JP Morgan Chase became the first bank to drop its arbitration clause from its credit card contracts, so Chase credit card holders will have the right to go to court to dispute a problem with its credit card decisions.

This decision was part of a settlement of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson that involved the largest arbitration company, the National Arbitration Forum, in July. The Forum is no longer part of the process of consumer-debt arbitration, but the banks have not yet settled the suit. This move by Chase will likely encourage other banks to do the same thing.

While Bank of America became the first one to announce that it would no longer require credit card, bank account and auto loan customers to sign away their right to sue and force arbitration, it has not yet settled the existing lawsuit. Capital One Financial, HSBC Holdings and Discover Financial are among the other financial institutions named in the suit.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that a record number of loans -- one in seven -- is delinquent, up from one in 10 a year ago.

Today's numbers also show that one in 22 families in the U.S. is in the process of losing their home, up from one in 34 a year ago. Based on these figures, we are now on track for 2.9 million foreclosure starts in this year alone.

The lenders' trade association is quick to blame this worsening trend on higher unemployment levels. But that ignores the fact that reckless lending precipitated the economic crisis and prolongs it each day with every new foreclosure, which forces down surrounding property values.

About 71.5% of consumers will use cash, checks or debit cards this holiday season versus 28.3% who plan to use credit cards, which is about a 10% decrease from last year and a clear sign that consumers are weaning themselves away from credit cards.

As credit card interest rates climb along with credit card delinquency consumers clearly want to avoid digging an even deeper credit hole.

According to the National Retail Federation's 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday-related shopping, a 3.2% drop from last year's $705.01. Only 28.3% of shoppers will use credit this year compared to 31.5% a year ago.

"Paying with cash is the best way to add a safety brake during holiday shopping. Studies show that consumers typically spend 12% to 18% less when we use cash for payment. Counting out and handing over cash is a sobering reminder of how much items really cost. It makes you pause and consider if the purchase is really worth your labor," Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com and author of The Credit Card Guidebook, told me by e-mail.

According to a data mining company, the old adage of being judged by the friends you keep translates easily into the digital friends you keep.

Rapleaf, a social media monitoring company, claims that by analyzing public information such as the friends you have on Twitter it can assess how creditworthy you are and how likely you are to respond to advertising.

Rapleaf monitors public digital conversations and stores away your Twitter and Facebook status updates, restaurant reviews, Amazon book reviews and plenty of other online public information in its database of 378 million profiles to profile you.

This isn't quite the falling of the Berlin Wall, but in the credit scoring world, it's close. Apparently, for the first time ever, FICO, the company that has its famed credit scoring model, has released details on how a financial goof-up actually affects your credit score.

First, before I go on, credit for making credit scores a little less mysterious goes to Liz Pulliam Weston, a prolific and well respected columnist with MSN Money. She asked FICO for details on how they determine how late fees, bankruptcies, foreclosures and so on affect one's credit score, and they decided to actually be upfront about it. Or at least more upfront than they used to be.

Every time you make a financial mistake, these are known as "damage points." And the higher credit score, the more points these mistakes will cost you, which is interesting. In other words, the slide descending into bad credit can be faster and more pronounced than someone already on their way down.

How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here.

Christine Attalla is among the lucky. The suburban Chicago homeowner not only got a temporary loan modification, but she's on track to convert it to a long-term adjustment before Christmas.

She even calls herself lucky, although when she does there's a quiver in her voice. That's because in the process, her credit took a beating.

For a solo entrepreneur -- Attalla, 38 and divorced, runs her own public relations company -- poor credit is a serious problem.

It all began last spring, when Attalla realized the economic downturn was making it increasingly difficult for her to manage her $3,000-a-month payment on her Bolingbrook home. And she was pregnant, so she knew she'd have less earning power later in the year.

Attalla heard from a friend about the modification program, applied in April through her lender, CitiMortgage, and waited.

She was approved for a three-month trial reduction -- for June, July and August -- which cut her monthly payments in half. If she kept current, she said, she would qualify for a permanent modification that started with a 2% interest rate and tiered up after a decade. So far, so good.

How well is the government's loan modification working? Find out in this four-part WalletPop special report, which begins with this overview and continues with three profiles of those trying to get help, which can be found here, here and here.

If the goal of the federal government's loan modification program was to frustrate applicants, then it certainly is succeeding. But if its goal was to prevent foreclosures, the effort may simply be postponing that eventuality for many.

With an estimated 3.1 million mortgages at least two months delinquent, through the end of October, just 650,994 homeowners had received adjustments through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) -- a notable uptick from past reports and a measurable step toward the Obama administration's goal of helping 4 million by 2012.

But from the halls of Congress to Internet message boards, anger rises about mixed messages, delays and denials without explanation and, most tangibly, the sharp decline in converting short-term loan adjustments into something more meaningful.

Budgets are like diets. Both are tough to define. And neither one is easy to stick to -- especially when you're tempted over the holidays.

Experts say just like diets, budgets tend to be blown more often on the weekends than during the week. The theory: You've deprived yourself all week, so when the weekend hits, your will-power splits.

"It's easier to stick to a budget during the week than on the weekends," says certified financial planner Julie Murphy Casserly, founder of JMC Wealth Management in Chicago and author of The Emotion Behind Money: Building Wealth From the Inside Out.

BlueHippo.com, which markets itself as a way for the credit-challenged to buy a new computer and other electronics, has been ripping off its customers and should be ordered to stop, the Federal Trade Commission told a federal judge today.

"BlueHippo is a company with a business model based on deceit," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. The company is also allegedly operating in violation of a 2008 agreement to settle a previous case brought by the FTC.

Among its complaints, the FTC says BlueHippo took in $15 million under the guise of financing computer purchases for their customers, but it neither provided the financing nor the computers. Fewer than 1 percent of customers received what they signed up for, the FTC said.

A call to BlueHippo's designated phone number for the media rolls into a voice mail that doesn't accept messages. And a call to their spokesman at the Washington, D.C. offices of an international public relations firm was not returned.

Banks continue to take advantage of the waiting period for the CARD Act to lower credit limits, increase interest rates, and raise the minimum credit scores required for a credit card during the past three months, according to the quarterly survey released this week by the Federal Reserve.

This survey of loan officers also found 75% of banks that make credit card loans do not expect to be compliant with the provisions of the legislation until February 2010, the month these reforms go into effect.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd unveiled his financial reform package on Tuesday and consumers could win big if the bill becomes law. Dodd proposes a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency whose sole job will be to protect American consumers from fraud and abuse. He wants to be sure people get the clear information they need on loans and other financial products from credit card companies, mortgage brokers, banks and others.

Dodd introduced the bill along with fellow committee members Jack Reed, Charles Schumer, Robert Menendez, Daniel Akaka, Jon Tester, Mark Warner, Jeff Merkley and Michael Bennet -- all Democrats, so at least it looks as though this may be a partisan effort, but the issue is so important I hope it can become a bipartisan bill.

Black Friday can certainly net shoppers some great holiday gift deals. But if you're not careful, experts say those "deals" could wind up costing you big in the long run by damaging your credit score.

Steve Schwartz, executive vice president of consumer services at Intersections, Inc., in Chantilly, Virginia, told WalletPop that it's easy to get caught up in the adrenaline-filled rush of Black Friday shopping. "But without a plan," Schwartz says, "consumers frequently end up with buyer's remorse." And a plunging credit score, too.

My task each week on SOAPnet's Bank of Mom and Dad is to provide young women with solid advice that will improve their messy financial lives. In return I've received quite the education on some of the reasons we, as a society and particularly women, overspend and compile debt.

When you're building a relationship, building joint credit feels like a natural rung on the ladder. But if the romance happens to sour, that same joint credit can become the backbone of financial devastation.

Scores of the newly divorced, separated or uncoupled who have co-signed for cars and leases or have joint plastic tucked in their wallets are left holding all -- or most of -- these financial bags post breakup. And those bags can get pretty heavy.

"That means someone may be stuck trying to make payments he or she can't afford," says Dan Danford, principal and chief executive officer at Family Investment Center, a commission-free investment management firm in St. Joseph. And that can impact your credit.

Even though few people enter a relationship with the intention of ruining their new mate's credit, many experience this unfortunate outcome of uncoupling. "Beyond not being able to pay your own bills, an ex not paying his or her share of joint accounts can be especially dangerous," says Danford. "Normally, a person knows they're not paying their own bills. But it's common for people to not know an ex hasn't paid until they're served a summons or being hounded by collection agencies." Which means months of late or missed payments have already been reported to credit bureaus and lowered your score.

"I had no idea my ex wasn't paying off the bills he agreed to take on after we split up," says Chloe Martin of Chicago, Illinois. "I found out by accident, when I tried to make an appointment at the vet's office and was told the account had been sent to collection."

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's first family of personal finance, answer your questions every Friday.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question

Credit card companies are on a tear, raising rates, slashing credit lines, increasing minimum payments and closing accounts in advance of the new credit card legislation that will restrict their more outrageous behavior. Today, Ken and Daria Dolan of Dolans.com help a WalletPop reader decide if she has any recourse against her credit card company's latest trick.

Dear Ken and Daria,

We got a letter from our credit card saying they were changing the terms on our card. We still have a balance on the card, but we opted out and closed the account. They STILL upped the minimum payment required on our balance. Can they do that?

You'll find simple, proven solutions for managing your credit card debt at Dolans.com.