Consumer Confidential: Should a Man Taken to the ER in an Ambulance Against His Will Have to Pay the Bill?
As George Varghese tells it, he was walking along a sidewalk in West Los Angeles when he tripped on a crack and fell to the ground, spraining his wrist. “An ambulance appeared suddenly,” he recalled. “Three men came out, checked my ID, laid me on a cart, pushed me into the van and took me to the emergency room.” That would seem like a model of paramedic perfection, except for one thing. Varghese, 79, said he didn’t want to go to the...
Money Talk: Options for Building Credit Score
Question: I am selling my car to an old friend with no credit history. (The used car salesman wanted to charge her 6.5 percent interest.) Is there a way that I can report her timely payments to the credit reporting services to help her build her credit? Answer: It’s not really practical for individuals to report payments, since subscribing to credit bureaus is expensive. The rate your friend was quoted actually isn’t bad given her...
Money Talk: Mind the GAP Coverage Limitations
Question: In 2012, I financed a 2008 Honda at my credit union. The car was priced at $16,500. With a trade-in, the loan came to $22,000. Guaranteed Auto Protection coverage, or GAP, was factored into the loan payments, which were $464 a month. Last year, the car was wrecked and deemed a total loss by the insurance company. They paid the “book value” of $8,860 to the credit union. However, $6,000 remained on the loan. The GAP coverage...
5 Credit Report Myths You Need To Know
If you think the credit reporting process is complicated and too hard to understand, you’re absolutely right. With several different credit bureaus, countless credit reporting laws and rules, and more than a handful of websites advertising “free” credit reports and scores, it can be hard for the average consumer to fully comprehend what goes into a credit report, how the information is reported and how it can affect a credit score. As...
Next Big Workplace Perk: College Debt Relief
Minneapolis — A growing number of companies are dangling a recruitment perk that is tailor-made for the millennial generation: debt relief. Free snacks and gym memberships don’t hold the allure they once did for young people entering the working world. Buried under student loans of more than $29,000 on average, they want help. “For this millennial group, it’s more important than the 401(k),” said Tim DeMello, CEO and founder of...
