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One-third of Americans with a credit report have debt in collections — and they could soon be on the receiving end of texts and emails from collectors eager to track down those overdue payments.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency created after the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers, has issued a final rule that updates a 43-year-old law that oversees debt collections. ACA International, the trade association for the debt collection industry, says it’s long overdue given that consumers now prefer to communicate via text and email.
Zombie debt is debt that has been “raised from the dead,” so to speak. It could even be something you never owed at all.
When a person doesn’t pay a debt, the lender will take action – by phone, letter, or even a court case – to collect the money they are owed. In some cases, though, the debtor simply can’t pay or can’t be found. In other cases, the debtor files for bankruptcy and, depending on the kind of debt owed, the debt may be put on hold, renegotiated or discharged completely.
The average FICO credit score reached a record high of 711 in July despite the financial havoc wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple reports.
That’s up from 708 in April and 706 in July 2019, according to Fair Isaac Corp. data reported in CNBC and the Wall Street Journal.
Ranging from 300 to 850 – higher is better – FICO scores assess the credit risk of individual consumers based on their credit card debt, spending limit, payment record and past loan applications. Lenders often use credit scores to determine whether to extend