J. Douglas Hoyes

Aug 22, 2024 | hoyes.com | J. Douglas Hoyes |Doug Hoyes

Paying down credit card debt can be challenging if you carry large balances. We explain the benefits and potential drawbacks of using a personal loan to pay off credit card debt and provide other debt relief options you may want to consider. Personal Loan vs Credit Card DebtPersonal loans and credit card debt are both common forms of borrowing money, but they have different structures and repayment requirements.

Apr 3, 2024 | hoyes.com | Hoyes Michalos |J. Douglas Hoyes |Doug Hoyes

Hoyes, Michalos has been tracking and reporting on homeowner insolvencies since 2007. Our homeowner insolvency index peaked in 2011 at 29.1% and has fallen steadily, reaching a low of 1.6% in 2022 and rising to 4.2% in the first two months of 2024. Until recently, homeowner insolvencies have been depressed due to rising home prices, allowing heavily indebted and vulnerable homeowners to tap into the resulting rising home equity to refinance rather than file insolvency.

Mar 15, 2024 | hoyes.com | J. Douglas Hoyes |Doug Hoyes

On March 10, Reddit exploded with reports of old City of Ottawa debts mysteriously appearing on credit reports. Based on reporting from CBC Ottawa, on January 12, 2024, the City of Ottawa signed a five year collection agreement with Financial Debt Recovery (FDR), to collect old accounts, including outstanding parking fines and unpaid water bills. It is standard practice to hire a collection agency to collect outstanding debts.

Dec 15, 2023 | hoyes.com | J. Douglas Hoyes |Doug Hoyes

The past year has seen a steady erosion in financial stability for Canadian debtors. The result is that consumer insolvencies are rising rapidly. In my year-end post, I will outline what is behind the average Canadian debtor’s re-accumulation of consumer credit and how that will impact consumer insolvency levels in the coming year.

Feb 16, 2023 | hoyes.com | J. Douglas Hoyes |Doug Hoyes

CEBA, the Canada Emergency Business Account, is a government-provided loan that was designed to provide financial support to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. A CEBA Loan was an interest-free loan of up to $60,000 with loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 for eligible CEBA borrowers. According to the Canadian government, more than 898,000 businesses were approved for CEBA loans. Most will be able to repay their loans, some will not. What happens if you can’t repay your CEBA loan?