Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Bots Cannot Improve Your Financial Situation, but a Debt Lawyer Can
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and it enables many businesses to save on costs. Algorithms can tell warehouses when is the best time to restock items and where to direct the automated vehicles that stock the shelves, and they can perform these tasks quickly and with a high degree of accuracy. Bots can generate grammatically… Read More »
A Debt Lawyer Can Help Victims of Scams and Financial Abuse
We have all heard about little old ladies who spent their life’s savings on a sweet-talking email correspondent who claimed to be a prince who needed Grandma’s help to pay his ransom. Scams and fraud can happen to anyone, though. You are in the prime of your life, and you are nowhere near naïve… Read More »
Personal Loans: A Guide for the Credit Invisible
Getting your first loan is a challenge, but once you have been making payments on one loan, creditors will line up around the block to lend to you. If you are young, it is a good idea to start building your credit history, even by borrowing just a small amount, even as you try… Read More »
What Should You Do If a Creditor Contacts You About an Old Debt?
In some contexts, expiration dates are only a suggestion. Given the high prices of grocery items, most of us have eaten a box of spaghetti or a jar of olives much more recently than the date printed on the package and lived to tell about it. You may have heard that, if you ignore… Read More »
How to Avoid Debt Relief Scams
The law offers protections to consumers regarding dishonest and abusive lending and debt collection practices, but it still leaves plenty of room for lenders to make a lot of money off of consumers in difficult financial circumstances. When you are rich, lenders line up around the block to give you freebies and lend you… Read More »
Are Online Auto Title Loans the Worst of Both Worlds?
Everyone in Florida, no matter how broke, needs a car. Not only is there very little public transportation, but walking outside, even for short distances, is several orders of magnitude more dangerous in Florida than it is in most other places. If you walk a mile in the summer in most places in the… Read More »
Credit Limit Increases: A Credit Score Quick Fix or Just More Debt
If you have a credit card, even if the credit limit is low, you are on your way to major creditworthiness. It is often possible to increase the credit limit on your credit card without opening a whole new account and getting a new card. Making at least the minimum payment toward your credit… Read More »
How to Avoid Paying $1,000 Per Month on Your Car Loan
South Floridians have a special place in our hearts for expensive cars, but that does not mean that we want the expensive car loans associated with them. Looking for your car in the parking lot of Sawgrass Mills would be a bummer if you didn’t pass by a few rare beauties somewhere between the… Read More »
Three Approaches to Debt Repayment Strategy
It is fun, but impractical, to strategize about what you would do if you suddenly got a million dollars. Most likely, you would pay off your debts and then spend, save, or invest the rest in a way that could prevent you from incurring future debts. A more practical exercise is to think about… Read More »
Reduction in Millage Rate Offers Relief for Palm Beach County Homeowners
Yes, there is always someone out there who is in a worse financial situation than you are, but you don’t have to be dirt poor to feel the financial strain that is still having residual effects after the pandemic. Approximately two thirds of American households with an annual income in excess of $100,000 still… Read More »