Come down hard on credit card companies

I want to see these lending practices stop so I don't have to worry about it, whether it is in a contract or not. Yes it won't fix everything. No it doesn't get rid of the problem of irresponsible spenders. But if 9 in 10 people have this problem, why haven't we fixed or at least worked a way of making sure it doesn't happen so often?

After all this, I do agree that the credit cards have been extremely irresponsible/evil in their lending practices. I fell for it a few years ago when I paying off all our debt. I surfed a card balance to a zero % interest card. I setup a recurring payment in my online banking. Yep, you guessed it, they changed the due date back a couple days and before I knew it, my zero % interest became 31% over the course of a couple of months because I was late. This angered me to no end. However, I understand that I signed up for it and am ultimately responsible for the consequences. This is one reason I don't use the stupid things.

"QUOTE"
How does it make no sense? I have read all these posts (and your article) and I have not found a single reason why I HAVE to have a credit card. I have lived without them for over 4 years.
No, a car purchase is not a valid reason to get into debt and stay there for the sake of a FICO score. I don't borrow money, so I don't care that much about my credit score. I paid cash for my latest, slightly used, car. There are ways to purchase a car without borrowing money even for those on a modest budget.
And, yes, some mortgage companies still do manual underwriting. As I stated, I got my last mortgage this way. I understand that many companies don't use this method anymore, but they do exist.
I am trying to have an open debate and you accuse me of "not doing research".
"QUOTE"

You personally are not everybody, so your personal experience doesn't counter the thousands of others of who have valid concerns. I dismissed your argument as invalid because you did not include enough people in the population to effectively argue your point and therefore couldn't have been thoroughly researched. That's it.

Try to start your own business or own anything outside of the minor things you collect or received second hand or used and you will find a market far outside of your abilities or experience to understand. Your scale is too small and you are not a risk taker. That is good for you and you don't have any worries then. I'm happy for you but the majority of society doesn't fit the bubble you have presented.

Small towns fit that bubble and occasionally some rural areas.

Also open debate allows me to accuse you of not doing research because I don't believe you have thoroughly reviewed what you were saying. My apologies if I offended you.

I had a small balance b/e I was screwed by what turned out to be a crooked person I spent over a year setting up a business with. Not irresponsible - counldn't do the flights w/o a card, and CERTAINLY didn't know all the efforts were for not.

So, set out for a real job in a real city. Took CC to rent a van AND required deposit; and sorry, am not carrying several hundred in cash for gas.

Then CC screwed up address for 3 mo's (see below) before I could get it all paid off - laid off. ONLY borrowed for vocation related.
No more time for this - trying to BE productive

"QUOTED"
It's a matter of personal responsibility.
Submitted by darroby85 on April 23, 2009 - 10:27am.

Do not spend money you do not have. Unless it's a literal matter of life and death, if you can't pay for it, in full as soon as the bill comes, DON'T BUY IT. If you need a loan for something, get a fixed rate loan from the bank, if you don't qualify, well you may have to wait for whatever it is and make do with what you have. It's not that hard. You won't die if you don't get to go out to eat every day, your kid won't die if they don't get the newest whatever it is this week, and you CAN live without cable tv and cell phones. You are the ones who ran up the big bills, don't ask those of us who have been responsible to pay for your spending more than you have on a bunch of luxeries you don't need.
"QUOTED"

Note that you yourself said that if you cannot live within your means, don't, or accept the costs of doing so.

My argument is that the credit card companies must accept the correct risk interest rate AT FIRST. Otherwise they accepted the risk of low interest on a high risk client. Whether or not someone wants or needs the amount of money and what they use it for is neither here nor there. So all the old credit cards are all messed up. For future cards, fix the problem and stop saying its "personal responsibility". A company is just as culpable for its business practices as a person is for his inappropriate spending. You can't have one without the other in this case and they aren't two separate issues.

My mother and father own a business and have credit cards that are paid off monthly. They never miss payments and have a high credit score (780-800)

Yet the credit company pulled the exact maneuvers I have repeated and others have repeated throughout this conversation.

Improper interest charges, increased fees, attempts to increase interest rates.

Whether they are on a contract or not is moot. So your saying if a contract states I have to kill someone to get my money back then I signed the contract and have to kill them to get my money back right? Since no other laws apply to that contract?

Are you out of your mind? Your argument suppositions that the entire industry is completely removed from all other industries. Isn't that why banking failed too?

I do not wonder how Republicans lost the majority and control. I don't think Democrats have a right either and we will swing to an over regulated economy for a period of time. Complete deregulation promotes chaos and in capitalist inflationary society such as the U.S. you need controlled growth and inflation to promote the entire country. So you get rid of more regulations, you lose control of the core responsibility that businesses must have.

Don't you know how the banking industry was formed? On the assumption that everyone is trying to cheat everyone else. They then provide ways of keeping it from happening in such a way that instead of crashes in the system we level off or ease.

I have most certainly rented cars and I own a cell phone. I just use my Visa debit card for those transactions. It has never been a problem. I am not sure what your second question is about.

Rick

How does it make no sense? I have read all these posts (and your article) and I have not found a single reason why I HAVE to have a credit card. I have lived without them for over 4 years.
No, a car purchase is not a valid reason to get into debt and stay there for the sake of a FICO score. I don't borrow money, so I don't care that much about my credit score. I paid cash for my latest, slightly used, car. There are ways to purchase a car without borrowing money even for those on a modest budget.
And, yes, some mortgage companies still do manual underwriting. As I stated, I got my last mortgage this way. I understand that many companies don't use this method anymore, but they do exist.
I am trying to have an open debate and you accuse me of "not doing research".

You said you can get by w/o a CC. Sure, rent a car or get a cell phone w/o one.
Then how do you know which CC might rape you at which time??

If you do not like the terms of the credit card, you agreed when you opened the account. If you didn't like it you didn't have to open the account. You should never sign anything without reading it in full, no matter how long, and how fine the print. It's your own fault, and yes people DO live without credit cards. Quit trying to blame everyone else for your lack of responsibility and carelessness.

If you were intelligent you wouldn't (GOP-like) stoop to character assassination.

WHEN ONE SIGNS TERMS THEY DO NOT EXPECT THE COUNTERPARTY TO BE ARIBTRARY AND CAPRISOUS.
YOU DON'T EXPECT LOAN SHARKING - NOR OPEN SEASON ON YOUR WALLET.

WAHT OTHER INDUSTRY CAN DO THAT? NONE. It is the bank lobby $ in DC with Inter-state commerce protection that has these allowed practices - I.E. IN VIOLATION OF STATE USARY LAWS - to exist.

OBVIOSULY YOU'RE A SELFISH SOB