallen so much that almost half the people with mortgages owe more than their homes are worth. Despite a state offer to reimburse banks up to $50,000 of a $100,000 principal loan reduction to help homeowners stay afloat, most banks balked, including the nation’s two largest home loan guarantors, which flat [...]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced last week that two related mortgage debt relief operations that allegedly failed to provide financially troubled consumers with promised credit card debt relief services, mortgage loan modifications, and other mortgage relief assistance services have been shut down. A U.S. district court agreed to the FTC’s request to halt [...]

Homeowners facing foreclosure could gain a measure of debt relief from a proposal negotiated this week during ongoing settlement talks between banks and state attorneys general. The proposal would allow banks to pay less in penalties for improper and sometime illegal business practices related to the financial crisis, including foreclosure and mortgage-related wrongdoing, in exchange [...]