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Credit Card Borrowing Decreases

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at Mike Agruss Law.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
  • Over 8000+ consumer rights cases settled.
  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

Credit Card Borrowing Decreases

December 2012 marked the fifth straight month of increased consumer borrowing in the United States. Non-revolving credit (auto-financing, college tuition, and other large investments) rose the fastest it has in eleven years, topping $18.2 billion, says a recent Bloomberg report. Borrowing increased by $14.6 billion in December, according to the Federal Reserve.Credit-card borrowing, however, decreased in December_—credit-cards are a kind of revolving credit, which altogether decreased by $3.6 billion. Non-revolving credit is on the rise for a few reasons: rising home values, job creation, and cheaper financing for big purchases (like new cars). Another area of lending and borrowing rose in December 2012: government loans. Mainly for educational loans, lending by the feds rose by $5.5 billion.Consumer spending accounts for seventy percent of the U.S. economy; when people are willing to take on more debt, it usually indicates greater faith in the economy as a whole. However, the Bloomberg report did not cover debts around real estate (like home mortgages and home equity loans), so it doesn’t really cover the overall economic health of the country. A rising demand for motor vehicles seems to be behind the most growth in non-revolving credit; Ford, GM, and Chrysler all posted vehicle sales gains in December.The labor market does seem to be improving, according to this recent Bloomberg report; payrolls rose by 57,000 workers in January. Still, the unemployment rate hangs around 7.9%, and consumer debt, both revolving and non-revolving, is on the rise. What’s good for the economy at large is not always good for individual families, particularly when they find themselves locked in debts they can’t pay.If a collection agency has harassed you, you may be entitled to money damages up to $1,000.00, based on the FDCPA, which has been around for almost 35 years. The FDCPA is a federal law that applies to every state. In other words, everyone is protected by the FDCPA. The FDCPA is essentially a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. Plus, the FDCPA has a fee-shift provision. This means, the collection agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Founding attorney, Michael Agruss, has settled over 1,500 debt collection harassment cases. We want to help you, too. 

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