Howard Dvorkin | |
|---|---|
 Howard S. Dvorkin in 2020 | |
| Born | April 7, 1965 Toms River, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | American University, University of Miami |
| Occupation(s) | Chairman of debt.com, author |
| Website | howarddvorkin |
Howard Dvorkin (born April 7, 1965) is a CPA, author, national columnist, philanthropist, and founder of the nation's largest credit counseling agency. [1] The chairman of Debt.com, he has advocated a cash-only lifestyle without credit cards. [2] [3] [4]
Dvorkin founded Consolidated Credit in 1993 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It earned an A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau [5] and eventually grew to be one to the largest counseling and consolidation firms. [6]
After watching the organization and clients struggle with credit card debt, Dvorkin concluded, "Learning to live without a credit card is an integral part of financial empowerment....It’s about cash and discipline. Those who don’t use credit cards take money much more seriously than credit card users. The act of physically handing over the dollars and cents to a cashier or waitress generates a feeling of loss." [7]
This opinion has stood in stark contrast to the ever-increasing U.S. consumers’ love of credit cards, [8] and their increasing debt. In 2012, those consumers had an average 3.7 cards and an unpaid balance of over $5,600. [9] Meanwhile, credit card debt totaled nearly $800 billion.
Shocked at these numbers and U.S. consumers’ lack of financial education, [10] Dvorkin announced in 2013 that he was stepping down as Consolidated Credit's spokesperson to launch Debt.com, an educational and news site covering consumer debt with the goal to "build an Angie’s List or a Better Business Bureau solely focused on debt, debt relief products, for all types of debt relief." [11] In 2014, Dvorkin was named to the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame. [12] [13] [14]
Dvorkin has written two books: Credit Hell (Wiley, 2005) and Power Up (Wiley, 2013). [15] He is a regular personal finance contributor to Entrepreneur and Fox Business, and he has been quoted as a financial expert by The New York Times, NBC News, CNN, Bankrate, and other national media outlets. [16] [17] [18] [19]
Dvorkin is the founder of Parkland Cares, which funded $1 million to provide immediate and long-term funding and awareness for mental health counseling for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors, their families and the community-at-large. [20] Parkland Cares has since broadened its mission to serve the greater South Florida area helping to fund nonprofit mental health and trauma counseling agencies. He was formerly on the executive board of the United Way of Broward County and the former chairman elect for the board of directors of the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida. [21] He was a founding member of the South Florida American Heart Association board of directors as well as on the board of governors of The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University. [22]
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Commercial debt is generally subject to contractual terms regarding the amount and timing of repayments of principal and interest. Loans, bonds, notes, and mortgages are all types of debt. In financial accounting, debt is a type of financial transaction, as distinct from equity.
American Express Company (Amex) is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Express Tower, in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Amex is the fourth-largest card network globally based on purchase volume, behind China UnionPay, Visa, and Mastercard. 141.2 million Amex cards were in force worldwide as of December 31, 2023, with an average annual spend per card member of US$24,059. That year, Amex handled over $1.7 trillion in purchase volume on its network. Amex is one of the largest US banks, and is ranked 77th on the Fortune 500 and 28th on the list of the most valuable brands by Forbes. In 2023, it was ranked 63rd in the Forbes Global 2000. Amex also owns a direct bank.
A home equity line of credit, or HELOC, is a revolving type of secured loan in which the lender agrees to lend a maximum amount within an agreed period, where the collateral is the borrower's property. Because a home often is a consumer's most valuable asset, many homeowners use their HELOC for major purchases or projects, such as home improvements, education, property investment or medical bills, and choose not to use them for day-to-day expenses.
Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994 and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is the 12th largest bank in the United States by total assets as of December 31, 2022, the third largest issuer of Visa and Mastercard credit cards, and one of the largest car finance companies in the United States.
Credit card debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt grows through the accrual of interest and penalties when the consumer fails to repay the company for the money they have spent.
A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repayment of debts. A credit report is a record of the borrower's credit history from a number of sources, including banks, credit card companies, collection agencies, and governments. A borrower's credit score is the result of a mathematical algorithm applied to a credit report and other sources of information to predict future delinquency.
Broward County Public Schools is a public school district serving Broward County, Florida, and is the sixth largest public school system in the nation. During the 2023–2024 school year, Broward County Public Schools served 251,106 students enrolled in 326 schools and education centers district-wide. The district is headquartered in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It is the sole school district in the county.
Credit counseling is commonly a process that is used to help individual debtors with debt settlement through education, budgeting and the use of a variety of tools with the goal to reduce and ultimately eliminate debt. Credit counseling is most often done by Credit counseling agencies that are empowered by contract to act on behalf of the debtor to negotiate with creditors to resolve debt that is beyond a debtor's ability to pay. Some of the agencies are non-profits that charge at no or non-fee rates, while others can be for-profit and include high fees. Regulations on credit counseling and Credit counseling agencies varies by country and sometimes within regions of the countries themselves. In the United States, individuals filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy are required to receive counseling.
First National Bank Omaha d/b/a FNBO is a bank headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska, Inc., a bank holding company primarily owned by the Lauritzen family. It is on the list of largest banks in the United States and is the oldest national bank headquartered west of the Missouri River.
The Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO) is a public safety organization With 5,400 employees, it is the largest sheriff's office in the state of Florida. Sheriff Gregory Tony heads the agency.
The Green Dot Corporation is an American financial technology and bank holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It is the world's largest prepaid debit card company by market capitalization. Green Dot is also a payment platform company and is the technology platform used by Apple Cash, Uber, and Intuit. The company was founded in 1999 by Steve Streit as a prepaid debit card for teenagers to shop online. In 2001, the company pivoted to serving the "unbanked" and "underbanked" communities. In 2010, Green Dot Corporation went public with a valuation of $2 billion. Since its inception, Green Dot has acquired a number of companies in the mobile, financial, and tax industries including Loopt, AccountNow, AchieveCard, UniRush Financial Services, and Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.
Discover Financial Services is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, an online bank that offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. It also owns and operates the Discover and Pulse networks, and owns Diners Club International. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover is currently headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.
Credit One Bank, N.A., headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a bank specializing in credit cards for borrowers with low credit scores. It is owned by Sherman Financial Group, which runs one of the largest buyers of consumer debt in the United States. Despite the similar names and "nearly identical" logos, Credit One is not affiliated with the much larger Capital One.
Jared Evan Moskowitz is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 23rd congressional district since 2023. As a member of the Democratic Party, Moskowitz served on the Broward County Commission from 2021 to 2022 and as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management from 2019 to 2021. Before his appointment to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, he served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the Coral Springs-Parkland area in northern Broward County from 2012 to 2019.
A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services, or withdraw cash, on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.
Bankrate, LLC is a consumer financial services company based in New York City. Bankrate.com, perhaps its best-known brand, is a personal finance website. As of November 8, 2017, it became a subsidiary of Red Ventures through an acquisition.
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 is a federal statute passed by the United States Congress and signed by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 22, 2009. It is a comprehensive credit card reform legislation that aims "to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes." The bill was passed with bipartisan support by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors, for-profit colleges, and other financial companies operating in the United States. Since its founding, the CFPB has used technology tools to monitor how financial entities used social media and algorithms to target consumers.
MoneyTips is a privately held Syracuse, NY based consumer education company. The company provides personal financial information. In March 2022, it merged with Credit Card Insider, another Syracuse-based company that provides information on credit cards.
The Parkland high school shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on February 14, 2018, when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami metropolitan area city of Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at the school, fled the scene on foot by blending in with other students and was arrested without incident approximately one hour and twenty minutes later in nearby Coral Springs. Police and prosecutors investigated "a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior".
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