Greetings!
Happy New Year! We are into 2021 and we all seem to be trying to figure out what’s next when it comes to many things in our lives. From schools, to restaurants, to our finances, the uncertainty remains. There is also information overload out there and our featured blog post this month talks about two internet headlines, published on the same day, that do not tell the whole story.
We also have a new Debt Therapy® episode, featuring consumer credit lawyer Mike Cardoza. Credit reports, disputing accounts, and more are topics we discuss in the first segment of the interview. Segment 2 is coming soon!
Finally, we have a couple of news articles on debt collectors, pandemic relief, and financial lessons.
Have a great January!
Jen
Thank you for reading and please feel free to forward our newsletter to any friends, colleagues, or family members who may be interested in learning more about debt, credit, and solutions to financial stress.
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Interview with credit lawyer Mike Cardoza
Season 2, Episode 4
This episode on Debt Therapy®, we welcome Mike Cardoza with The Cardoza Law Corporation in San Francisco. He is an amazing credit report and rights attorney that has worked both sides of the coin. He specializes in those that have suffered from identity theft, incorrect credit reporting and debt collecting harassments.
Listen to this episode to learn about disputing your credit accounts and what your rights are when debt collectors reach out! You won't want to miss this education--after all, we all have debt, but just never talk about it!
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BLOG POSTS
A Lesson in Internet Headlines
by Jen Lee
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Yesterday (January 5, 2021), news websites reported the following two headlines:
The sky is falling, the sky is falling!
Wait, what? I thought the sky was falling.
How can both of these headlines be true (read more)?
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NEWS ARTICLES
Debt collectors, payday lenders collected over $500 million in federal pandemic relief
by Peter Whoriskey, Joel Jacobs, and Aaron Gregg, Washington Post
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A Texas firm that describes itself as one of the nation’s largest medical bill collectors was racking up consumer complaints last year.
“For months this company has been reporting inaccurate, unverifiable, erroneous things on my credit report and I am sick of it!!!” states one consumer’s report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in January 2020.
“I get calls almost every other day,” according to another in April. “I consider this harassment.”
“I am reporting a potentially fraudulent credit collection and reporting issue,” said a third.
The firm, Capio Asset Servicing, came under investigation last year as part of Operation Corrupt Collector, an enforcement sweep of the debt-collection industry by federal and state officials. In a September lawsuit, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas (D) alleged that the company was seeking to collect debts that were not owed and “causing emotional and physical stress when they threaten and intimidate consumers (read more)."
The financial lessons of the ’90s aren’t going to cut it for your kids—here’s what they really need to learn about money
by Sara Rathner, Nerd Wallet
Many elder millennials may have learned to manage money much like our parents did: waiting for statements to arrive in the mail, balancing checkbooks and paying in cash. But if you’re planning to impart the same lessons to your own children, ask yourself a few questions first.
Is this still how you deal with your finances? How often do you carry cash anymore? Do you even know where your checkbook is? If the respective answers are “no,” “rarely” and “maybe in that box I never unpacked since moving six months ago,” then the money lessons of the ’90s aren’t going to cut it for the next generation (read more).
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A caring approach to debt and credit strategy.
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SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS-
The Elephant in the Room: How Financial Stress is Destroying Productivity, Relationships, and Health
February 9, 2021
at 9 a.m. PST
AIMM (Alameda INFORUM & Marketing Meeting) Bay East Association of Realtors
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WE'VE GONE VIRTUAL!
To schedule a speaking engagement with Jen,
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