Consumer Advocacy Center

$10K of student loan debt is being cancelled for anyone making less than $125K a year, but this latest plan from The Biden Administration will actually cost us all more than $300,000,000,000 and raise inflation.

Watch this latest report from Grabet TV to learn more about what this means for you.

WYNTK Debt Cancellation President Biden cancelled more student loan debt today for folks making $125,000 or less but what is debt cancellation, really? Get the truth in

🚨BEWARE OF GAS SCAMS!!

Prices at the pump may be dropping, but that's not stopping scammers from preying on cash-strapped drivers.

Here's how scammers are getting folks right now. They send you an email with a survey saying if you fill it out you can get a gas station gift card!

You do the survey and "win" the card but have to pay a small fee to get it shipped your way. And that's where they get you! They take your credit card or debit card number for the $1.95 shipping, but also help themselves to much more and never send you the card.

It's a total scam.

You've been warned, now share this post. Research shows you are 80% less likely to engage in it and 40% less likely to lose money, so in this case sharing really is caring about others!

Got medical bills?

They are a source of major financial trouble for millions of Americans, amounting to the largest source of personal debt in the U.S.

But there’s good news!
The top three credit reporting agencies plan to drop most medical debt from consumers' credit reports starting this summer.

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion on Friday said that they are making a number of changes to the way they handle medical debt on credit reports, which is a record of a consumer's borrowing and repayment. Lenders use credit reports to determine whether a consumer is a good bet for a loan, which means a poor credit score can make it hard to get a mortgage, car loan or other products. Credit reports can also affect people's ability to rent an apartment and even get a job.

The announcement comes as federal regulators and consumer advocates are increasingly scrutinizing the issue of medical debt, with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier this month criticizing the nation's medical billing system for failing consumers. Errors related to medical debt are common on credit reports, and consumers often have difficulty clearing up the problems, the agency said.

Roughly 1 in 5 U.S. households carry debt related to health care, according to the CFPB.

The three top credit reporting agencies said they are making several changes in how they handle medical debt. They include:

🔴 Paid medical debt will be dropped from consumers' credit reports
🔴 The time period before unpaid medical debts in collections will appear on a credit report will increase from 6 months to 1 year.

🔴 The credit bureaus will drop medical collection debt under $500 from credit reports.

The CFPB, which was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, supervises the credit agencies. Its March 1 report on medical debt warned that it planned to "hold credit reporting agencies accountable" for inaccurate medical debt on consumer reports. The agency also said it planned to determine whether unpaid medical billing data should be included in credit reports.

Americans complain about the big three credit reporting agencies more than any other topic, according to analysis of complaints by the CFPB. More than 6 in 10 of complaints received by the CFPB in 2021 were related to Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, the agency said.

Congress last year sought to address the problem of runway medical bills by passing the "No Surprises Act," which protects people with health insurance from getting billed for receiving emergency medical care outside of an insurer's network. Patients are still responsible for any deductibles and copays they normally would have to pay under their plan, but they may only be billed at their plan's in-network rate.

Debt collectors can now text, email and DM you on social media.

Read below for more info. ⬇️

The next time someone tries to friend you on Facebook or follow you on Instagram, it could be a debt collector.
New rules approved by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that took effect in Dec 2021 dictate how collection agencies can email and text people as well as message them on social media to seek repayment for unpaid debts.

Kathleen L. Kraninger, the former CFPB director who oversaw the rule changes, said last year that they were a necessary update to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which is more than four decades old.

But consumer advocates say borrowers risk missing key information about their debts or falling prey to illegal scams if they're contacted online.

Under the new rules, debt collectors who contact you on social media have to identify themselves as debt collectors but can attempt to join your network by sending you a friend request. Collectors must give you the option to opt out of being contacted online, and any messages they send have to be private — collectors can't post on your page if it can be seen by your contacts or the public.

Collection agencies can also email and text message debtors, but must still offer the ability to opt out. Industry officials praised the move as a welcome change to the outdated methods currently used by the collections industry.

One issue with this is that consumers aren’t given the ability to opt into electronic messages. They can only opt out.
And let’s be real….. everyone will because if you don’t check your email often or you social media …. You may miss critical info about your debt.

Allowing debt collectors to email, text and use social media to contact consumers also gives criminals a new avenue to try to swindle people out of their money.

Even though this change took affect in the Biden administration, it was
devised during the Trump administration, when the bureau became more business-friendly than it had been in the past.

The new rules also set a limit for the first time on how often debt collectors can call you. Agencies will be restricted to seven calls per week per account in collection.

Have you gotten a call that says they are trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty?

Well, the FTC is taking action against American Vehicle Protection Corp. and related companies alleging they have called hundreds of thousands of consumers nationwide to pitch them expensive “extended automobile warranties” using deceptive telemarketing tactics.

Since 2018 the defendants have bilked consumers out of more than $6 million

Free tests available today! Sign up just to have them on hand.

Need a COVID test?
Well, you may be able to order up to 4 at-home tests online starting Wednesday.

Go to this website, COVIDTests.gov, enter your name and address.

Tests should ship within seven to 12 days of ordering, the White House says. It's likely take longer than that to reach homes, though.

Tests will be limited to four per household, no matter the size of the household.

Beginning Saturday, if you have private health insurance you will also be able to file for reimbursement for rapid tests purchased on or after Saturday. Eight tests per person covered by a policy will qualify.

Need a COVID test?
Well, you may be able to order up to 4 at-home tests online starting Wednesday.

Go to this website, COVIDTests.gov, enter your name and address.

Tests should ship within seven to 12 days of ordering, the White House says. It's likely take longer than that to reach homes, though.

Tests will be limited to four per household, no matter the size of the household.

Beginning Saturday, if you have private health insurance you will also be able to file for reimbursement for rapid tests purchased on or after Saturday. Eight tests per person covered by a policy will qualify.