Financial management issues of struggling military personnel

On behalf of Bankruptcy Law Firm of Clare Casas on Wednesday, May 28, 2014.

The life of military families brings along a number of its own problems — one of which is dealing with financial issues while often far away from home. Military staff members are increasingly looking to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for protection. Although the CFPB reports that military families seek protection regarding the financial management issues mentioned below, these are not only relevant to military personnel. Civilians in Florida may face the same problems.

The CFPB first dealt with complaints in 2011 and since then have received in excess of 14,000 complaints from military families identifying disturbing practices used by financial institutions. The first area of concern relates to mortgages. It seems that many institutions are ignorant of the programs in place to assist military families experiencing problems with meeting their required mortgage payments. This leaves the service men and women to try to stop collection efforts or deal with proceedings to foreclose.

The second area of concern relates to debt collection. Collection agencies harassing military families for outstanding debt that is not actually owed by the family is one of the most prevalent claims. It appears that the debt collectors may hope that the serving men or women are too busy to question the debt and will just pay up. Other frequently reported issues are the tactics used by debt collectors, such as aggressive communication and illegal threats. Many civilian consumers share this problem with military personnel.

The third area of concern relates to outstanding credit card debt and the failure by financial institutions to adhere to the stipulations in the service member’s Civil Relief Act. The Act provides service members and their families with additional protection when the service members are deployed. The failure to consider the Act takes time out of the day of busy military personnel to correct their credit records.

The fourth area of concern relates to payday loans. Military families are often separated by great distances, and those left at home often find it difficult to deal with the family finances. This can make payday loans appear attractive. Service members and their families in Florida who may be experiencing difficulty with financial management issues may find that filing for bankruptcy is the solution.

Source: dailyfinance.com, “5 Ways Military Families Struggle With Money Matters“, Dan Caplinger, May 24, 2014