Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Being Judgment Proof Is Not As Cool As It Sounds
The law makes it possible for creditors to force borrowers to pay debts, but the creditors must go through a long process to get to the point of judgments and wage garnishments. Even if a creditor follows all the steps and has the law on their side, it is not possible to collect money… Read More »
Is Patient Financing The Lesser Of Two Evils?
When it comes to seeking medical treatment, the worst-case scenario is that you are sick enough to require treatment but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, and that, even if you have medical insurance, but even after it pays its portion and negotiates write-offs with the providers, you are still left with tens… Read More »
Do Store Credit Cards Help You Build Your Credit?
Getting started building your credit is the hardest part. If you have no credit history, have filed for bankruptcy, or have just started earning a steady income after a period of financial hardship, you must first break out of the vicious cycle where no one approves you for loans because you have not built… Read More »
Do Utility Bills Affect Your Credit Score?
The optimist appreciates the fact that your bank account balance at the end of each month is a positive number instead of a negative one, but in some cases all you have to show for your hard work and disciplined spending habits is the motivation to work just as hard next month as you… Read More »
Is Another Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis On The Horizon For Pennsylvania?
Being stressed out about money is the rule rather than the exception for working Americans. Most households are surviving paycheck to paycheck, even if more than one member of the household works full time; some people with annual income in the six figures still find themselves with bank account balances in the double digits… Read More »
FTC Proposes Stricter Rules To Prevent Deceptive Sales Practices At Car Dealerships
If you ever have a free afternoon, read that series of articles in which a man who worked at used car dealerships in the 1990s describes all the shady practices that his colleagues employed to sell cars at prices much higher than their value. In the last installment in the series, he said that… Read More »
Why Do Insurance Claims Get Denied?
Buying an insurance policy and paying the premiums every month or every year is simple, but when it comes to getting your insurance company to pay you the money it promised to pay, things get much more complicated. After you file an insurance claim, you might get an unpleasant surprise in the form of… Read More »
FTC Issues Refunds To Consumers Who Lost Money In Debt Collection Scam
The debt collection industry exists on a spectrum from legal and transparent but still exploitatively expensive to downright scammy. Most of the time, consumers find themselves screaming into the void about how unfair their debts are; at best they are met with customer service representatives who empathize with them but who cannot change the… Read More »
Is It A Good Idea To Use Commercial Debt Settlement Services?
If you have a steady income and are trying to pay off large debts you incurred long ago, in addition to a few smaller ones that arose along the way due to unexpected financial hardships, your choices are the snowball method and the avalanche method. In other words, you have money in your budget… Read More »
The No Surprises Act Gives Patients More Rights, But Medical Billing Hassles Remain
The No Surprises Act, which went into effect at the beginning of 2022, has offered consumers legal protections against unfairly high medical bills by closing several loopholes in the law. Before this year, patients could face bills for hundreds or thousands of dollars from out-of-network providers who treated them on an emergency basis. This… Read More »
