Financial News Features

To continue where Stout left off, note that knowledge can also be free if you know where to look. Debt.com’s 12-month self-improvement email course #WeKnowDebt is free of charge. The course gives Americans “a comprehensive breakdown of basic personal finance topics [including] budgeting, savings, interest rates, taxes, and good credit – just to name a few,” said Howard Dvorkin, CPA and chairman of Debt.com. “The course also provides support through a Facebook group for those who sign-up and have questions along the way. Each email lesson in the #WeKnowDebt course is jargon-free and comes with a unique list of resources — along with a ‘Learn this’ and ‘Do this’ section. Anyone interested in making financial literacy a year-long goal can sign up for the free, #WeKnowDebt email course.”

If this happens, it’s important that you do not miss your court date. This is your opportunity to explain to the court why you should not be evicted. Although you don’t technically need a lawyer for this court appearance, it may be helpful to obtain the help of a professional who can help you understand your rights as a tenant and offer suggestions on how to proceed. Many cities offer free legal counsel to those who are facing eviction, according to Debt.com.

Fortunately, changing terms isn’t the norm, according to experts. Your rewards might be calculated differently in some cases, but that’s rare, since issuers know there’s so much competition out there. “If they make too many changes, you could flee to a competitor,” says Howard Dvorkin, CPA and chairman of Debt.com.

"The courts are going to be so backlogged because there are a tremendous amount (of cases), so you may not get evicted for five or six months," says Howard Dvorkin, personal finance expert, certified public accountant and chairman of Debt.com. Tenants may also find courts to be more sympathetic given the COVID-19 pandemic. "Judges, frankly, are not going to be that anxious to throw people on the street."

"Those [programs] are officially gone now, but unofficially, they still exist in limited ways," says Howard Dvorkin, CPA and chairperson at Debt.com. "If you call your lenders and explain your situation with hard facts, you can often catch a break," he says. "You could do this before the pandemic, too, but you're more likely to find a sympathetic ear these days as the pandemic lingers."

Howard Dvorkin of Debt.com shares five missteps that cause credit rejection, and their remedies!