'Zombie debt': When collectors haunt you

After Kim Mullen filed for bankruptcy in 1993, she cut up all her credit cards in her lawyer's office. Since then, the Levittown resident has managed to obtain a good credit rating.

But in December, a debt collector contacted her, saying she had an unpaid card balance of $5,655 from 1992. With interest, the letter claimed, the debt had grown to $19,400.

As old debt seems to rise from the dead, it's taken on a name -- "zombie debt." And in recent years, more and more such debt is coming back to haunt consumers, according to their advocates and lawyers who specialize in debt.

Mullen, 46, says she doesn't remember the debt and has challenged it. Others who have received such notices say the purported old debts are a result of identity theft.

Global FICO Score to Set New Credit Risk Scoring Standard in India

Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FIC), the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, today announced a ground-breaking alliance with High Mark Credit Information Services of India to introduce Fair Isaac's global-standard FICO(R) credit risk scoring technology to Indian lenders.

The flexible design of Global FICO(R) Score will enable High Mark to mitigate challenges in the rapidly evolving Indian marketplace that today hamper empirical developments of credit bureau scores.

Credit Card Debt Help

Ever hear of indentured servitude? It's a historical concept that means you're basically working for free to pay off some obligation (like a share cropper). Ever just make your minimum credit card debt payments every month and feel like you are just spinning your wheels? Sometimes the two seem eerily similar.

There are millions of Americans who need credit card debt help now more than ever. With over $2 trillion of revolving consumer debt, and over $60 billion of credit card debt getting "charged off" as uncollectible every year, it just seems like the magnitude of the credit card debt epidemic keeps growing, gobbling up more and more American families every day. So what can you do and where should you turn to get credit card debt help? Looking in the mirror is a good place to start.

Read More

Consumers using gift cards to buy necessities

New York -- Here's a sign of how shaky the economy has become: Wal-Mart says its shoppers are redeeming their holiday gift cards for basic items -- pasta sauce, diapers, laundry detergent -- instead of iPods or DVDs.

Merchants had hoped shoppers armed with gift cards would provide a lift after a dismal holiday shopping season -- partly because shoppers tend to spend even more than the value of the card. But that didn't seem to happen last month, and retailers are feeling the pain.


Read More

Woman Arrested for Fraudulent Credit Card Use

AUBURN, Ala. (WTVM)--On Friday, February 8, 2008, the Auburn Police Division arrested Evie Harper, age 36, of Valley, Alabama, and charged her with one count of Fradulent Use of a Credit Card.

The arrest is the result of an investigation into a report filed last November in which a stolen credit card was used to make purchases in Auburn. Harper was transported to the Lee County jail to await bond. This is the second arrest related to this case.

On January 21, 2008, the Auburn Police Division arrested Camillia Celeste Little, age 19, of Lannett, Alabama, and charged her with the same offense. Fradulent Use of a Credit Card is a Class C felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000.

Read More