Bankruptcy reform law

Why don't we get the credit card companies to quit pushing these cards on everyone, including children, who aren't in the proper financial situation to use them. I know an 11 year old who was sent a credit card offer unsolicited.

I remember Johnny Carson talking about the hysteria in the credit card industry and a lady who was offered a card on the phone and didn't want one. She replied, 'Maybe later." The credit card company mailed her a card with the name embossed on it made out to "Maibe Lader". Jeez. He showed the card on his show.

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Excuse me, I've worked for everything I own. I've put myself through college, and my parents never gave me a dime. I've been living in the real world for years, and I've had health issues as well. The insurance covered all my hospitalizations and no credit card was needed. Just because some people cannot or will not manage their own affairs sufficiently is of no consequence to me. I've run the full gamut you've described-- divorce, "downsizing", car accidents, deaths, the whole lot. And somehow, I am not in massive debt and am totally self-sufficient. And I am no one special. If I can do it, anyone else should be able to as well. Instead of looking for excuses, or trying to lay blame, I am more interested in solving my problems. If I have to work that much harder, so be it. It is no one's responsibility but my own to maintain and manage my life. And it is no one's fault but my own if misfortune befalls me. When you devote your energy to solving your problems instead of finding excuses, it is amazing what can happen. Maybe you should find a better insurer.

 

I know a 13 year old that was sent one. :$

Also, they give credit out to collage students like it is candy. They know these people can’t afford them but they hand them out anyway. They figure the parents will come to the rescue. I say they deserve what they get!

Boycott the credit companies!! :X
You don't need them!

 

They used to give them only to college seniors, then juniors, then sophomores, then freshmen, etc.

The 11 year-old had a parent who died and left him money. Of course, the banks have access to this type of information. That's why they sent him the credit card application.

Most people don't know that banks know more about them than their own family and friends. I have a relative who works at a bank handling credit cards. I'm amazed at what they know about people (salaries, credit history, divorces, personal information, etc.)

 

lol. Right, those are the only explanations.... My parents don't give me sh*t, I work. I am responsible. For my debt, health etc. I take care of myself. Yeah, bad things happen to people, so what? That's life, no one's life is perfect, nor should it be.
I don't understand why some people think they are owed something.

I've had credit card debt, but then I realised I was being stupid and I paid it off, got rid of them and never got a new one.

 

They gave me one in my first year of college, and 16 years later i think i have paid them less than $5 of interest and no annual fees.

Why tear up your cards? If you want to squeeze credit card companies, use the cards the way they should be used - if you pay in full, they are a 30-60 day interest free loan, paid for by the bank.

 

Yeah, except god forbid they were poor...we cant feel bad for them then. Those crazy worthless fuck-ups should have listened to their psychics more before buying a house weeks before losing their job, or putting money down on a car a few months before needing emerency surgery...

Oh sure, let me go right up to the CEO and persuade him to buy all the employees a better healthcare plan...or maybe I can pay for one on my own and start skipping dinner each night, maybe stop paying my full rent so I can afford it...

I don't care how lucky you have been through your life experience, but not many people can not pull off something like divorce, emergencies, and being laid off without aquiring some debt. What about the homemaker that gets divorced and has never worked a job before? Is she not expected to feed her kids just because she can't find a job and doesn't want to use a credit card? Or the blue-collar worker who was laid off a few weeks before his daughter needed her tonsels out? Or the minimum wage worker who loses her roommate and has to pay double the bills for a few months and yet still needs to put food in her stomach?

It is closed minded, and snobby really, to insist that these poor people are just crappy at managing money or their lives. Or to insist that their being poor is completely their fault, when any independant adult knows that life likes to throw some major hurdles at you from time to time, and some people get multiple hurdles at once. Just because you have heard a few stories about people who abused the system doesn't mean everyone does.

I think that our gov't should look at commercial bankruptcy reform before tackling personal bankruptcy. It is rediculous that companies are getting much easier bankruptcy and credit repair that our country's citizens.

 

It seems some of you are missing the point.

If I accept your belief that bankruptcy fraud is a very serious problem in this country (and I'm not sure I do), there are other ways of correcting it. Rather than set up more stringent guidelines for filing bankruptcy, why not just prosecute the existing laws more fully or establish harsher penalties for bankruptcy fraud? There are plenty of alternative solutions that won't make down-on-their-luck individuals live the rest of their life in debt.

I understand that the credit card companies need to make a profit...but they fully well know the risks of their business. They aren't FORCED to give anyone credit in the first place, so if the debtor defaults, tough luck for the credit card company. All investments carry risks, so why should the credit card companies be shielded from these risks by the federal government?

I'm as pro-capitalism and pro-business as they come, but this law simply does not add up. No young person should have to work the rest of their life just to pay off the debt, because of some unforseen misfortune.

 

I used mine the same way. I paid off the balance in full every month for a number of years. Then they started charging interest from the time the purchase was made until the payment was received. We might as well use a debit card in that case and not have to pay the interest. I found another bank that doesn't charge that revolving interest.

Credit cards are handy when there is a good sale on something that you wouldn't have been able to buy because of lack of cash at the moment. You can actually save money using a credit in such a situation as it gives you the opportunity to save money on a good sale.

 

uummm....if someone is buying a house I have a very difficult time considering them poor. Besides, Sera, I just don't think being poor is all that bad. I look at other people's lives and do not feel envy because they make more money than me, but with sympathy because they don't know how nice it is to live simply. Work less, have more fun. I don't need a plasma TV, I don't need TV at all. Or any of the other crap that people work 50+ hrs. a week to afford. It's all very silly to me.

 

Hold on a sec...who says poor people got that way because they bought plasma TV's? I have never seen a plasma TV ina poor persons home.

And I think that some of you guys are getting the impression that I am poor just because I am against this law, that is not the case. I have some medical debt, but nothing I cant handle thanks to the fact that my husband and I are lucky enough to have good jobs. My husband and I are pretty much minimalists. We are not jealous of the wealthy at all. We don't like to work more than we have to either, and don't care for expensive useless items. We pump most of our money into retirements accounts to retire early and enjoy the world. In fact, regardless of how much money we make we have already decided to live simply.

ummmm....a person that buys a house may not be poor (but house payments are generally not too much more then rent, so they could be poor), but the person who buys a house and gets laid off of his job a few months later will quickly become poor. That was my point. Things like that happen, and not rarely. Obviously you didn't read the statement correctly. (or don't have enough life experience to understand the concept...)

It is interesting how some people absolutely refuse to have any apathy for anything outside their little realm of existance.

 

You've never seen a "poor" person who didn't own a plasma? I know of several. I have a friend who drives a nice car, has killer rims, has a plasma tv, in a rented apartment. You would be surprised. Incidentally, this guy has declared bankruptcy before. I could go on. Not everyone who's declared bankruptcy has had catastrophic incidents befall them. Many are irresponsible or foolish. If you think otherwise, you obviously don't have a lot of life experience. Our ENTIRE economy is based upon credit, for better or worse. If people continually default on debts, there are serious problems. The lenders understand the risks. The debtors should as well. It is not ito the banks' benefit for someone to declare bankruptcy. I have friends who have gotten in over their heads and negotiated payment options with the CC company without acquiring huge interest penalties. Again, trying to solve the problem, as opposed to bemoaning the circumstance goes a long way.

 

more often than not bankrupty isnt abused... people like donald trump should be hung because of it... but lets say you start a small business, it doesnt do so good... and now your under massive amounts of debt... the only choice you have is to declare bankruptcy... anyone who would just declare bankruptcy to screw over companies doesnt know what its like to go thru one... your credit will suck and you wont get a credit card ever again much less a loan...

 

I can't believe it. We actually agree on something! I think donald trump should be hung too, corporate welfare pig! He is a disgrace to capitalism. You are wrong though about one thing. I have friends who declared bankruptcy and they were STILL getting credit card offers. That does show the stupidity of the bankruptcy system, and some of the credit card companies as well.

 

It was reported on the news yesterday that enron has filed bankruptcy. All the employees will loose their pensions. Well at least they will have social security... oh, wait they might not have that either if the republicans get their way. Anyway, under the new bankruptcy laws the big corps will still be able to wipe out all their debts and ruin the lives of all their employees yet, those employees will not have the same protections from their debts.

 

I assume you meant "empathy", and yes I do have empathy for people who experience tragedy, but I do not consider financial trouble to be tragic in most cases. People usually are stronger after a difficult episode in their life, it does them good. I think it's important for people to take responsibility for their actions and choices.

 

Very true, it is likely to come crashing down in the near future. It certainly can't last forever.

 

Can't help it. This reminds me of that old adage, "It builds character" which is often applied to the most horrible situations one can imagine. Of course what's being implied here as well on some ends is that people in poverty are there because they put themselves there. Their birth situation, societal and economical position, race and class have nothing to do with it. What's being implied is that this is still a country of the great golden dream where hard work is always rewarded with success. Everyone gets an equal shot. This is in fact a nice daydream but not reality.

Besides, from what I understand, filing bankruptcy actually costs you a certain amount of money to do so. There are impoverished folk who can't even afford that fee in the first place. They get hit by a car, get slapped with an exorbitant price tag for their health care and then can't afford the lawyer fee to claim bankruptcy anyway. They are already in a perpetual cycle of debt even without credit cards or mortages.

To just assume that one can go simply pluck a job with benefits, la di da, well that's a bit delusional. Ever hear of the temp industry. Alot of big corps use them to avoid having to issue benefits. The temps sometimes outnumber the official employees. It works out because they get paid less and they're not actually fired or layed off because they don't actually work for the company. That's only one example.

There are hard working, honest people who may need the relief of a bankruptcy(if they can afford the fee) that will be forced into a life of debt. Houses keep coming up. Wasn't that part of monkeyboys rhetoric, the ownership society? Who goes and buys a house cash on the barrel head but a privledged few.

I'm reminded of a book I read that started off " The year is 2024 and the bank owns everything."

 

You joke but that may well turn out to be true in the future. Perhaps sooner than we realize.