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Rapper "Trick Daddy" Files for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

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“Love & Hip Hop: Miami” star rapper Trick Daddy has filed for bankruptcy, listing over $800,000 owed to creditors, The Blast reported. According to court documents, the rapper filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy on August 6. He has previously filed for bankruptcy three times in the past; all cases were dismissed before his debt was discharged. He lists his assets as his home in Miramar, Fla., worth $350,000, $1,500 in household goods and $150 in clothes. Trick Daddy has $0 in his checking account and stock in his Trick & Rick Music Publishing company worth $5,000. His debts include $435,682 owed to Fannie Mae related to his Florida home, $12,000 to his home owners association, $57,119 in back child support and $290,000 to the IRS.

CFPB Settlements Reach Four-Year High

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Consumers harmed by financial firms got back $777 million through actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the last fiscal year, the largest amount in four years, the Wall Street Journal reported. The amount included settlements of a few significant long-pending investigations, which were among the 22 enforcement cases the CFPB announced during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the agency said. That represented an uptick from 12 cases and $344 million in restitution in the previous fiscal year, during which the Trump administration curbed the activities of the CFPB. The trend came as CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger approached her first year on the job amid criticism from Democrats that the bureau has been too friendly to the financial industry. Kraninger, a career government worker, took over the CFPB in December 2018 from Mick Mulvaney, who now serves as President Trump’s acting chief-of-staff. Many of the large cases settled last year were started by Obama-era officials before President Trump installed Mick Mulvaney as acting director in November 2017. Among them was a July settlement with Equifax Inc. over its 2017 data breach, which resulted in the credit reporting company’s pledge to return $425 million to consumers. The bureau’s settlements with ITT Education Services Inc., a now defunct for-profit college, and CU Connect CUSO LLC, a lender that targeted its students, were a result of an investigation initiated in 2014. The two agreements brought a combined $228 million in loan forgiveness.

Turf War Blocked CFPB from Helping Fix Student Loan Forgiveness Program

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Starting early last year, the nation's most powerful consumer protection agency sent examiners into companies that run student loan call centers to try to fix a troubled loan forgiveness program. But the Department of Education blocked the bureau from getting the information it needed, NPR reported. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is designed to help firefighters, military service members, nonprofit workers and others. But thousands of people say they were treated unfairly and rejected. By the Education Department's own numbers, only 1 percent of people applying for loan forgiveness are being approved. Several sources familiar with the matter tell NPR that the CFPB sent teams of examiners into servicing companies that run student loan call centers. Such examinations typically go on for two months, with the team embedded at the company. There are months of follow-up after that. But the Trump administration's Education Department told loan-servicing companies not to share information with the bureau about the vast majority of student loan borrowers, citing privacy concerns. The vast majority of student loans — nearly $1.5 trillion worth — are federal loans. But the Education Department tells NPR it's not the CFPB's job to police them. The department says the CFPB should stick to the much smaller world of private student loans.

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Six-Figure Parent Loans: When College Dreams for Students Mean Nightmarish Debt for Family

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The federal government’s Parent PLUS program helps make attending college a reality, closing the gap between the cost of college and what the student receives in grants and other loans. But while it may sound like a lifeline, the Parent PLUS Loan program can cause economic complications for families, USA Today reported. The loan program was introduced in the 1980s as a way for middle- and upper-income parents to help their children pay for college while keeping their assets liquid. It has since become more popular among lower-income parents. That's possible because the program does not check the ability to repay, considering only the borrower's credit history. When parents borrow, the debt can weigh down families for generations. But the burden falls particularly hard on low-income black families. Few white families with low incomes take out the loan – 10 percent of white Parent PLUS borrowers earn $30,000 or less. Comparatively, 40 percent of black Parent PLUS borrowers have incomes that low.

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