The Permanent Record
The Archive
Every article The Debt Dispatch has published. Articles here are append-only — once a piece is published, it stays. Corrections and updates appear as tracked revisions at the bottom of each article, never silent overwrites.
June 2026
- Jun 24, 2026
CFPB Addresses Bilt Card Issues, FTC Warns of Summer Scams, Fed to Release Stress Test Results
The CFPB is working to resolve issues impacting Bilt credit card users, while the FTC has issued multiple alerts on prevalent summer scams targeting consumers. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is preparing to publish its annual bank stress test results.
- Jun 19, 2026
Settlement Firms Promise 50% Cuts. The Math Is Rarely That Simple.
A review of 1,200 enrolled accounts shows the average consumer paid roughly 78 cents on the dollar after fees, taxes and continued interest — and watched their credit score fall by an average of 102 points along the way.
- Jun 18, 2026
Debt Settlement: How It Actually Works
The mechanics of stopping payments, accumulating a settlement fund, negotiating with creditors, and absorbing the tax and credit consequences that follow.
- Jun 17, 2026
Debt Consolidation: One Loan to Replace Many
Personal loans, balance-transfer cards, and home equity products that swap a stack of high-APR debts for a single lower-rate obligation — when each works and when each backfires.
- Jun 16, 2026
Personal Loans: The Tool That Quietly Replaced the Credit Card
Fixed-rate, fixed-term, unsecured installment loans now finance everything from medical bills to weddings. The economics are clearer than revolving credit — if you read the terms.
- Jun 15, 2026
Bankruptcy: The Federal Reset, Demystified
Chapter 7 discharges most unsecured debt in 90–120 days. Chapter 13 restructures it over 3–5 years. Both stay on your credit report for up to a decade. Here is how to tell which one applies to you.