Credit card "bill of rights" legislation nearing success

[TwinTownBisonFan]

I'll agree that people need to pay their balances and that it's wildly irresponsible to both lend to them and for them to wrack up huge debt... but i'll tell you what... these things are a symptom of the disease known as lifestyle obsession... it afflicts all types of people equally, but it's the root of this little problem.

people are told while growing up, by many many sources that they should be able to have whatever they want whenever they want it... the credit card companies push this mentality to the breaking point... and even go so far as to generously offer to write the materials that become entire courses in personal finance management that are designed to keep us with permanent balances (how do i know this? my high school did it, and i was kicked out of the class for pointing out that the "sound budget" involved 15-20% of your income on cards and that maybe that was unethical or shady)

Z, to put this on the government is absurd. the credit card industry wrote the bankruptcy law that went in to effect a few years ago, THEY SET THE TERMS... THEY ISSUED THE CREDIT... and then they did the one thing they shouldn't have done... THEY TRIED TO MAKE THEIR HONEST CUSTOMERS PAY FOR THEIR BAD ONES. This isn't about the feds bailing out people with credit card debt... it's about protecting the honest johns of the world who've done nothing wrong, but are getting their rates jacked up for no reason, with no limit on the rates, and being canceled for committing no offense. Thats what this bill is designed to do... protect THOSE customers.

[OL FU]

Oh, bullsh*t! How is that, Rush?

What a whackjob.......

Because people know the government will "protect" them. They've been dumbed down to the point where anytime we do something stupid, the government steps in to "protect" us. First it was the evil mortgage companies. Now it's the evil credit card companies. What next? The evil car companies? Forcing you to buy that car you couldn't possibly afford? The evil home improvement companies? Forcing you to add that addition to your house you couldn't possibly afford?

At what point did we lose the pay ethic in this country?

time to reinstitute debtor prison

[Wedgebuster]

I fucking love plastic! I never pay that high interest crap, don't even pay the bill. Just keep using the thing until it don't work anymore, and grab another. Always sending me new ones in the mail. Haven't had to work or pay a bill for years.

So what are the changes and how can I benefit??

[Cleets Part 2]

This is all over my head... sounds like a lot of legislation and stuff I don't understand
I have one credit card and one debit card

however - I get no less than 50 credit card offers a week (not sure why..?)

[danefan]

This is all over my head... sounds like a lot of legislation and stuff I don't understand
I have one credit card and one debit card

however - I get no less than 50 credit card offers a week (not sure why..?)

You can opt out of them. I used to get a ton (apparently being a lawyer makes you a good credit risk).
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

Works wonders.

[wideright82]

I love the bitching about credit card companies. The simplest solution. DONT USE THEM. Lunatics. That's like getting scammed by an "AS SEEN ON TV" product and then bitching about quality. You know going into it they are cheapsters and hacks, and then get pissed off when they do it to you.

[Cleets Part 2]

This is all over my head... sounds like a lot of legislation and stuff I don't understand
I have one credit card and one debit card

however - I get no less than 50 credit card offers a week (not sure why..?)

You can opt out of them. I used to get a ton (apparently being a lawyer makes you a good credit risk).
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

Works wonders.

Ooh..!!! I like that link: Opt-out..!!! that's me (thank you)
Could somebody explain why so many people on this forum think I'm some kind of a lawyer..?

[dbackjon]

You can opt out of them. I used to get a ton (apparently being a lawyer makes you a good credit risk).
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

Works wonders.

Could somebody explain why so many people on this forum think I'm some kind of a lawyer..?

Because you use big words, went to Harvard, like to argue, and can't be trusted to not cancel out a dinner.

[danefan]

You can opt out of them. I used to get a ton (apparently being a lawyer makes you a good credit risk).
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

Works wonders.

Ooh..!!! I like that link: Opt-out..!!! that's me (thank you)
Could somebody explain why so many people on this forum think I'm some kind of a lawyer..?

I know you take that as a personal insult, but I didn't mean to insinuate that you were a lawyer. I was referring to myself being a good credit risk, as I am a lawyer.

Sorry to offend you.

[Grizalltheway]

Could somebody explain why so many people on this forum think I'm some kind of a lawyer..?

Because you use big words, went to Harvard, like to argue, and can't be trusted to not cancel out a dinner.

Ouch

[wideright82]

Could somebody explain why so many people on this forum think I'm some kind of a lawyer..?

Because you use big words, went to Harvard, like to argue, and can't be trusted to not cancel out a dinner.

In otherwords..... a huge douchesicle (add that one to a friday for me? I wanted to try it out first. Thanks dback/willie/mark/chris/csbot/cap'n/tampajag/ralph/se/bisonbabe/bandl)

[travelinman67]

AZGRIZ - I understand your point, but it is a two-way street - the Credit Card ISSUERS have all the power right now. They have the power to change rates at a whim, and are in no way connected to the costs of borrowing.

No one FORCED the credit card companies to issue the cards. No one FORCED the credit card companies to give people making 20K a year a 30K credit card limit.


Stupidity all around, from Banks who issued them with so easy gotten limits, to customers who racked up more than they could pay.

But when Credit Card companies are jacking up the rates on borrowers in GOOD STANDING, this blowback was going to happen. The CC companies have no one to blame but themselves.

It's not about the cost of BORROWING, Jon. It's about the LOSSES. Big. Huge. Gigantic LOSSES. People have no accountability to NOT spend what they can't afford to pay back. Just because you have a $100,000 line of credit on your house doesn't mean you MAX it if you KNOW you can't make the payment. That concept is GONE from the American psyche. We (as a credit union) are suffering MASSIVE losses from credit cards. These people ran up bills they absolutely KNEW they couldn't repay, but feel no obligation to work with us now to help rectify the situation. It's easier to just walk away. File BK. Ignore the phone ringing. And when people start doing that en-mass (like they HAVE), it spells eventual DOOM for the financial industry....and NOT just the big, bully-like credit card issuers. But little folks like us.

It ain't a pretty picture, and there's NO incentive for people to actually pay bills any more, because they know the government will "come to their rescue" to protect them from the evil credit card issuers and the "evil" mortgage brokers who got them into a loan they couldn't possibly afford because they're not fricking SMART enough (or don't have the moral values) to NOT take that loan out or max out that credit card.

Extremely one-sided view AZ...and not wholly true.

Just worked with a client who had "floated" his business on his credit cards after his LOC was cancelled about 18 months ago...he hadn't been late...the bank just cancelled his LOC (something which has become an industry standard since Dec. 2007...and LOC reductions began back in 2006).
Due to lack of work, he short-paid one of his cards...which was immediately then cancelled. When he contacted the lender to explain his reason, he was told he would have to pay half of the account balance before they could discuss any deferment or forbearance options. He couldn't pay the amount they demanded (as most people in financial difficulties wouldn't be able to), took the hit on his credit rating, and just a couple of weeks ago, received a demand letter from an attorney giving him 10 days to pay the balance in full, or the attorney would file suit.

And this ain't the first time I've heard lenders use draconian methods in an attempt to collect payment.

Lenders repeatedly tell borrowers to contact them if they are going to have difficulty making a payment, yet time and again I hear horror stories of lenders "freaking out" and demanding repayment in full, under threat of legal action...generally forcing the borrower to immediately seek BK shelter, which benefits NOBODY.
If true, then some of these lender's complaints are...IMHO...self generated.

What puzzles me, and maybe you can answer this AZ, is where do the lenders expect the debtor to obtain the means to pay back debt "upon demand"?

At face value, most debtors (small business & individuals) wouldn't be borrowing if they had the capital to begin with.

[Cap'n Cat]

I thought so. It ain't the government's fault, Conk fux.

[travelinman67]

Could somebody explain why so many people on this forum think I'm some kind of a lawyer..?

Because you use big words, went to Harvard, like to argue, and can't be trusted to not cancel out a dinner.

Touchdown!!!!.

[Cleets Part 2]

Nice piling on... (apparently you nailed that one D-back)
Man - you guys know how to make person feel the need to re-examine his life...

[bench]

Z, to put this on the government is absurd. the credit card industry wrote the bankruptcy law that went in to effect a few years ago, THEY SET THE TERMS... THEY ISSUED THE CREDIT... and then they did the one thing they shouldn't have done... THEY TRIED TO MAKE THEIR HONEST CUSTOMERS PAY FOR THEIR BAD ONES. This isn't about the feds bailing out people with credit card debt... it's about protecting the honest johns of the world who've done nothing wrong, but are getting their rates jacked up for no reason, with no limit on the rates, and being canceled for committing no offense. Thats what this bill is designed to do... protect THOSE customers.

They also thought it was good idea to give credit cards to every damned body that wanted one, regardless of whether or not these people had things that made them good credit risks, like money and jobs, for instance. When an industry collectively decides that vigorously hawking unsecured credit to college freshmen – a group of people not known for having money or jobs – is a sound business practice, that's a pretty good indicator that they've officially lost their goddamned minds.

[catamount man]

these are the same people who show up on college campuses ready to dole out thousands of dollars to 18 year old students who have no prior work record. This has been long overdue.