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	<title>Seattle Debt Law Blog</title>
	<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog</link>
	<description>Bankruptcy, foreclosure, and debt help for Seattle-area consumers</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:22:57 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Consumer Protection in America: Go Big or Go Home</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In case you haven&#8217;t heard, the House of Representatives passed a bill in December 2009 calling for the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, an independent federal agency solely devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial products and services.  Now the Senate is kicking around proposals of their own, as discussed in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2010/03/03/consumer-protection-in-america-go-big-or-go-home/</link>
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		<title>Up in ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages, that is)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s a lot like waiting in line for a ride at Disneyland: you wait for 45 minutes, turn a corner, and find yourself at the end of another long line. Just when we thought we finally hit the bottom of the housing market, there appears to be an entirely new level on the horizon: a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/08/31/up-in-arms-adjustable-rate-mortgages-that-is/</link>
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		<title>Mortgage Servicers Not Motivated to Help with Modifications</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Having trouble modifying your mortgage?  You’re not alone.  The New York Times recently reported that mortgage servicing companies have little interest in helping troubled homeowners lower their monthly payments because of the “lucrative fees” they can collect on delinquent loans. 
According to the Times article, the Obama administration’s foreclosure program, which provides a $1,000 incentive to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/08/31/mortgage-servicers-not-motivated-to-help-with-modifications/</link>
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		<title>Cramdown Bill Coming Back?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Maybe so, according to Bloomberg (via the P-I&#8217;s real estate blog):
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank threatened to revive the mortgage “cram- down” bill that stalled in Congress this year, saying lenders aren’t being aggressive enough in modifying troubled home loans.
Cram-downs let federal judges lengthen terms, cut interest rates and reduce mortgage balances of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/07/30/cramdown-bill-coming-back/</link>
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		<title>Fighting Against Payday Lenders</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When a debtor files for bankruptcy, the very first thing that happens is an automatic stay, which prevents creditors from attempting to collect from you while the bankruptcy process proceeds. Last year, an influential case, In re Meadows, came out of the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel saying that a payday lender can cash a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/07/21/fighting-against-payday-lenders/</link>
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		<title>Bad News</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The bank with the stupidest name in America, Fifth Third Bank, has gone into the payday lending business. As the National Consumer Law Center reports (warning: PDF), the trend is picking up among the nation&#8217;s big banks. A bank loan with a 520% APR&#8211;sounds great!
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/07/09/bad-news/</link>
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		<title>Credit Card Reform Bill Passes the Senate, 90-5</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is certainly good news, despite the many ways the bill was watered down in the Senate. Having passed the House last month, the bill goes to conference committee now to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Hopefully the conference committee will manage to restore some of the protections [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/05/20/credit-card-reform-bill-passes-the-senate-90-5/</link>
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		<title>Voluntary Loan Modifications Not Working</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Via Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, here&#8217;s another reason why passing cramdown now is important: the existing loan modifications aren&#8217;t working.
Mortgages modified in the third quarter failed at a faster pace than those revised in the first, and the delinquency rate on the least risky loans doubled, signs of deteriorating credit quality, U.S. regulators said.
Loans [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/04/06/128/</link>
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		<title>Bankruptcies Up Around the Sound</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;and across the state, too:
In February, more than 2,300 households in Washington state declared bankruptcy, up more than 50 percent from a year ago. The most densely populated counties — King, Pierce and Snohomish — together accounted for 1,138 filings.
Check out the interactive map, too. Puget Sound is in the thick of it.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/03/25/bankruptcies-up-around-the-sound/</link>
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		<title>Banks Didn&#8217;t Pay FDIC Premiums for 10 Years</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;and now the FDIC doesn&#8217;t have enough money to rescue all the banks.
WASHINGTON &#8211; The federal agency that insures bank deposits, which is asking for emergency powers to borrow up to $500 billion to take over failed banks, is facing a potential major shortfall in part because it collected no insurance premiums from most banks [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2009/03/12/banks-didnt-pay-fdic-premiums-for-10-years/</link>
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