I posted on OSO probably close to a year ago, that we havent seen the last of the problems, because they were giving anyone with a pulse credit cards, couple with the predatory nature of the card companies with fees etc, it would blow up too. I realize the banks want to make money, but their methods bewilder me... you give a fool a credit card, charge him $100 to get it and 50~75 a year to keep it, then you set it up so that when he pays online (all done by computer so nobody has to open envelopes process checks etc) you charge him extra, and set it up so that if he doesn't pay online by like 10am the day it's due, it's late even though payed on the due date, then hit hime with $25-50 late fee, then $50 overlimit fee, because the fee and the balance get processed before his payment (which was payed ont he due date)...the guy payed ontime, yet got whacked with $150+ in fees.... so now the guy gets pissed and tells the card company to F-off, because he is barely scraping by as it is. (this happend to a couple kids in my college) wouldnt it make sense for the card companies to work with the kid, not kill him with fee's and be happy just collecting huge interest month in and month out, because you know the kid isn't going to be paying the actual balance down anytime soon, and the bank can keep loss in check with a low limit?? sounds like a cash cow, the companies could milk for a long time...so why kill the cow and eat the $500-2000 the kid is into the company for??
same thing with mortgages... why foreclose?? figure out what the guy can pay, get the max you can and let him keep paying...you would make out better with longer interest payments and fees tacked on to the end of the loan for restructuring etc.. thats money coming in instead of taking the house, taking a bath in the current devaluation, the cost of maintaining it and trying to resell it in a non existant market... why turn down income???????????
