Posted on 04/08/2005 6:15:18 AM PDT by FlyLow
The era of happy borrowing is over. Americans might as well know it.
The death bell now tolls for low interest rates. And he, who doesn't hear that chime, can't miss the siren of bankruptcy reform. The federal bankruptcy bill, sure to become law, will turn many exuberant borrowers into lunch for debt collectors.
Fear does have its uses. If the sight of a tighter noose warns people away from piling up debt, all to the good. Americans will understand that credit cards are a potential enemy — and that even the friendly home mortgage can come back to haunt them.
The bankruptcy bill in a nutshell: If you get in over your head in debt, and still have a decent income, you can't wipe the slate clean with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Instead, you will be shunted into what's called Chapter 13. There, lawyers will find a way for you to pay back what you owe. That means you will write your creditors checks month after month and, if necessary, year after year.
To be honest, the bankruptcy bill leaves me with mixed emotions. The Puritan in me likes the part about personal responsibility. People who borrow have a moral duty to pay back their debt. And there are bad people who work the system. They do a Chapter 7 on Monday, then drive off in a new BMW Tuesday.
The liberal in me, however, thinks that the weak deserve protection. Many people fall into bankruptcy owing to medical bills or other bad luck. And the legislation does nothing to stop credit-card pushers from luring the innocent into obligations they barely understand.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
You are more knowlegable that 90%+ of the public... the number once cause of Bankrupcy filing bar none is MEDICAL BILLS... and number 2 isn't an inability or non desire to pay their bills.. but illegal pressure by credit card collection departments that scare folks into filing bankruptcy!
Those 2 things represent more than 95% of all bankruptcy filings... the "deadbeat" argument is a lie, and the banks know it! But they can sell that horsecrap to the public, because most of the public has been sold the class envy BS that they will buy it hook line and sinker.. If we portray bankruptcy as a tool of the rich to avoid their debts, people will buy it.
Reality is, that's not remotely whats going on with bankruptcies... If you graph the number of credit card solicitations per year, and the number of bankruptcy filings you will see a direct correllation!.. Banks are completely irresponsible about who they will lend to, and don't want to deal with the consequences of that irresponsibility. Its cheaper and faster to buy congress... the Republicans including Bush should be tarred and feathered for this one!
One of the problems with the Democrats being so far left they're about to fall off the edge of the world is that the GOP knows there's no place else for a non-communist to go. So crap like this passes.
If we had moral leaders it should not have passed regardless of the economy! This law is without question the worst piece of public policy in 30+ years bar none!
LOL. Wait til the Asians call in the U.S. debt. That's when the real fireworks will start.
You don't have to have one day of credit history to get a Mortgage.. thats an absolute LIE that you have to have a credit card to get a mortgage! You just have to have a mortgage company that MANUALLY UNDERWRITES and doesn't do it by computer.
Don't buy into that "build up my credit with a credit card" BS!
I agree completely.
Credit is easier at all levels but the credit card companies are the worst of all. Mortgages (which is my line of work) are also too easy but I'd rather see someone go in debt for a home than for a surround sound system or whatever.
All those poor people driving nice cars and living in nice homes -- how terrible.
Debt is a great tool, it is just a misused tool. Racking up more than you can handle is like knocking holes in the wall with a hammer. The hammer isn't evil, the person wielding it is.
Of course there is abuse on both sides. Banks are way, way too free with money right now. One can only guess they are making the assumption the economy will grow faster than they can lose the money.
But if the debt is unsecured, about all they can do is harass you for it anyway.
I know that man. Let me add an addendum-
With the scenario I set up, it's pretty much a given that you can do it.
With portfolio lenders that manually underwrite (also VA or FHA in many cases), you are 100% correct. You'd need 10% down (at the very least) and could do it with no credit, especially if you can at least prove you pay SOMETHING (rent, utilities, cell phone) on time.
I never said you have to have a credit card to get a mortgage. I was just telling Lazamataz that in his scenario he probably could do it.
This bankruptcy bill is another sop to the criminal New York bankers.
After I took low interest loans from a small bank, these New York thieves moved in, bought the loans of that bank and then tried to jack up the interest rates.
The criminals simply rewrote the loan terms - without my input - and tried to claim I was subject to their attempted theft.
I had to threaten them with a lawsuit for breach of contract - plus punitive damages - before they backed down.
I despise New York banks; they're all liars and thieves.
Sorry, not trying to jump down anyones throat, just hear so damn much garbage passed on to folks as fact that isn't, particularly regarding credit and borrowing and mortgages that it just really irks my chain.
So many folks out there preying on the misinformed, that it just drives me nuts.
Ping for later
Oh dear. I've been wasting time.
It is easy for those of you who have never had problems to be smug when it comes to credit but you have no idea how the laws that have been passed within the last few years are hitting vulnerable folks (such as single parents, those with major illnesses or job losses, students, lower income folks, the elderly). There but by the grace of God.....
I am appalled at how the federal representatives in this country have been bought off by the financial and insurance industry and have literally placed the noose around consumers necks. I could go on and on about how these laws have now been twisted to result in ridiculously high usury rates, penalties, and practices. Maybe someone can explain the difference to me between a bank that charges 30% usury and a loan shark? They have come up with complex processes to confuse people right out of their money (the payment windows have narrowed ridiculously, with days and hours attached, and as soon as you are one hour late on a payment, you can be hit with double digit rate increases, if you make too big a payment-they can shut your card down and not credit it for two weeks charging you interest during that time).
In addition, now that financial and industry are linked, they have created complex credit and insurance scoring algorithms that allow them to relate the two industries and also discriminate, legally, against certain groups and classes of people--by thousands of dollars a year. How would you like to pay a $9000 auto insurance bill simply because you are not married and don't own a home while your married friends pay $4800 for the same coverage.
If you have been fortunate thus far in life, you probably think that bankruptcies are caused by a "lack of responsibility" on the part of the borrower. NOT SO for many people. studies that were done indicated that most people go into bankruptcy because of medical debt caused by a major illness, job loss, and litigation (and we all know how just the legal system is in this country).
So now those slimeball legislators have taken away the last hope these poor folks had to recover a future for themselves by passing that bankruptcy bill.....they have created the PERFECT FINANCIAL STORM for anyone falling on hard times.
This is ONE area the bible talks so harshly about. The whole concept of stealing people's money and land through unfair means.
Poverty is better.
But any time that the party ceases and the punchbowl is pulled, then hangovers have generally resulted in the past. That has been the business cycle, and we have had plenty of downturns in addition to peaks.
You said, "If (and this is hard to imagine I know) the idea of lending money was never conceived, it would be a much happier world."
Uh, actually...
...in some parts of the world it is a CRIME to lend money and charge interest. Those "happy" countries include Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Niger etc.
I wonder. When will you "start packing" for your move to one of those "capital-free" paradises?
I don't agree on your statement. If you are single, a single parent or in one of those categories where they can ding you in their convoluted scores.....you can be nailed.
Do you own a home?
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