Leadpile's Blog» debt

Job Market In A Struggling Economy..

Natasha Aronov — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:30:11 +0000

With the struggling economy, many people are facing unemployment and hard times. Gen Y, known to be possibly one of the better educated generations is struggling to float, many not having enough experience to obtain or hold jobs in the state of the economy. Moving back in with their parents or family being the best option for many having challenges financially while fighting to get careers launched.

According to msnbc.com , “the Millennials” defined as those born in the 1980-90’s are the first generation of American work forces since World War II who have cloudier prospects than the generations that preceded them. Currently unemployment is at the highest it has been in decades for 18-29 year olds.

The average student debt as stated by College Board is $23,000 – facing these large debt amounts and the high unemployment rate among young Millennials can affect them financially and psychologically.

Paying Off Debt…

Natasha Aronov — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:48:16 +0000

Are you avoiding paying off debt? Paying the minimums could hurt you.. Something as simple as removing a couple of monthly “splurges” such as limiting trips to starbucks could give you additional funds to put towards your debt and make a dent in amounts owed and keep things under control.

Debt to income ratio is helpful to look at when evaluating your finances. Bankrate.com recommends that people’s debt not be more than 20% of take home pay – including your car payment. They recommend that housing expenses not be more than 30% of your monthly income.

Now that every credit card bill comes with a breakdown on how long it will take the consumer to wipe out a debt making only the monthly payments it is a reality check for many people. If the minimum payment is all that is being made, the debt can keep increasing and it can take very long extended periods of time, even decades to pay off the total amount.

Some consumers benefit from credit counseling sessions, these can help identify the biggest areas of concern and help create a debt management plan often times having the creditors agree to lower interest or payments. Two last resort options for consumers in debt can be debt settlement or bankruptcy.

Debt Tsunami

Christina — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:09:51 +0000

Lets continue the debt discussion since it’s such a large part of peoples lives nowadays.

Ever feel as if there is no end in sight to all those piled up bills? Here are 2 plans that may help you get your finances back on track.

1. Snowball Plan: The snowball plan developed by Dave Ramsey focuses on ranking your accounts by balance amount, smallest to largest. Consumers are encouraged to pay the smallest debt first while continuing to pay the minimum amount on the other accounts. By doing so consumers enjoy the satisfaction of when debt drops off, thus they are more likely to make continuous payments.

2. Negative Emotion: The negative emotion plan urges people to pay bills that generate a negative emotion. For example, Shareef Defrai from Huston used his credit card to rent a car for a friend. No big deal until his friend decided to skip town with the car, now Shareef has $16,000 in debt for a car he doesn’t even have possession of. By paying off these types of accounts first the relief of paying off the debt can be life changing.

Both methods have their pros and cons, do any of you have a special way you pay down your debt?

Help, My Debt Is Out Of Control!

Christina — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:24:59 +0000

Does your debt, including housing expenses equate to more then 50% of your monthly income? For many the answer would be yes. This number is very important when evaluating ones financial health. Are you only paying the minimum amount on your credit cards? By doing this you are probably only paying down the monthly interest and not even making a dent on the principal. Do you cringe when you see an 800 number on your caller ID? Are you using credit cards to purchase items you used to pay cash for? All these red flags indicate it’s time you speak with a credit counselor before your finances get even worse. If a debt management plan doesn’t work there are only 2 other options, debt settlement and bankruptcy. The NFCC created a quiz called “How Do I Know If I’m In Financial Trouble?” consisting of 20 true-or-false questions. If more than two or three ring true you may need to seek financial assistance.

Leadpile specializes in Debt Settlement and Bankruptcy leads, contact us today to become a buyer or seller.

Emotional Stress From Debt May Hurt You Financially

Natasha Aronov — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:14:39 +0000

Paying off your debt can be one of the most rewarding and experiences and bring a feeling of relief. Often times if you have multiple sources of debt, there is one that bothers you more than the others do even if the payoff amount or interest not as high.

According to CreditCards.com not all debts carry the same psychological weight on people. Debt amounts that are linked with negative events such as divorce, fraud or medical can often times bring stress to a person. Even as this might bring emotional relief, it can be financially more beneficial to pay off the higher interest rate first.

Emotional attachment to debt does not always equal importance of repayment order. Looking at all of your debt amounts and weighing the cost of the interest and long term effects on your credit is a smart way to determine what should be priority in paying down first.

Debt settlement and debt consolidation are both options for consumers looking for debt relief options. Through Internet generation and live transfers LeadPile helps consumers in need of help find companies that are able to offer assistance in consolidating or lowering debt.

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Financial Help For Students In Need?

Natasha Aronov — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:43:17 +0000

A group of 50 colleges (and this number is growing) are pledging to do fund student financial needs through grants and work-study programs rather than with loans. Limiting loans with the “Project on Student Debt” will help in the efforts of reducing graduates debt amounts leaving them in large financial debt when leaving school.

With the economy in poor standing, this affected all schools – particularly private schools, resulting in tuition hikes and budget hikes.

With student aid, few students will pay the full tuition price for example. Financial aid is defined as the total cost of attendance (tuition, books, room & board) minus a family’s expected contribution. Public colleges threshold for receiving need-based aid is typically $60,000 or less.

For example according to money.cnn.com:

Full estimated tuition price at Harvard per year is $50,000. A family with an income of $120,000 can expect to pay after Harvard’s financial aid $16,000 per year. This same family would pay an estimated $15,800 at Yale and $34,000 at Stanford after receiving financial aid help.

The financial commitment to attend college may be intimidating. Researching your options for financial aid in addition to merit-based scholarships and grants can be a great way to lessen the financial burden. A complete list of schools participating with the “no loan” financial aid packages can be found here: www.ProjectOnStudentDebt.org .

LeadPile is adding Online Education to our list of lead types and will soon be generating leads!

Leadpile & Live Transfer Debt Leads

Mari Woods Holt — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:21:55 +0000

For many of you that work in the debt vertical, you probably struggle with it like we do with being able to convert the leads. Consumers have debt, and submit requests online to get the help, but for some reason after they submit the request for help, they do not answer their phone. Knowing this, Leadpile has teamed up with a company to provide live transfer debt leads to our buyers.
How it works:
Inbound call from the consumer – looking for a debt solution
We pre-qualify the consumer by asking them about their unsecured
debt amount, and state location
We take the calls and ask their name, unsecured debt amount & if
they would like to be transferred immediately to a debt specialist
Once the consumer has confirmed all of the information, they are
transfered to you

Note: Leads are all pre-qualified by US based call centers.

If this is something that you would be interested in, please let us know and we can begin testing immediately.

Positive Changes For Consumers In Debt!

Natasha Aronov — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:00:17 +0000

Changes to fees and terms may be positive for many consumers struggling to pay their bills! New rules obtaining to overdraft protection requires consumers to specifically request it, rather than being automatically enrolled in it. According to the Credit CARD Act, should the consumer enroll for overdraft protection, fees can only be applied once during a billing cycle and the card company must notify the consumer of the amount. These new overdraft rules only apply to debit cards, not checks or electronic transfers.
Consumers now are given 21 days to send credit card payments in, rather than only 14, and if changes are made to terms, 45 days notice must be given instead of 15. This change does not apply to reducing your credit limit, the credit card company can do this at any time without any warning!
One new change might be scary for many consumers to see, but after the initial shock sets in, the overall perspective will hopefully ultimately help consumers in the long run. Effective starting February 22, credit card bills must make it clear how long it will take the consumers to pay off the balance, and how much interest will be paid if the minimum amount is all that is paid each month.
While there is no current cap placed on increasing interest rates, credit card companies are required to give customers 45 days notice on changes and may not raise the current interest rate on customers existing debt unless payment is more than 60 days late on payment. Additional help to consumers trying to pay off debt, additional fees for paying over the phone, electronic transfer, or mail are no longer allowed and universal default for existing credit card balances may no longer be practiced. The Credit CARD Act has now made is more difficult for college students to obtain credit cards, someone under 21 may not be offered a credit card without a co-signer or proof of proper income.
LeadPile matches consumers in debt with Debt Consolidation, Debt Settlement and Bankruptcy companies daily. Debt is a huge source of stress for many people, hopefully the new Credit CARD Act will help get people back on track and become more aware of their own debt, and make plans to get things paid off!

Changing Times, Rising Economy?

Natasha Aronov — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:38:01 +0000

As the economy has began to rise out of it’s rut, companies have been hiring temporary workers to get them through without initially handing over the large cost of hiring full time workers. In the past, this has been a symbol that permanent hires are in the near future and that the economy is on its way back up, however this might not be the case this time.

According to msnbc.com economists and business people say that employers are lacking confidence that the economy will continue to get better. The current economy is believed to be fragile and unpredictable.
In the 90’s, temporary hiring launched the quick return of job creation and permanent hiring, as well as in 2003 this was shown once again. For people who are not employed, temporary jobs help feed families and give people pay checks who have been unfortunate and lost jobs.
In a time where to have any job is good news, hopefully the temp jobs will keep coming and eventually turn into long term permanent employment.

Higher Interest Rates, Lower Lines Of Credit!

Natasha Aronov — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:27:50 +0000

As if consumers do not have enough financial stress to worry about, the credit card companies are decreasing credit limits and increasing annual percentage rates. Due to the high number of people without jobs and suffering financial hardship, the credit card companies have had billions of dollars worth of losses. To attempt to fill in the gap, the card companies are making changes effecting card holders who are behind in payments in addition to card holders who have always paid their bills on time and have a perfect history. Credit cards have in the past always been issued to people with an interest rate and credit limit based on their specific risk to default.
With the economy in the state that is has been and many people with additional debt, consumers have been forced to use their credit limits, now faced with paying off balances with interest rates that have doubled or tripled.
According to msnbc.com we are entering a new “era” for credit cards. Previously as many of us experienced, credit card offers would appear daily in your mailbox, each with enormous credit limits and interest rates that were so competitive that it made applying for the card hard to resist. Many people who “couldn’t resist” are now paying for it with the increase in interest.
Possible changes in the near future…The new Credit Card Bill of Rights. The American Bankers association has stated that the new law will limit the amount of credit that is available and it will come attached to a higher price tag. In theory, consumers will have a better idea of long term costs and terms with the new law and will allow them to make more educated decisions.
LeadPile currently helps match consumers with unsecured debt such as credit card debt with debt settlement and debt consolidation companies, but what will change in the future of credit card debt if there is a “credit card bill of rights” that gets passed? Will it really affect anything? Who will feel it the most?