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+14 +1
31 million people believe they'll still owe credit card debt when they die
With credit card debt hitting new records, some analysts are beginning to worry about the ability of many Americans to pay off rising debt levels. And a new study calculates that up to 31 million Americans with credit card debt believe they will never be able to pay if off and will die with debt.
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+29 +1
That was no typo: The median net worth of black Bostonians really is $8
The $8 detail in the Globe’s Spotlight series on race in Boston is not a typo. The median net worth for non-immigrant African-American households in the Greater Boston region is $8, according to “The Color of Wealth in Boston,” a 2015 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Duke University, and the New School.
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+15 +1
S Korea to pay off debts for 1.6m people
South Korea is to write-off the debts of as many as 1.6 million people in a move designed to ease the financial burden on low-income individuals. The scheme is open to certain Koreans who have struggled to repay debts of less than 10m won ($9,128; £6,826). Eligible people can apply to the government for debt relief from next February.
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+11 +1
When Unpaid Student Loan Bills Mean You Can No Longer Work
Fall behind on your student loan payments, lose your job. Few people realize that the loans they take out to pay for their education could eventually derail their careers. But in 19 states, government agencies can seize state-issued professional licenses from residents who default on their educational debts. Another state, South Dakota, suspends driver’s licenses, making it nearly impossible for people to get to work.
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+14 +1
Snake Plissken’s Letter to Sallie Mae Student Loan Services By Evan Calder Williams
Snake Plissken explains to Sallie Mae why he will not be repaying any of his accumulated debt and why they can burn in hell.
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+19 +1
Calgary man pays off $85,000 in debt by living in travel trailer for years
A Calgary man who decided to save money by living for years in a travel trailer named Wanda — even when temperatures plunged to –40 C — has finally paid off $85,000 in debt.
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+2 +1
Student Loan Creditor, Fined for ‘False’ Lawsuits, Must Halt Collections
One of the nation’s largest holders of private student-loan debt must refund millions of dollars to borrowers and temporarily stop many of its collection activities, under a settlement with federal regulators announced on Monday. The creditor, the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, holds $12 billion in student loans that were originally made by banks. In Monday’s settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the trusts agreed to pay nearly $19 million in penalties and borrower refunds — and could be on the hook for millions in additional payments and forgiven loans.
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+23 +1
U.S. cracks down on debt collection of private student loans
The U.S. consumer financial watchdog on Monday ordered National College Student Loan Trusts and its debt collector, Transworld Systems Inc, to pay at least $26.1 million for attempting to collect on possibly non-existent or out-of-date loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged that the companies sued borrowers without being able to prove the debt was owed or pursued collection on loans that were too old to sue over, and relied on false and misleading legal documents.
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+28 +1
We're racing towards another private debt crisis – so why did no one see it coming?
This is a call for a public inquiry on the current situation regarding private debt. For almost a decade now, since 2007, we have been living a lie. And that lie is preparing to wreak havoc on our economy. If we do not create some kind of impartial forum to discuss what is actually happening, the results might well prove disastrous.
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+12 +1
More seniors are taking loans against their homes — and it’s costing them
As she was getting on in years and her resources dwindled, Virginia Rayford took out a special kind of mortgage in 2008 that she hoped would help her stay in her three-bedroom Washington rowhouse for the rest of her life. Rayford, 92, took advantage of a federally insured loan called a reverse mortgage that allows cash-strapped seniors to borrow against the equity in their houses that has built up over decades.
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+2 +1
U.S. Credit-Card Debt Surpasses Record Set at Brink of Crisis
U.S. consumer credit-card debt just passed an ominous milestone, beating a record set just before the global financial system almost collapsed in 2008. Outstanding card loans reached $1.02 trillion in June, data from the Federal Reserve show, as lenders including Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. compete to sign up cardholders who may carry balances -- a relatively lucrative business in a prolonged period of low interest rates.
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+1 +1
$5bn in US student debt could be wiped off because of lost paperwork
Tens of thousands of people who took out private loans to pay for college in the US but have not been able to keep up payments may get their debts wiped away because critical paperwork is missing. The troubled loans, which total at least $5 billion, are at the centre of a protracted legal dispute between the student borrowers and a group of creditors who have aggressively pursued them in court after they fell behind on payments.
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+40 +1
400,000 were promised student loan forgiveness. Now they are panicking
More than 400,000 student loan borrowers may have placed their faith in a government program with an uncertain future. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program promises to cancel any remaining student debt for those who work for the government or nonprofits if they have been making on-time payments for 10 years. Many teachers, public defenders, Peace Corps workers, and law enforcement officers fit the qualifications.
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+28 +1
Americans Are Paying $38 to Collect $1 of Student Debt
Student loan defaults are a bonanza for the debt collection industry.
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+18 +1
A record 107 million Americans have car loans
Americans went on a massive shopping spree for cars and trucks in recent years. Many paid for their vehicles by taking out a loan. A record 107 million Americans have auto loan debt, according to data released this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That's about 43% of the entire adult population in the US. It's an eye popping number. Auto loans have been growing rapidly.
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+1 +1
Home Foreclosure Rates are Hitting Record Lows in the U.S.
Foreclosure rates have dropped by nearly 85% from their 2009 high in the United States. Data released by the Federal Reserve reveals that there were only about 85,000 foreclosures throughout the country during the last quarter of 2016. To put that in perspective, there were around 550,000 foreclosures during the first quarter of 2009.
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+13 +1
Millennials have an average student debt of $41,286.60
A survey conducted online in February by research agency TNS found that 59 percent of millennials polled have “no idea” when they will be able to pay back their student debt. The survey found millennials, defined as those between the ages of 18 and 35, have an average student debt of $41,286.60. That’s significantly higher than the national average amount of debt for college graduates, which the Department of Education determined is $29,400.
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+7 +1
Survey shows half of college students think student loans will be forgiven
A new survey highlights overwhelming misconceptions current U.S. college students have about their student loans, including the fact that they will actually have to pay them back. Americans owe nearly $1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt, spread out among a 44.2 million borrowers. According to Student Loan Hero, the average Class of 2016 gradate has $37,172 dollars in student loan debt. That number is up six-percent from last year. The student loan delinquency rate is 11-percent.
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+18 +1
Student loan debt up for private sale
The government has started the process of selling more student loan debt to the private financial sector. It has announced that loans made to students in England between 2002 and 2006 will be put up for sale - to be followed by other pre-2012 loans - with the aim of raising £12bn. Universities Minister Jo Johnson said the sale would have "no impact on people with student loans".
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+15 +1
Stanford historian uncovers a grim correlation between violence and inequality over the millennia
Professor Walter Scheidel examines the history of peace and economic inequality over the past 10,000 years.
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