Credit Card Debt Stimulus Program

Get Out Of Debt Explore Your Options And Choose What Will Work Best For You

When you start looking at what to do about your debts, it can be hard to know which option will work best. An experienced Credit Counsellor will answer your questions, explain the short and long-term consequences and give you the information you need to make a decision.

Some of the debt relief options and tips a will explain are:

• Programs to repay debt and consolidate payments, making it easier to manage all of your bill payments and living expenses.
• Debt repayment programs where your creditors waive or reduce how much interest they charge you. This helps you repay what you owe.
• Help with your household budget so that you can go back to your lender for a loan or mortgage refinance.
• Insolvency options provided by a bankruptcy trustee, e.g. referral to a trustee for information about going bankrupt or filing a Consumer Proposal to repay part of what you owe.
• Lump sum payment arrangements and how debt settlement works in Canada. There are advantages and disadvantages to making one large payment, after which your creditors will write off anything left owing. Youll want to know about the long term consequences ahead of time.
• Researching debt relief companies and how to find reliable, truthful reviews.
• You might not be able to repay your debts, so you need to know how to communicate with your creditors in a way to stop stressful collection calls or write a forgiveness of debt letter.
• Dealing with and paying off government debt.

Theres a Way to Turn Things Around

How To Find The Best Solution For Your Situation

With many types of programs for different forms of assistance, the research process can feel overwhelming. The FTC recommends these ways you can narrow down which credit relief programs would work best for you:

• Try to use a program with a nonprofit organization that offers local and online support.
• Look for recommendations from your local bank, credit union, university or military base to find a reputable credit counselor or relief course.
• Ask the provider for additional information on its debt relief program. Most trustworthy agencies will send you educational literature for free.
• Check with your state attorney general to see if the agency youâre considering has any complaints filed against them.
• Find out if your state requires a license for credit counseling or debt settlement agencies. If one is required, verify that the agency you want to use has an up-to-date license.
• Interview your potential adviser to find out what services they offer and if they charge a fee.

You can look up any debt settlement or credit counseling agency online to see whether they are highly rated for their services and customer care. And you can also report any scams conducted by a credit relief program to the appropriate authorities.

When The Federal Cares Act Prohibits Adverse Credit Reporting

Under the federal CARES Act, if you make an agreement with a creditor to defer one or more payments, make a partial payment, forbear any delinquent amounts, modify a loan or contract, or get any other assistance or relief because you were affected by COVID-19, the creditor has to report the account as current to the credit reporting agencies if you weren’t already delinquent.

But you have to come to an agreement with the creditor first to avoid adverse reporting, and you have to stick to the terms of the agreement. Don’t unilaterally stop making your payments, delay your payments, or pay less than you’re supposed to.

If you were already delinquent at the time of the agreement, the creditor can keep reporting the delinquent status unless you bring the account current.In the case of a charge off, the creditor may continue to report it as a charge off.

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Americans Paid Down Billions Of Dollars In Credit Card Debt During The Pandemic But Higher Costs Are Leading Many To Start Borrowing Again

Grant Yaney and his wife paid down almost all of their credit card debt early in the pandemic, and finally felt like they were getting ahead financially.

But this year theyve fallen behind again. To keep up with rising expenses these past six months, the Yaneys have opened two new credit cards and maxed out both, with thousands of dollars in gas and groceries. Now, with interest rates ticking up, theyre facing even higher costs on their ever-growing debt.

We are trying to do the best we can to manage with what we have, said Yaney, 49, a financial analyst for a hospital in Little Rock. But I cant stop feeding my family. I cant stop paying utilities. So unfortunately things like credit cards may have to go past due which means the late fees kick in and the interest doubles and the next thing you know, were way behind and theres no way to catch up.

After a coronavirus-era reprieve, Americans are borrowing heavily again to keep up with decades-high inflation on essentials such as food, gas and housing. Credit card debt is rising at its fastest clip in more than 20 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Overall, Americans owe $887 billion on their credit cards, a 13 percent increase from a year ago.

The result, for many, is a sense of snowballing despair as debt loads and interest rates spike at the same time.

You Can Afford Groceries And Any Other Basic Necessities

Many Americans are struggling right now to keep food on the table, so be sure you can afford to do so before using your stimulus money for anything else. Many major banks are helping people through financial hardship programs when it comes to your mortgage and other loans, but keeping your family fed should be the first place you look to spend any extra money.

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How To Request Help From Your Credit Card Companies If Youve Been Impacted By The Coronavirus Pandemic

Missing a payment on your credit card or paying it late can result in fees or added interest, but it can also have a negative impact on your credit score. This is why its important to contact your credit card companies immediately if you know you cant pay your bill.

Here are important steps to requesting relief.

Washington State Utilities Help

As long as a COVID-19 state of emergency exists in Washington state, public utilities have suspended disconnection tariffs for nonpayment waived late fees or offered payment plans for customers who are out of work and expanded bill assistance programs for customers whose finances have been affected by the pandemic. The state lists the contact numbers for utility companies for consumers.

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Autopay Needs To Be Updated Manually

Just because you’re approved for COVID-19 credit card relief doesn’t mean your issuer will change your autopay settings. Generally, if you have autopay set up, you’ll have to go in and update the preferences yourself.

If you want to take advantage of your issuer’s offer to defer minimum payments for a time, consider turning autopay off to avoid overdrawing your bank account. Alternatively, if your issuer is setting your minimum payment to $0 for the next couple of billing cycles, you could also change your autopay so you’re paying just the minimum due, rather than the full amount.

Three Lockdown Categories Yield Different Results

States were classified into one of three lockdown categories, according to the National Academy of State Health Policy*:

• Long or ongoing lockdown

Using the 2020 data, the percent change in credit card balance /March, indicated statistically significant difference among the three lockdown groups**. States with long or ongoing lockdown have reduced balances the most and states with no lockdowns the least.

. Table 1. Percent change /March in 2020 credit card balances across lockdown types.

These trends can be visualized even further by analyzing county level trends across the U.S. The animation in Figure 4 shows a heat map of monthly balances for every U.S. county. Prior to April 2020, balances exhibit the expected trends of seasonal Christmas spikes, followed by balance reductions through March each year, and then followed by gradual increases throughout the remainder of the year. We see significant balance reductions for every country beginning in April 2020.

To learn more, view our resources for businesses impacted by COVID-19.

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Over 155 Billion Dollars Has Already Been Paid Out In 88 Million Checks And With A Total Of 150 Million Non

The stimulus checks or Economic Impact Payments, as titled by the IRS are worth up to $1,200 for individuals or $2,400 for married couples, plus $500 for each qualifying child.

At present it’s not clear if the US government will issue a second round of stimulus checks for those eligible to claim the benefit, with already over 155 billion dollars having been out in 88 million checks and with a total of 150 million non-taxable payments expected to be made out by the end of the scheme.

How 0% Apr Cards And Forbearance Programs Could Help

If you plan on putting your $1,200 stimulus check into emergency savings but have little leftover to pay off credit card debt and buy essential supplies, a 0% APR credit card can provide a temporary solution to hold you over. But if you use one, you should intend to buy only what you need and have a long-term plan to pay off the balance as soon as possible.

“The key is if you’re going to lean into a credit card you must be living at your noodle budget because it doesn’t make sense to be using credit cards to survive and you’re still at your regular budget,” Aliche says. “You should not have cable on, you should not have any of the non-necessities going.”

If you were to open the American Express Cash Magnet® Card, you could receive a intro 0% APR on essential purchases in your “noodle budget” to hold you over for 15 months on purchases from the date of account opening during unemployment .

And if you want to avoid the typical 3% balance transfer fee, consider no-fee balance transfer cards, such as the Chase Slate®. The Chase Slate card offers a intro 0% APR for the first 15 months on purchases and balance transfers with a $0 balance transfer fee on transfers made within 60 days of account opening. After 60 days, the fee is 5% per transfer with a $5 minimum.

Information about the American Express Cash Magnet® Card and Chase Slate® has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

Editorial Note:

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Interest May Still Accrue

While some issuers might offer you a break on interest, many won’t. Even if your issuer allows you to effectively skip minimum payments for a time, for instance, interest will generally continue to accrue at the usual rate. That means that even if you don’t make any new purchases on that card, your balance will still increase. When you start paying again, that could make your future minimum payments larger.

If money is tight, accepting a credit card issuer’s short-term forbearance can make sense, even if it means you’ll owe more later. But if you can afford to make at least the minimum payments while meeting all your other financial obligations, it’s generally better to do that and save on interest.

Penalty Relief For Certain 2019 And 2020 Returns

To help struggling taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS issued Notice 2022-36PDF, which provides penalty relief to most people and businesses who file certain 2019 or 2020 returns late. The IRS is also taking an additional step to help those who paid these penalties already. To qualify for this relief, eligible tax returns must be filed on or before September 30, 2022. See this IRS news release for more information on this relief.

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Lively Credit Counselling Will Provide Debt Consolidation Help To Many With Hardships

Getting superb debt consolidation help is very simple. You just need to find a legitimate and trusted Lively debts relief company or superb debt consolidation professional in order to help you get out of debts. You must also have a stable income by being an employee or self employed. Your Ontario income must be sufficient enough, so at least you can still manage to pay for your ordinary Lively expenses, and the monthly reduced payment for all your debt.

Will You Refund The Points Or Miles I Used To Book A Canceled Trip

If you booked a trip through your card programs travel portal and need to cancel it, its worth trying to get a refund on your rewards in addition to your money. Its also worth confirming that youll get your points and miles back before you go down that road.

Instead ofcalling the airline directly, you may be asked to go through your credit cardsreservations team to cancel. Just make sure youre clear on the process beforegoing through with it.

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How To Get Help

• For financial questions regarding COVID-19, text “Hello” to 866-809-4182. Following the welcome message, customers can text questions about payment assistance.
• The bank has also established a COVID-19 assistance line, and customers can call 888-287-7817.
• You can also call the number on the back of your card.
• Log into your account to send a secure message.

Washington Credit & Debt Consolidation Information

Washington state residents historically have less credit card debt than the national average, but thats small comfort for anyones whos overwhelmed by a balance that seems impossible to pay down.

If youre a Washington state resident looking for debt relief, InCharge, a nonprofit that provides free credit counseling, can help.

The average Washington residents credit card debt in 2020 was $5,238, down 15% from 2019. That followed a national trend in which credit card balances declined an average of 9%. Economists speculate people used their cards less because they had cash cushions from the $600 a week unemployment benefit and individual stimulus checks in the March 2020 federal CARES Act.

That said, whether you have $2,000 in credit card debt or $100,000, you know that temporary aid is just that temporary and credit card debt doesnt magically disappear.

But, while not magic, there are debt relief options for Washington state residents through government programs and nonprofit credit counseling agencies like InCharge Debt Solution that help with necessities and bill paying.

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The Credit Crunch Has Already Started

The Feds survey did show a decline in credit card debt in the first quarter of 2020 however, it is worth noting that credit card debt had peaked in the fourth quarter of 2019 at $930 billion, which was well above levels seen in 2008. In fact, credit card debt, like other forms of non-household debt, had been increasing even before the economic hit from Covid-19 as consumers, reassured by a strong economy and low unemployment, spent and borrowed aggressively.

While credit card debt declined in the first quarter of 2020, it had grown significantly and is … higher than 2008 levels.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Now, in the midst of the pandemic, many Americans are resorting to credit card debt to bridge income gaps. A recent survey by Creditcards.com found that 28 million have added to their balance as a direct result of coronavirus. As so many people have lost their jobs, it’s become a lot harder to make ends meet. And we see a lot of people turning to their credit cards as a result,” said Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at creditcard.com in an interview with WSFA News. I think it shows just how many people are using cards to buy groceries and other necessities,” he added.

With uncertainty about whether a second round of stimulus checks will materialize or if the augmented federal unemployment benefits will be extended beyond July, credit cards could offer a vital lifeline to assist Americans in weathering the economic storm.

What To Know Before Accepting Covid

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As the COVID-19 pandemic results in job losses and financial hardship for millions of Americans, many credit card issuers are offering temporary relief, including waived late fees and minimum payment requirements for a couple of months.

But you’ll likely have to apply for help first, and accepting aid comes with some caveats. Here’s what to know if you take your issuer up on an offer.

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