Apr 18, 2022, 20:37 pm
Over the last three months of 2021, Americans’ credit card balances grew by $52 billion, with balances reaching a total of $860 billion. This is the largest quarterly increase in the 22 years the data has been around, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This massive amount will be a difficult height to come down from, especially considering that Americans are still racking up debt like crazy, with no indication of slowing down.
Julie Ramhold, consumer analyst at DealNews, describes the current consumer debt situation as “pretty bad,” which may be putting it lightly.
“As of last November it was reported that the average American has over $90k in debt, and considering that inflation has hit a 40-year high, it’s becoming harder to get out of debt,” Ramhold said. “Add to that interest rates could continue to climb.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-ameri...p_catchall
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Related News:
U.S. consumer debt jumped more than $1 trillion in 2021
Consumer debt jumped more than $1 trillion from the beginning to the end of 2021, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
“Over the course of 2021, consumer debt rose rapidly, from $14.33 trillion in the first quarter to a new high of $15.58 trillion in the last quarter of 2021,” the report said.
The report said the spike was in large part because of an increase in credit card and auto loan debt.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also said it issued more than $4.86 million in refunds to victims of unlawful debt collectors last year.
Last year, the House passed the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act aimed at giving more protections to consumers with debt and to restrict debt collection activities.
According to the legislation, the bill prohibits “a debt collector from representing to a service member that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in a reduction of rank or similar action, limits a debt collector’s electronic communications with a debtor without the debtor’s permission, and requires a debt collector to provide advance notice to a consumer of the intent to take legal action to collect a debt.”
“None of this is to say people who owe lawful debts shouldn’t pay them,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the sponsor of the bill. “But all Americans deserve to be free from harassment, undue pressure tactics, bullying, false information, threats, coercion and other bad practices.”
That measure has not yet been taken up in the Senate.
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/local/...GKHGOUBQY/
Julie Ramhold, consumer analyst at DealNews, describes the current consumer debt situation as “pretty bad,” which may be putting it lightly.
“As of last November it was reported that the average American has over $90k in debt, and considering that inflation has hit a 40-year high, it’s becoming harder to get out of debt,” Ramhold said. “Add to that interest rates could continue to climb.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-ameri...p_catchall
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related News:
U.S. consumer debt jumped more than $1 trillion in 2021
Consumer debt jumped more than $1 trillion from the beginning to the end of 2021, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
“Over the course of 2021, consumer debt rose rapidly, from $14.33 trillion in the first quarter to a new high of $15.58 trillion in the last quarter of 2021,” the report said.
The report said the spike was in large part because of an increase in credit card and auto loan debt.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also said it issued more than $4.86 million in refunds to victims of unlawful debt collectors last year.
Last year, the House passed the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act aimed at giving more protections to consumers with debt and to restrict debt collection activities.
According to the legislation, the bill prohibits “a debt collector from representing to a service member that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in a reduction of rank or similar action, limits a debt collector’s electronic communications with a debtor without the debtor’s permission, and requires a debt collector to provide advance notice to a consumer of the intent to take legal action to collect a debt.”
“None of this is to say people who owe lawful debts shouldn’t pay them,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the sponsor of the bill. “But all Americans deserve to be free from harassment, undue pressure tactics, bullying, false information, threats, coercion and other bad practices.”
That measure has not yet been taken up in the Senate.
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/local/...GKHGOUBQY/