I have alwasy felt that the *loan shark* rates of credit card companies should be illegal... I see now that some Walmart cards interest is over THIRTY PERCENT! On the news this morning the President is telling the banks lower the interest and cap it or we will! The three banks mentioned are the ones that got mucho bail out money... CITI,CHASE and BoA! If they only had kept rates low and did not do so many penalty's for late payments and do universal default many would never have gotten into a mess! Hopefully this is going to start happening soon with the lowering of interest rates! Woofer
I heard it too and thought of Amex, since the bank side of their business got benefits too. How long do you think it will take to affect those of us who are in collections? Frankly, I don't believe any movement will come very soon for relief, as did in the mortgage sector. Thoughts??????
If they don't maybe the edge of pitchforks will convince them to do it.Yeah I'm pissed about the Guido rates
The talks are to be today. If this does happen I say good for the Pres! (And I didn't vote for him) Far too long the middle class takes all the bumps and the poor and rich get help. When I think back on how the cc's hiked their rates on me,and so many would not work with me, BUT I fought them, there are so many ,many more that just either hide their heads in the sand or get a loan to pay off the huge mounting debt. There was no way I could pay a jump 9% to 25% and that on top of the late payments and penalties charges. So I really do think that is how many people got into this mess, NOT the fact that they used the credit crazy but the fact that monthly they were to pay 3 and four times the amount than they had before all the extras added on monthly. I really do believe that most of us have wanted to pay our bills and do not want to get away with not paying, but who wants to pay the devil? Woofer
Woofer, yes, as has been said so many times before. But the "rock-and-a-hard-place" we are between is when the CAs tell us "But those are the terms you agreed to when you signed up for the card". They could have started collecting from me 5 months ago if they would have agreed to wipe off the interest, just since Amex sent it over to them! But they don't want to just restore me to previous status. They want me to bleed for them.
I'm glad to see that credit card terms are finally getting some congressional scrutiny, but the terms that really need examination next are student loans. Back when they were only 4% they were a reasonable deal, but when I looked last time, they wanted credit card interest (14%) and student loan terms (non-cancelable, non-dischargable, no SOL) so I said, forget that. The smart student would be better off just staying out of college while they work to save up some money than to come out with a degree a few years early and a pile of debt that limits their job options. (Of course, I believe that students should have some financial "skin" in the game when they are studying. But that's another topic.)
Yes, when you signed up, you agreed to terms that were that the credit card company could change the terms to anything it wants to at any time for any reason. Some people think that isn't very fair.
RE the "Hey, you signed the contract" argument. Indeed. it was all there in the 5-8 pages of fine printed legalese. While I won't try and evade any responsibility, that doesn't make it a fair contract (legal and binding, sure, but not necessarily fair). The reason for that is that the consumer and the bank are not negotiating from an equal footing. The argument goes, if you don't agree to the terms, then you can just walk away. And that's true, on the face, but is it true in reality? How far can one get in life without a major credit card or a credit history? Can you rent a car? Can you buy a car? Can you check into a hotel (that doesn't charge by the hour)? Just pay cash, you say. That's a reasonable reply, but is it practical? To use cash to engage in any transaction that currently requires a credit card, you need to present a (sometimes large) cash deposit. Back when I was still coming out of BK7, for example, to get a cell phone I had to put up almost $1,000 (per line) in a cash deposit (this was before pay-as-you-go). To check into a hotel, you need to pay up front AND leave about one to two night's rent as a cash deposit. If you want to start utility service without a credit report or positive credit history, that, too, requires a bag-o-cash up front. And so on. Sure, if you just want to live "off-the-grid" in your mountain cabin, then avoiding a credit card might be easy, but now it's almost essential to modern daily life (thanks to very successful marketing by the banks and credit reporting/scoring agencies). I'm not saying all this progress is bad, necessarily, because when it works, it works very well. What I'm saying is that the "take it or leave it" option isn't practical. It's more like "take it and live in a nice house or leave it and live in your car. Hey, you don't have to take it!" So, to set up the situation that is that unbalanced and then start playing with the price of the game is what I don't think is particularly fair. Worse, it sacrifices long-term social and economic stability for the sake of short-term gains because it's not a sustainable model. It's the same logic that has been applied to monopolies. The banks and CRAs have a corner on granting credit and determining creditworthiness. It's not like I can say NO to Visa and Experian and then just tell the car rental agent to just check my credit with "Frank's Loans" when I want to rent a car.
It's the same logic that has been applied to monopolies. The banks and CRAs have a corner on granting credit and determining creditworthiness. It's not like I can say NO to Visa and Experian and then just tell the car rental agent to just check my credit with "Frank's Loans" when I want to rent a car.[/QUOTE] - Agreed. And try running a business without credit, all of which must be personally guaranteed when starting a new business. There is way too much control over personal lives here all created between the credit card companies, credit reporting agencies, and, yes, the government. I did vote for Obama, but I will believe it only when I see it when it comes to actually doing something meaningful about this crookedness. I started posting on these boards back in oct/nov as I was struggling to pay cc bills after having interest rates jacked sky high and limits lowered. It became impossible to keep up, especially as my business plummeted with the economy. I've now decided to do a Chpt. 7 and move on. I wanted to pay, then I tried to settle and now I just want to put it behind me and the hell with the crooked banks. Fine print? Try the arbitration clause - One of the cc companies has tried this with me and now I will get a judgement against me with no chance to even plead my case, even though I refused arbitration. Pitchforks? Yes- I am ready to march in the streets over this. There is absolutely nothing "business-like" about what they do. I hope they all go under, painfull as it many. We need a new way of doing things.
- Agreed. And try running a business without credit, all of which must be personally guaranteed when starting a new business. There is way too much control over personal lives here all created between the credit card companies, credit reporting agencies, and, yes, the government. I did vote for Obama, but I will believe it only when I see it when it comes to actually doing something meaningful about this crookedness. I started posting on these boards back in oct/nov as I was struggling to pay cc bills after having interest rates jacked sky high and limits lowered. It became impossible to keep up, especially as my business plummeted with the economy. I've now decided to do a Chpt. 7 and move on. I wanted to pay, then I tried to settle and now I just want to put it behind me and the hell with the crooked banks. Fine print? Try the arbitration clause - One of the cc companies has tried this with me and now I will get a judgement against me with no chance to even plead my case, even though I refused arbitration. Pitchforks? Yes- I am ready to march in the streets over this. There is absolutely nothing "business-like" about what they do. I hope they all go under, painfull as it many. We need a new way of doing things.[/QUOTE]These people are the ones nobody liked in high school.So now they got together and call their selves ceo cfo et. In reality their goons, punks, thugs and hoodlums.So before we have to bring down the house around their heads our *elected officials* needs to pass a Rico bill on these guys.I would never try to stop people from making money or a profit,because this is needed for investment or there's no growth in the economy.Which would have a serious setback and lead to less jobs,more crime.Just a thought i might be wrong.
I believe that the majority of people would have paid on their credit cards if they did not get their interest rates hiked up three fold and then got penalties Using an example.. Get credit card at 10percent say, use it and owe maybe 1K and paying the monthly amount PLUS a little extra. THEN all of a sudden rate jacked to 30 percent, so now you can't pay minimum, penalty and late fees are jacked on and within several months you have incurred fees of 300 bucks on a 1,000 amount. Another thing I have been seeing is that you get your bill on the 20TH and it is DUE on the 30TH!! You cannot tell me that the credit card companies aren't trying to get you to be late so they can slam you with more cost! Woofer
