![]() The heroes at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC.org) have made their comprehensive 50th Anniversary guide for debtors called “Surviving Debt” available at no charge for ANYONE. This is an outstanding resource for ordinary folks who don’t want to try to read law books or statutes etc. It’s in clear, plain English. I have given away more than two dozen copies to friends and clients and it’s usually the first book I reach for when someone has a question about how to manage their debts of ANY kind. While you isolate in place, if you are worried at all about your finances, take the time to read the first 10 short chapters and then the chapters for your type of debts. So you don't have to read it all -- just the first couple chapters and then the chapters that pertain to your type of problem. (And if you yourself are able to make a contribution to NCLC, they would welcome it and put it to good use.) Find it here: https://library.nclc.org/SD
Fellow consumer attorney Ian Lyngklip of Michigan produced this helpful video that you should watch if you are stressed about bills during work interruption from COVID-19. There are no “quick fixes” to clean up your credit Turns out I'm not alone in recognizing that most used car dealers (not all, but most) are really just shady payday lenders disguised as merchants. But I've been too optimistic! Below is a quoted comment from an auto industry expert in the midwest. And this ins't me talking or another consumer attorney. This is a car industry guy talking - someone who helps dealers! BHPH = "buy here, pay here" -- the classic small independent car lot. He warns that even the big chain used car places have the same practices! For used car dealers, the car is just the bait for the important part -- selling you an outrageous loan and optional "extras" that give the dealer much more profit than the car ever could. (Because, think about it -- the only reason 99% of the customers step onto the lot at one of these places is that they have such poor credit that they have to buy the car that someone else felt good about getting rid of.) With the horrible increase in economic inequality in the US, this isn't going to change anytime soon. But at least understand what you're dealing with -- if you feel like you have to buy a used car from a dealer, do everything possible to GET YOUR OWN FINANCING first, before you get anywhere within 100 miles of a dealer. Know what you are approved for IN TOTAL as well as in weekly or monthly payments, and walk away the minute the dealer tries to sell you financing. Dealers are pushing out financing terms to absurd lengths to make used cars "affordable," but that just puts you into a negative equity trap (you owe much more than the car is worth) at trade-in time ... if the car even lasts long enough for a trade to be possible.
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LAWYERLY FINE PRINT:John Gear Law Office LLC and Salem Consumer Law. John Gear Law Office is in Suite 208B of the Security Building in downtown Salem at 161 High St. SE, across from the Elsinore Theater, a half-block south of Marion County Courthouse, just south of State Street. There is abundant, free 3-hour on-street parking throughout downtown Salem, and three multi-story parking ramps that offer free customer parking in downtown Salem too.
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