NEW YORK, April 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- This week's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition centerpiece will focus on how federal law says collectors and other creditors are prohibited from taking Social Security and Veteran's benefits to pay debts, yet the practice is widespread.
"There is no established process in place for enforcing the federal prohibition," writes Ellen Schultz, a Journal reporter in this week's Weekend Edition. "And the problem has been exacerbated by big debt buyers seeking garnishments on a massive scale and the rise of direct deposit of checks. Direct deposit has the unintended result of creating an infrastructure that makes it cheaper and easier for collectors to pursue elderly or disabled subjects of old debts. Banks that are involved in freezing these elderly people's accounts maintain that they are caught in the middle."
The week's Weekend Edition will be available via home delivery and newsstands on April 28-29. Additional stories appearing this week include:
Money & Investing: * Retail Receipts: The nation's retailers are coming under legal assault for printing too much payment-card information on customer receipts. * Home Prices: Falling home prices are helping fuel a grassroots property-tax rebellion as homeowners nationwide are lodging record numbers of appeals. Rising assessments are, in many cases, pushing up annual tax payments significantly. One example: Residents of Lee County, Fla., filed nearly 2,900 appeals for the 2006 tax year, more than triple the previous year -- after their assessments increased by an average 39%. The Journal explains how to fight the tax assessor. * The Dollar Slides: Overshadowed by the Dow's first ever close above 13000, the dollar reached a milestone of its own: a new record low against the euro. Analysts expect the dollar's slide to continue in the months ahead. That's mostly good news for U.S. companies -- unless the dollar's decline starts to go too fast or too far. Pursuits: * Athletes: Throughout pro sports, the individual charity has become practically institutionalized, with everyone from Tiger Woods to Barry Bonds fielding foundations bearing their name. But these charities often are out of step with the broader philanthropy world, which has become fixated in recent years on efficiency -- in other words, maximizing the portion of donated funds that goes directly to good works rather than administrative costs.
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The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, The Wall Street Journal provides readers with trusted information and knowledge to make better decisions. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 600 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,800 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.6 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2006, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the seventh consecutive year.
Editor's Note: WSJ reporters are available to discuss these topics.
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