EXPERT ADVISORY NEW YORK, NY, December 1, 2003— New York Law School Professor Karen Gross, a legal expert in personal finance and founder of the Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education, advises consumers to watch out for financial traps with the approaching holiday spending season, particularly since consumer spending—especially online sales—is expected to increase this holiday season. “There are five traps that consumers should be aware of so they can counter the potentially disastrous financial effects of the holiday season. One doesn’t want to make decisions that will negatively affect financial health over the following year—and, in some cases, a lifetime,” says Gross, who today testified before the New York City Consumer Affairs Committee on the topic of “Avoiding Holiday Hazards.”  The idea, she says, is to avoid a “financial hangover” in 2004. Gross’ Top 5 Financial Traps are: (1)     Avoid seemingly beneficial “zero-interest" offers that stores offer to entice holiday purchasing; (2)     Watch out for credit card companies that increase your spending limit so you can “enjoy” the holiday; (3)     Decline offers to “skip” payments in December since that costs you more in January; (4)     Watch out for and decline offers to transfer balances from one credit card account to another without reading about hidden costs; and (5)     Be careful about charitable giving since “fake” charities are not uncommon at holiday time.  Gross explains that each of the traps are similar in that they seem to benefit the consumer when, in fact, they can hurt the consumer’s finances in the future. Consumers have to be on guard when accepting “too good to be true” holiday offers. Gross also cautions consumers to watch out for identify theft—an increasing problem that can also seriously damage a consumer’s credit, at least over the short term.  “One doesn’t want to end the holidays with a visit to a credit counselor—particularly since not all such counselors are reputable.  The 2003 holiday season is particularly crucial since we are moving out of a sluggish economy,” Gross says.  “Despite the apparent economic improvement and increasing consumption, bankruptcy filing rates are increasing as well.” Gross is the award-winning author of Failure and Forgiveness: Rebalancing the Bankruptcy System (Yale University Press, 1997). She also has provided testimony to both Congress and the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, is Chair of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Data Collection in Bankruptcy, and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute.  The Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education, which Gross cofounded to develop nationwide financial literacy programs, has a Web site, www.debtoreducation.org, that provides consumer debtors with information they need as they restart their financial lives. Contact:  Karen Gross, 212.431.2154, kgross@nyls.edu Jim Hellegaard, Director of Communications, Office of Public Affairs, 212.431.2191, jhellegaard@nyls.edu  # # #