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 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.