Ron Sykstus's blog

This is a question that we often get asked when someone is contemplating filing for bankruptcy. First of all, if someone has perfect credit, meaning that they have never been behind on any debts, then filing for bankruptcy will hurt their credit dramatically.

A common question that our clients ask us is whether they can purchase a vehicle either during or after their bankruptcy and, if so, who can they contact to do so? Several lenders and car companies advertise the ability to finance someone either during or after a bankruptcy. Do your research carefully and choose someone that you trust and that provides what you believe to be a sound running vehicle.

If you are getting collection calls or texts to your cell phone, you have the right to have them stopped. You pay for data usage and text and phone usage for your cell phone so federal law allows you to stop this type of harassment. There are two laws that can assist you in doing this. The first is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

A common question that our clients ask us is whether they can purchase a vehicle either during or after their bankruptcy and, if so, who can they contact to do so? Several lenders and car companies advertise the ability to finance someone either during or after a bankruptcy. Do your research carefully and choose someone that you trust and that provides what you believe to be a sound running vehicle.

Target announced that its stores have been hit by a major credit card attack involving up to 40 million accounts. Target stated in the news release that the unlawful access to customer information took place between November 27, 2013 and December 15, 2013 and the Secret Service is investigating.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fined Cash America International a total of $19 million which consisted of a $5 million fine and $14 million in refunds for overcharging customers, robo-signing documents in debt collection lawsuits and impeding an investigation.

On September 25, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had settled with a California-based debt collector for $1 million with regard to this particular debt collector using text messages in an attempt to collect debts in an unlawful manner.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the federal law with regard to disputing incorrect information on a person’s credit report.

This is a question we get asked repeatedly by the Veterans that we represent. There is no doubt that there is a very long lag time and delay when the VA processes a disability claim. Veterans have complained about this problem for years.

A common question we get asked is whether a person can be held responsible for another person’s debts. The concern most often comes up with regard to a spouse, such as a wife being concerned about responsibility for her husband’s debts or vice versa or a parent being responsible for a child’s debt or a child being concerned about a parent’s debt.