Two images that pop up concerning what is currently controlling the White House and Capitol Hill:
Posted on 09/17/2009 6:10:42 PM PDT by Libloather
Red Bluff woman launches credit card revolt
By David Benda
Posted September 17, 2009 at midnight
RED BLUFF - Ann Minch's vow to stop making payments on her Bank of America credit card has captured a nation.
Upset that the bank raised her interest rate to 30 percent, the 46-year-old Red Bluff native vented her outrage on video and uploaded it to YouTube.
She calls the four-minute, 28-second clip "the proverbial first shot in an American Debtors Revolution," and it has struck a chord with the public.
Minch will be in San Francisco today doing a live TV interview for the "Fox & Friends" morning show. She also has been contacted by MSNBC and local TV and radio and did an interview for The Huffington Post.
"I have just been bombarded with media," said Minch, who's a case worker for Tehama County Mental Health.
Minch posted the video Sept. 8. It had generated nearly 177,000 hits as of Wednesday afternoon.
"I did it that night. The next morning, I went to work and didn't really think about it too much," Minch said Wednesday by phone from her Red Bluff home. "My friends started to call me and said, 'You are famous; your video has gone viral. It's all over the Internet.' "
Minch was laid off from her job at Tehama County Mental Health but recently was rehired to fill in for somebody on medical leave, she said.
Minch's fury with Bank of America ignited in August when she got a letter from the bank that said the rate on her credit card had been raised to 30 percent. Minch, a 14-year bank customer, was carrying a $6,000 balance on the card but had never missed a payment.
When Minch started going over back statements, she realized the bank in January had raised her rate from 12.99 to 24.49 percent. But Minch said the bank didn't send her a letter, so she missed the change.
On the video, Minch says, "Now, these are my terms: Unless you return my interest rate and monthly installment amount to what it was before the rate hike ... you're not getting another penny out of me."
Bank of America spokeswoman Colleen Haggerty said the company is aware of Minch's YouTube clip but doesn't comment on specific customer accounts because of privacy concerns.
"Regarding credit card rate increases, customers are notified in advance of new rates and are given the opportunity to reject the new rate and pay off the balance under the existing rate," Haggerty said in an e-mail.
Minch is aware of the policy.
"But who has $6,000 just lying around?" Minch said. "The bottom line is that because of the bailout, this is what is making people angry. The banks are the ones that created this whole economic disaster in the first place. The taxpayers bailed them out, albeit involuntarily."
Minch said middle-class America is fed up.
"That is the reason why my video has gone supernova and has resonated with so many people," Minch said.
So you had money taken from you personally and given to the banks?
Is this one of those Clinton like, trick questions? lol
Ruh roh. That really didn't answer the question.
You give advise to those who have loot? Just how does that work? (Unless you're a professional freeloader.)
Are you a freeloader?
Two images that pop up concerning what is currently controlling the White House and Capitol Hill:
Nopa :)
this woman's point is that she has been a great customer...infact the best customer....she has been faithfully paying them off for 14 yrs...
and for them to disreguard her excellent record and pile on with a 30% interest rate is obscene...
and like we all know, "tarp" and the "bailout" were all for the big banks to Cover their arses....they already have taken off with our tax money for decades if not generations, and now they have the gall to increase interest rates on the little guy?.....no thx..
We were not forced to bail out the banks. The government acting in our behalf (since we or in our case “they” voted for them) took taxpayer’s money to bail out the banks. We pay taxes. The government decides what to do with those taxes, not us. But then, we’re letting them know our displeasure with our Tea Party protests. You go? I do.
A pox on both their houses.
That is when those 0% balance transfers offers that gets put into your mailbox come into handy.
Years ago we bought a new second car and never paid a penny interest. You really have to pay attention to the details. Why people don’t consider the details is not for me to answer. Living within your means will do wonders for your mental health.
Not at all, I am saying that many people cannot do that because the banks raise the rates on the cards. So they end up in twenty years of servatude, that’s how long it takes to pay a debt at minimum payments.
I'll have what SkyDancer is drinking.
“Yes, you’re given the chance to pay off the balance at the old rate; that is, if you pay it off in full!”
Is that right? If they allowed her to pay it off with the old interest gradually, then I wouldn’t have much of a beef with the bank.
So I went directly down to a BOA branch to pay the amount charged off. They wouldn't take a check from my mutual fund company. After much arguing, I went and got cash and paid it off. They agreed to remove me from the charged off list that prevented me from getting account for two years. NEVER HAPPENED. I tried five separate times to get removed from that list. Every time they said they removed me but it never happened. Finally after two years, my name came off the list.
Screw them.
How about if someone buys a Civil War era Rebel Flag with a BoA credit card?
Most (all?) 0% interest offers still have a balance transfer fee, typically 3-5%, which really is interest.
Are you really that simpleminded that you ignore what banks do to people?
“If anyone charges and doesn’t have the money to pay the bill is a criminal!”
So you mean banks right? Because they are the one who screwed up, got taxpayers money and are now turning the screws on the taxpayers.
I want to see anyone that lives on credit lose everything they have!!!!!!
“I want to see anyone that lives on credit lose everything they have!”
Why should you care? Are you really that cruel to wish evil upon the majority of Americans. Have you paid cash for EVERY single purchase you’ve ever made?
Heck you are living on credit because our entire economy is based on it. Hypocrit
i’ve never borrowed to buy anything in my 72 years except the mortgage on my first home.
I use a credit card but pay it off as soon as the statement is available. I consider it a convienence card.
I even saved and paid cash for my airplane which cost 3 times whar my home did.
Did you have a job? Did you have investments?
And you’re ok with using the banks money as long as it doesn’t cost you anything. That seems immoral to me.
Owned and ran a business for over 40 years and never operated it on borrowed money.
My only investments have been collecting interest on savings, I don’t own stock and wouldn’t if it was a gift.
I’m not using the banks money since I always keep at least 3 months worth of bills in my checking account so they are actually using my money multiplied many times to loan to others.
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