Posted on 03/09/2005 1:45:09 PM PST by DannyTN
Although I do wonder what is meant by medical and educational costs being deductable. Is that with regard to bankruptcy law only, or is that a tax law change buried into this bill.
The biggest con was when they could shorten the billing cycle to 25 days. That was a trap to pull in month to month payers.
I got pissed, took the early withdaw hicky and closed out my accounts.
The economist know that credit makes this economy work. I chose not to play anymore.
Credit Card companies extended bad debt to deadbeats, the uneducated and underinformed, so those companies HAVE to eat the cost of their folly. They can't change the rules on folks after those people have run up the debt. It's unethical, unfair and greedy. Don't change the rules after the game has begun.
" As long as they can change the terms after you already have the debt, additional disclosures aren't worth squat."
AMEN and that's where the real problem lies. They let you establish the debt and then change the payment terms/interest rates.
should be illegal to make these changes apply to charges that occured previous.
"Personal bankruptcies are skyrocketing "
Lets try to work to stop that from happening first.. IE do something about offshoring.
It is their "payback" for 8 years of writing very large checks to Republican (and a few) Democrat politicians.
"The only way to get back at credit card companies is to refuse to use their product - we pay cash for everything and have for years - it really is not that hard and we never have to worry about loan shark credit card companies trying to come after our first born child."
Actually, there's really no need to completely stop using credit cards. You just have to pay them off each month. I keep a couple with high limits, for emergencies, and I use them when I must, like in hotels and for rental cars, which demand credit cards since your bill is uncertain until you return the car or check out of the hotel.
I just pay them off the day the bill arrives. The one I use most is from my bank, and I can pay the bill by transferring money online directly to the credit card account. That's the card I normally use. The other one, I use occasionally, just to keep the account active. That one I pay the same day the bill arrives. No balance, no interest. They hate me, but they're not willing to pull the card, since I MIGHT use it sometime and get back into their cycle.
Credit cards are the worst possible way to finance anything. You should never use them to buy anything you can't pay for on presentment of the bill. For large ticket items, like cars, finance through another method.
It's so simple.
This is VERY serious stuff. And for our rich and powerful pols to side with the rich and powerful companies (and contributors) has all the ingredients to form a populist revolt. The GOP is idiotic to think that a few smart Dems won’t capitalize on this.
I’m a dedicated conservative, law-and-order guy. If you borrow, you pay it back. But for financial institutions to change the rules midstream (especially on low-income families) is not only wrong, it’s evil.
In defense of these credit card companies, refusing to extend credit to "deadbeats, the uneducated and underinformed" would probably land them on the wrong side of some kind of stupid Federal regulation aimed an eliminating "racist lending practices."
Exactly! I agree.
But I wonder what happens to people that are victims of identity theft? What if their credit is ruined because of someone else running up their bills and they can't file bankruptcy.
Anyone here think Frist is good presidential possibility?
bookmark
Most credit card companies don't "change the terms" after you are already in debt -- the terms of their lending agreement specifically allow them to do these things, which is why you should always read the fine print on every piece of paper you get from your banks and credit card companies.
If you are carrying a balance on a low-interest credit card, you should ALWAYS be prepared to deal with a potential scenario where your credit card company raises your interest rate to about a bazillion percent on short notice. If you can't address this situation, then you shouldn't have an open line of credit in the first place.
No you are wrong. If you make a late payment the credit card company will sell your account to another company that will change the terms on you.
I never once signed an agreement that allowed interest rates to go above 20% even if I was in default. But when I did get in trouble they all shot up to 27%, even though I had only been late a couple of times and only on one card.
I just use our debit card for car rentals and hotels - they just place a hold on a certain portion of your account until you return the car or check out of the hotel - it comes out of our checking account just like giving the person cash - no interest, no late fees, no overlimit fees, if the money isn't in the savings or checking you don't get to rent the car or sleep away from home.
It is not an easy thing to do but it does get easier after awhile. Our kids have learned a really good lesson on saving for things they want and then paying cash for it.
I have no problem with them tightening the rules on bankruptcy. I just wish they'd smack the credit reporting agencies around a bit. They have yet to change information regarding my current address and employer even though I have notified them about the error 4 times in the past year.
"It's so simple."
yeah, but those predatory lenders put a gun to ma head
and made me sign up for the card. (sarcasm)
this reminds me of the great ATM fee debate.
(there are no free lunches.)
When I was a college student, every classroom was plastered with credit card offers. Now I hear that a lot of high schools are filled with credit card ads. I’m sorry, but 95% of young adults have no financial savvy and little common sense. They see their friend’s new iPod, want to impress their date with a nice dinner, see that rich jerk’s nice clothes and they charge away. “But so what,” the college freshman thinks, “I’ll be rich when I graduate! I’ll pay off all these student loans too.” Yeah right. He doesn’t even know how to balance a checkbook.
Is it this guy’s fault for being in debt? Sure, we’re all responsible for our actions. It’s also his fault for not reading the fine print, not understanding that he won’t be “rich” upon graduation, and not spending his Friday nights poring over Byzantine financial disclaimers in five-point type. But he’s a dumb kid, the card companies know it and prey on him accordingly. They want him in debt slavery to them for the rest of his life.
As I mentioned before, these companies are changing the rules in the middle of the game. Just like the Dems try to do every election. That is wrong and I’m disgusted that the party to which I gave money is doing the dirty work.
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