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2.If your EFT card is lost or stolen and you notify your bank within two business days after discovering its loss, you may be liable for up to $500 in unauthorized withdrawals.

3.It takes time and energy to sort billing errors out.

4.You may withhold payment of the disputed amount pending the investigation.

5.Phone calls protect your rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act.

6.You must explain why you believe there is a billing error and state the amount of the error.

7.Once negative information is reported to a credit bureau, it may be easy to have it removed.

UNIT 23. Costly Credit Arrangements

1. Complete the sentences, using the appropriate words from the box:

Usurious; disclosure form; blank spaces; acceleration clause; violators; abuses; balloon payments; suspicious; variable–rate; loan sharking.

1.Consumers may fall prey to … .

2.… loans are illegal under state laws.

3.In … the last payment is much larger than the monthly payments.

4.The … permits the creditor to accelerate the loan, making all future payments due immediately in the event a consumer misses a single payment.

5.To prevent credit …, Congress passed the Truth in Lending Act.

6.The law requires creditors to give you special information about … loans if you are being offered this plan.

7.The law also requires that consumers be given a copy of the … containing the credit information.

8.… can be subject to both civil and criminal penalties.

9.If you are … about a lender, check to see if the lender is licensed and whether complaints have been filed.

10.Don’t sign contracts with … .

2. Are the statements true (+) or false (-)? Correct the false statements.

1.Loan sharks lend money at low, often usurious rates of interest.

2.There are a variety of legal but costly credit arrangements that consumers may want to avoid.

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3.Balloon payments make it easy for you to make the final payment.

4.Lenders sometimes claim you can wipe out all your bills by making easy monthly payment to them, which they will distribute to your creditors.

5.Consolidation loan may require payments over a shorter period of time and at a higher rate of interest.

6.The law requires creditors to give you certain basic information about the cost of buying on credit.

7.Before making a credit purchase, read and understand the entire contract.

8.Keep receipts for some payments.

UNIT 24. What Lenders Want to Know Before Extending Credit

1. Complete the sentences, using the appropriate words from the box:

Discrimination; deny; investigate; human rights commission; reinvestigating; file; turned down; key; repaid.

1.Any store, bank, or credit card company that extends credit to consumers wants to know that the money will be … .

2.The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, protects consumers against credit … based on sex, marital status, race, color, religion, national origin, old age, or source of income.

3.Complaints should be directed to the state or local consumer affairs office or … .

4.The creditor may … you personally.

5.Information about you in a credit bureau’s files can be a … factor in determining whether you get loans, credit cards, or other forms of credit in the future.

6.If a credit report indicates that you are a poor risk, the creditor will probably … credit.

7.The Equal Credit Opportunity Act says that creditors must tell consumers why they were … .

8.Every consumer has the rights to learn the nature of information in his or her credit … .

9.If the credit bureau does not cooperate in correcting your credit file, you may complain to … the information.

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2. Are the statements true (+) or false (-)? Correct the false statements.

1.A person who moves or changes jobs frequently might be considered reliable.

2.Bank regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Reserve Board and the Comptroller of the Currency, handle complaints against banks and bank credit cards.

3.Many states have laws that forbid credit discrimination.

4.Financial and personal information about consumers is often stored in computers but it can not be passed among the various bureaus.

5.If a credit report indicates that you are a poor risk, the creditor will probably give you credit.

6.Another federal law protects you from inaccurate credit bureau reporting.

7.The creditor can give you the name and address of the credit bureau that supplied the report.

8.Credit bureau are required to show consumers copies of the actual file.

9.If you discover false, misleading, incomplete, irrelevant, or out– of–date information in your file, you can require the credit bureau to recheck its information and correct the errors.

UNIT 25. Default And Collection Practices

1. Complete the sentences, using the appropriate words from the box:

Pay off; bankruptcy; default; consequences; reassess; wiped out; overextended.

1.Consumers who use credit sometimes have difficulty making all their payments because consumers are … .

2.A consumer who is unable or unwilling to pay a debt goes into … .

3.If you have problems paying your bills, you should … your financial lifestyle to determine where the problem arose.

4.… is a procedure through which a person places assets under the control of a federal court in order to be relieved of debt.

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5.A wage earner can make an arrangement, supervised by a federal court, to … some or all of what is owed to creditors over an extended period of time.

6.A declaration of bankruptcy has serious long–term … for the debtor.

7.Some debts are not … through bankruptcy.

2.Are the statements true (+) or false (-)? Correct the false statements.

1.Problems with making payments can arise because of unexpected unemployment, family illness, or a variety of other reasons.

2.If you have problems paying your bills, you should not notify each creditor of the problem.

3.A consumer who is unable or unwilling to pay a debt goes into bankruptcy.

4.In recent years, a few bankruptcies have been filed in the United States.

5.A more severe form of bankruptcy is called a Chapter 7 bankruptcy when the federal court takes control of most of the debtor’s assets, sells them, and pays off as much debt as possible.

6.Records of personal bankruptcy remain in credit reports for 15 years.

7.All debts (taxes, alimony, child support, and student loans) are wiped out through bankruptcy.

UNIT 26. Creditor Collection Practices

1. Complete the sentences, using the appropriate words from the box:

Incurred; legitimate; attachment; last resort; defendant; harassment; postponement; small claims court; garnishment; voluntarily; unwilling; imprisoned; plaintiff; repossess; unsavoury.

1.Creditors have many ways of collecting money from consumers who are … to pay their debts.

2.In the past, some bill collectors engaged in … practices.

3.False or misleading statements as well as acts of … or abuse are strictly prohibited.

4.The creditor can usually … collateral if the borrower defaults on the loan or obligation.

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5.Debtors are also charged for any costs … in the repossession and sale.

6.As a …, creditors may sue debtors in court for the exact amount owed on the debt.

7.Creditors often sue debtors in … .

8.Consumers often have … defenses, such as the fact that the goods were defective.

9.If you cannot appear in court on the date set in the summons,

contact the court clerk in advance to arrange for a … of the trial.

10.A default judgment is a judgment entered for the … (creditor) and against the … (debtor).

11.A creditor who wins a court judgment against a consumer may still have trouble collecting if the consumer does not pay … .

12.It was once common practice to have people … for not paying debts; however, this is no longer allowed.

13.… is a court order that forces the debtor’s employer to withhold part of the debtor’s wages and pay it directly to the creditor.

14.… is a court order that forces a bank to pay the creditor out of a consumer’s bank account or that allows the court to seize the consumer’s property and sell it to satisfy the debt.

2. Are the statements true (+) or false (-)? Correct the false statements.

1.The debt collector’s communications are limited to reasonable times and places.

2.False or misleading statements as well as acts of harassment or abuse sometimes take place.

3.Under federal law, you can send bill collectors a notice demanding that all collection contacts cease.

4.Most states permit creditors to repossess even if repossession would involve violence or a breach of the peace.

5.If you are sued the creditor is entitled to collect the disputed amount.

6.If you ever receive a summons to go to court, ignore it.

7.A creditor who wins a court judgment against a consumer have no trouble collecting the money.

8.Persons who are employed by the federal government or who receive other federal money, such as welfare or unemployment compensation, can have their income garnished.

9.Employees who have their wages garnished for a single debt can not be fired.

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B – save receipts and cancelled checks. C – call your creditor regularly.

D – go over each bill or monthly statement carefully.

8. Loan sharking means:

A – high, often illegal rate of interest.

B – the last payment is much larger than the monthly payments.

C – the creditor accelerates the loan, if you miss a payment. D – combining all your debts into a single one.

9. You may be denied credit if:

A – you are trying to get credit for the first time. B – you are a poor risk.

C – you are under 18.

D – you have insufficient income. 10. A consumer goes into default if:

A – he is denied credit. B – he is a bankrupt.

C – he is unable to pay.

D – he is unwilling to pay.

11. The ways of collecting money from consumers who are unwilling or unable to pay are:

A – to make a harassing phone call. B – to repossess the collateral.

C – to sue debtors in court.

D – to get a court order that forces the debtor’s employer to withhold part of the debtor’s wages and pay it directly to the creditor.

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