| Volume 66 Number 5 |
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Forward this news alert to your family and friends
Helpful Links
Texas Consumer Complaint Center
Credit Reports and Identity Theft
Your Guide to Small Claims Court
Contact Us
1-713-743-2168
The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Voluntarily returning a car you can't pay for may not get you off the hook. In most cases, the car will be sold and you will owe the difference between your debt and what the car sells for. If you think the car is being accepted in exchange for release for your debt, get that agreement in writing. Click here for more.
Skimming: ATM Crimes Continue
How often do you check your credit card bill? The practice of "skimming" has taken on new life, quickly becoming one of the biggest problems facing credit card and debit card holders. Using a special device, your credit card information is collected and can be transferred to a clone card for in-person ("swipe") transactions, or simply used to make internet ("manual") purchases. Where can it happen? Pretty much anywhere you use your credit card. Anyone in control of your credit card could run it through a "skimmer" before running your tab, then sell your credit card information later. "Skimmers" are also frequently attached to ATM's and gas pumps. Watch your bill closely. If you see any unusual charges, contact your card company immediately. Click here for more.
Social Security Paying Millions to Deceased
Social Security has become a hot-button topic over the past few weeks. Politicians are debating about how to fix it. Consumers continue to wonder whether they'll ever benefit from a program they've been paying into over their working lifetime. Despite problems remaining solvent, the Social Security inspector general estimates that the agency has made $40.3 million in erroneous payments to deceased beneficiaries. In many instances, the agency continued to make payments despite being notified of a death. How much can Social Security save by fixing existing inefficiencies? Click here for more.
Your Money
Compare mortgage terms and interest rates. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
A Chapter 13 debtor could “strip off” wholly unsecured liens on his principal residence. The 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ruled that a debtor may strip off junior liens on his residence which was fully secured by a first lien. The debtor’s proposed bankruptcy plan treated the claim of the senior lienholder as secured, but “stripped off” or avoided the liens of the second and third lienholders – treating their claims as wholly unsecured. The junior lienholders argued that the proposed strip off of their claims was prohibited by §1322(b)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code. The code permits a Chapter 13 plan to “modify the rights of holders of secured claims, other than a claim secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor’s principal residence, or of holders of unsecured claims.” But the court decided that Section 1322(b)(2)’s antimodification did not apply because the value of the debtor’s principal residence is less than the claim of the senior lienholder and there is, therefore, no value securing the junior lienholders, rendering their claims unsecured under §506(a). Click here for more.