Originally Posted By ecdc I woke up today to find my wife in near-hysterics. She went to check our Chase credit card statement to discover they'd raised our interest rate from 7.99% to 18.99%. Not a typo, folks. 11% hike. We had a perfect payment history and this was not caused by any error on our part; in fact, Chase insisted all their customers got a hike in rates - it's just how it is in this economy, they insisted. Three hours and a couple of supervisors later, she finally got them to agree to lower it back down and close the account - which will impact our credit score slightly but is better than paying the $210 extra a month in interest rates alone this equated to for us. I'm totally at a loss as to how people defend this. These people just want to squeeze every last dime out of every last person they can. People less stable than my wife and I file bankruptcy. And these blood-sucking vampires just take it. And then people who defend this as "capitalism" have the utter nerve to claim to be the "moral" ones in our country.
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt Yes, CCC's are evil!! this is why DH & I try to pay cash for EVERYTHING..cashiers look at me like I have 3 heads when I hand them the green.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox It's obvious to me that usury laws will be next on the list of things to do in Congress, once health care reform is taken care of. Senator Bernie Sanders has made this a pet project of his, recognizing that millions of families across the country are being financially crippled and stripped of solid credit ratings because their credit card providers precariously jack up the interest rate beyond a reasonable amount, which often forces the card holders into delinquency on their payments, all because the minimum amount required each month grew disproportionate to their income. And for those individuals who've lost their jobs and/or have become ill without adequate health insurance, have no other way to pay for necessities other than with a credit card. These are good people, not shiftless bums who shirk personal responsibility, who have unfortunately fallen on hard times. You do what you can to survive. Usury laws need to return. What ecdc and millions others like him have experienced is legalized theft and needs to be outlawed.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<I'm totally at a loss as to how people defend this. These people just want to squeeze every last dime out of every last person they can. People less stable than my wife and I file bankruptcy. And these blood-sucking vampires just take it. And then people who defend this as "capitalism" have the utter nerve to claim to be the "moral" ones in our country.>> And here's the best part. The Mega banks that are sticking it to the little guys borrow the loaned $$$ from the Federal Reserve for close to 0%. Of course this will do wonders for our "consumer based economy" which is why I laugh when the pundits keep saying that the economy is recovering, or better yet "The worse is over", which to me is like saying "Yippee! Instead of 5 thugs beating me up, now there's only 4!"
Originally Posted By Moderation I can do one better for complete CCC greed. I have an oold card with Premier bank that I told them to close in June of 2008. They failed to close it and sent me a statement in June for a $60 annual fee. I couldn't close it in June because I was about to buy a house and couldn't take the hit to my FICO score that a closed account would lead to. Well I closed on the house this month so I really don't care about the FICO any more so I can now close it, but get this, they just sent a new statment where they say they've changed thier mind about wanting $60 a year from me, they now want me to pay them $15 a month as a fee instead. That's a bump of 300% in the annual fee, plus a chance every month to charge a late fee because when peo[ple don't use a card, they aren't going to be looking for a bill that needs to be paid every month! No real harm to me as I'm closing out the card anyway, but this one kinda shocks the conscience.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>It's obvious to me that usury laws will be next on the list of things to do in Congress, once health care reform is taken care of. << Now THIS sentence makes ME want to cry.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy Lets be clear -- credit card companies = banks. Our banking system needs a complete overhaul, and one that gives consumers a competitive advantage again. A few years ago, there was great furor about Wal-Mart entering the banking business. You know who would suffer most if Wal-Mart ran a bank? The big banks that rob their customers with outrageous fees and tricks to separate them from their money. I, for one, would love to see Wal-Mart run a bank that was consumer friendly and actually forced some competition for depositors back into the industry. The system we have right now exists only to fatten the wallets of corporate bankers and Wall Street.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Now THIS sentence makes ME want to cry.>> Tears of frustration or tears of joy? I'm not sure what you're intending to communicate here. I'd love to see usury laws return regarding loans and credit cards. Treat interest rates like rent control, with annual increases only, 90 days advanced notice, and a maximum increase of 5%. That is reasonable and fair. It gives the card holders enough time to make adjustments with other expenditures in their household budgets, or time to opt out of the account altogether if the interest hike doesn't suit them. It doesn't prevent the banks from being profitable, and would help smaller banks to compete with the big boys. I'm guessing one reason why credit card rates are being jacked into the stratosphere might be the expectation that some form of usury law will be returning next year. So they're going to make as much $$$ right now as possible, before the axe falls on their obscene interest rates.
Originally Posted By hopemax There were new rules that passed Congress earlier this year, but they don't go into effect until Feb 2010. That's why the rate and fee increases are happening now. Get them in before they can't. There is some talk by Congressional Democrats that those rules should go into effect NOW, but so far it is just talk.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I'm not sure what you're intending to communicate here.<< That we can forget about the usury laws, on the grounds that health care is NOT going to be taken care of.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 We fell into same boat last month, we have 1 credit card we don't use, that we put my wife's student loans on (better interest rate than the bank, at the time), well we went from 1% interest rate to 11.9% overnight, and minimum payment went up from 210 to 620 overnight. I proceeded to dip into savings to pay entire amount off and basically told them to kiss my ass... They try to do it nonchalantly, not even mention it via letter to try and trick you... Some people could probably go months before they look at their statement and realize they have been had...
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Same thing is happening over here. My mom had really cheap credit, and when the summer was impacting their seasonal business, they lived off their cards during the summer with the forecast of their income looking better this term. Sadly, their interest rate went from 1.05% per month to 22% with no warning. Now, they are on the brink.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I proceeded to dip into savings to pay entire amount off and basically told them to kiss my ass...<< I was there too. I was about ready to take a 3% interest loan on my 401K and just pay off the card. I'm glad I didn't have to but it's so ridiculous. Here's hoping Bernie Sanders gets something done. But the more I read and learn, the more our government seems like a corporatocracy than a democracy.
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^^Government of, by and for Big Business. I also love the new Chamber of Commerce ads that attack Health Care Reform. I have lost all faith in anything effective happening. We'll get a few band aids but at the end of the day tens of millions will remain uninsured. Business as usual.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder This is what I've been talking about for months. We have one credit card that my wife hashad for close to 20 years. If we use it again, our rate jumps from 9.24% to 27%. Needless to say we don't use it. Amex has been doing this for months, and then claiming they gave 30 days to tell you they did it. That's right- they feel they can raise rates, THEN tell. Our cards and my mother in law cards had the rates raised from 3.9% to 14.99%. Needless to say, we don't usethose, either. This is going to lead to a slew of banakruptcies for people, because so many were just barely making the minimum due on their acounts. The reasoning the banks give for doing it is that they want they money back faster. Fairly stupid reasoning, because once people go BK, the banks get nothing. I read this weekend where many senators and the Obama Administrations asked banks, Chase among them, to voluntarily not do this. Unapologetically, Chase told them all to stick it. If there's another economic fall coming, this is going to be one big reason why.
Originally Posted By ecdc I guess I just can't get over how appallingly immoral the whole thing is. They just take it all because they can. What some people call "capitalism," I call unrestrained greed.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper My GM Mastercard is going from 6.9% fixed to a variable rate that begins at 11.9%. At least they did us the courtesy of sending us a notice about it. We were allowed the option to opt out, close the account, and pay off at the original 6.9% rate. (Which, of course, I did.) We lose about $700 in "savings" toward a GM car. So, not only is the bank now out my future business...but I won't be buying a GM car anytime soon either. Of course, the US auto companies are in fine shape so that shouldn't be a problem for them.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo It is a pretty sorry state, isn't it? I really wish there would be a bank that came out that their business model were based on supporting the common man. Provided they were thorough in their vetting, they would get a lot of business I suspect.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I really wish there would be a bank that came out that their business model were based on supporting the common man.<< Credit unions?
