Banks asking for credit card debt forgiveness

People struggle with credit card debt because of their greed and not living within their means. Why should their debt be forgiven? Many people should not be granted credit cards and yet they are because of the income banks and credit card companies receive, their greed. If the credit card debt bailout is realized then these people should be placed on a no credit card reissue probation. Or, a limit of the number of credit cards they can hold. Or, no credit card reissue and, instead, issued debit cards.

PowerIsKnowledge:

  If the credit card debt bailout is realized then these people should be placed on a no credit card reissue probation.

It's hard to know where the blame comes down here; with the card issuers?  With the card holders? With Congress for lack of oversight?

But, whoever is to blame, I doubt that the banks would agree to foregoing their predatory issuance of credit cards to anyone, irrespective of the user's credit strength and history, since the collection of fees and the resale of the ensuing designed defaulted loans is such a money-spinner for the CC issuers.

So I hope that we all tread carefully around this potential credit card company scam.

Currently, credit card holders who default on their credit card repayment are eventually offered percentage reduction deals by collection agencies as a matter of course.

My reading of this situation is that, if the CC companies are allowed to retain these debts (currently they are forced to write them down, so that they can't carry them as offsetting losses ad infinitum) and effectively function as their own debt collections agency, then they likely will not fall under the restrictions of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, since this act refers only to third party debt collectors.

This opens the CC holder to -- and effectively legalizes - a vast array of tried and trusted debt collection abuse scams and practices.

Whether I'm right about this or not, I do believe that we should not get too overjoyed at the thought of a 40% "reduction" in a debt that eventually would heve resulted in a similar offer of reduction anyway, and that will likely come with a truckload of new  and oppressive legal obstacles to the CC holder's divestment of the remaining 60%.

Banks and CC companies NEVER do anything that does not enrich them at the expense of the conumer.

I also wonder what this would do to the arbitration clauses in Cerdit Card User agreements, which illegally force defaulters into biased arbitration environments, such as the National Arbitration Forum, where they are forced to "repay" alleged debts without any consideration for whether or not the dent is actually owed.

As an aside:  It always fascinates me that the private credit card holding individual is held to -- and holds him or hersaelf to -- a much stricter code of conduct and morality regarding the repayment and possible default of his or her loans than the unscrupulous banks that issue those loans.

Bottom Line:  Caveat emptor.

Ms. Marcy Gordon's article was interesting, but I believe there should have been more focus on the manner in which credit card companies have been operating for years unregulated.  And should have also showed how these institutions have helped exacerbate the debt problems many consumers are facing today.  No where did this article address the exhorbitant fees and interest rates banks have been allowed to charge which is a direct result of increasing consumer debt. 

Has anyone seen the Frontline Special in conjunction with PBS on "The Secret History Of The Credit Card" -- this goes as far back as 2004.   

The information on this site states it all -- everyone needs to view this.  The banks do not care about the consumer and has taken advantage of the consumer for years without any penalty to them.  Consumers are made to look like they are deadbeats while these greedy institutions continue to create and generate creative ways to suck more money out of the consumer by charging late fees, over the limit fees, exhorbitant interest rates, etc.  Often times, these fees are equal to the actual amount owed which is just outrageous and wrong.  And these fees continue to be generated for active and inactive accounts.  I say these banks should be handled in the same disrespectful manner they treat the consumer -- they shouldn't be allowed to catch a break.  And perhaps they too need some debt counseling -- suggest to them to call someone to negotiate better terms.  If Banks really want to help the consumer, they can start by returning all the fees they have legally extorted from the consumer and lowering interest rates - some banks are charging more than 29.9%.  The balance due for many people wouldn't require consumer debts to be foregiven if they were to just return the money they have legally stole and charging a reasonable interest rate.  Just doing this by default would lower balances and lower consumer debt so that the debt is the actual debt, not an amount increased due to the bank's creative ways to make money.  Credit Card Companies/Banks  should never have been allowed to charge interest at 29.9% or more -- even a balance as low as $200 takes forever to get paid at that interest rate if you're only able to make the minumum payment.    Bottom line, they do not want the consumer to be debt free -- it is in their best interest for consumers to pay them for years and at 29.9% that's exactly what will happen!   In addition there should be a limit on the number of times banks can charge the late fee and perhaps they can lower the fee some charge $29 or more -- what's with the number 29 anyway -- is that some type of magic number?

Credit Card Companies Need to be regulated!  As a consumer and if asked I would reject and not bail them out!  As far as I can see -- they've amassed so much money by legally stealing from consumers -- forcing people to pay back a great deal more money than actually owe.  They should have managed all that legally stolen money better. 

Bottom Line:  Extortionists beware -- somebody hopefully will start watching you!

if your having a hard time paying your credit card than you never planned your future, why did you run up your credit card, why did you not wait until you could pay for something, but no, you probably bought thinks you wanted, and not really needed, as so many people do, the banks are greedy there is no doubt of that, but you when you run up your credit card, you are as much the blame as the banks, live within your means, seems everyone that is having a problem, including the banks are looking for someone else to blame for their own stupidity, look in the mirror you will see the problem..now that they are receiving a bailout, this will only give them to green light to repeat the same things, looking in the future for another bailout,, when does the greed end, hmmm probably never., buy the way i am retired live on a pension, not much money, but i do fine living within my means, and enjoy life,

I think everyone should simply stop paying their credit cards until the CC company fraud and excesses are reigned in.

Screw 'em.

Screw the credit rating agencies.

Screw the banks.

Screw Wall Street.

Screw Bush, Paulson, Bernanke and their entire whoreson Ivy League mafiosa.

Screw them all.

Vile Parasites!

They are still trying to lighten the top of the pyramid when it is the bottom stones that are crumbling. This solution will make things worse.

We are in this mess by a series of bad decisions. I am beginning to believe it was an engineered crisis. $2Trillion was just handed out by the fed to a undisclosed recipients. That  money is above and beyond the 700B that was authorized by our misrepresentatives.

It is going to get alot worse before it gets better. When it is done, the few in control of our economy will be in control of the world economy and the public will see them as our saviors.

You've been punked. Rockefeller, Kennedy are almost complete with their plan, ahead of schedule.

Damn I'm still fuming I didn't take that zero down interest only loan and upgrade to a huge home I couldn't afford.

Just think I could have had my mortgage principal reduced, interest lowered and my payment lengthened to 40 years.

To add more insult I now found out I should have opened more credit cards and run them up to the max and I could have had that forgiven.

Damn I really missed the boat. I really wanted that $750,000 home, 50" plasma TV, new car and vacation to Hawaii. My best friend was smart she got it all now she gets it all for a much better price and some of it even free.

Well I guess I just have to keep living with in my means, darn it.

Wow imagine paying ontime everytime for years and then in November your 401k gets halved and you go to the doc and find out you have cancer and when that happened you lost your job because the boss closed up shop. Now your a bum because you can barely pay your medication costs, your trying to find a job, unemployment pays 275.00 a week and you need whats left in the 401 to make sure you pay for your house. Looks like the credit card companies who have now tripled your rate and received billions of dollars from King George are not going to get paid for a while. Why should they? Your deal was for 6% not 36% and you have always paid them for over 25 years. They broke the trust not you. Where is the sense in making it harder for someone to pay when they are having a rough patch. Maybe they should just kill themselves because they were greedy and did not plan for the future and its their fault that they got cancer. Say a prayer Mr. . The camel will get to heaven before you do.