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  • FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9 2007 9:00 AM

Sometimes Being An Asshole Doesn’t Pay Off

Submitted by FearTheReaper

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: Bankruptcy Bill, Mortgage Crisis



In 2005, Congress passed one of the worst bills in the history of our country: The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. It was crafted by the credit card industry and passed with bi-partisan support, then shoved up our collective asses.

In 2005, 1.6 million Americans were filing for personal bankruptcy protection. The process is similar to corporate bankruptcy and allows debtors to come up with creditor-reviewed and court approved plan to write off some debts, pay off some and get a fresh start. But that obviously wasn’t working for credit card companies. After years of giving cards to unworthy recipients, they wanted them to become financial slaves instead of changing their lending practices. The bill basically rewarded the credit industry's egregious behavior, and encouraged more of the same. The bill did nothing to rein in credit card solicitations or put caps on interest rates or late fees, over-the-limit fees and other penalties. Congress has held hearings on the deceptive practices that credit card companies use to default on agreements and FearTheReaper has officially designated them as “Motherfuckers”.

So, the bill forced more people to file under Chapter 13, which forces consumers to pay back debt over five years. They had been filing under Chapter 7, which allowed them to keep some assets, while getting rid of debt. The Senate rejected 25 Democratic amendments to lessen the impact on bankrupt Americans, including one that would let people keep their homes if their debt was the result of medical expenses.

Not surprisingly, this has affected people who live on the edge, take home a paycheck, still barely get by every month, can’t afford any sort of hiccup in their lives and quickly fall into debt if their car breaks down or they get sick.


According to LCCR, divorced women are 300 percent more likely than single or married women to find themselves in bankruptcy court because of the combined effects of lower wages, reduced access to health insurance, and the financial strain of rearing children alone.

African American and Latino home owners are 500 percent more likely than white homeowners to find themselves in bankruptcy court, largely due to discrimination in home mortgage lending and housing purchases and to inequalities in hiring opportunities, wages, and health insurance coverage.


Ah, check out that last sentence there and focus on these words: Home mortgage lending. Anyone noticed a problem in that area lately? Turns out when you fuck people over, you get fucked back just as hard.


Washington Mutual Inc. got what it wanted in 2005: A revised bankruptcy code that no longer lets people walk away from credit card bills.

The largest U.S. savings and loan didn't count on a housing recession. The new bankruptcy laws are helping drive foreclosures to a record as homeowners default on mortgages and struggle to pay credit card debts that might have been wiped out under the old code, said Jay Westbrook, a professor of business law at the University of Texas Law School in Austin and a former adviser to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.


Two words, Washington Mutual: Suck it.


Be careful what you wish for, Westbrook said. They wanted to make sure that people kept paying their credit cards, and what they're getting is more foreclosures.


People are paying their credit card debt over their house payments because they really don’t have a choice. They can’t declare bankruptcy anymore and save their home, so they are walking away from their homes.


Of customers who are at least three months late on their mortgage payments, 70 percent are current on their credit cards.


Even when they do declare bankruptcy, the mortgage rates are resetting six months later to a level that they cannot afford. That then hurts the mortgage companies, some who are the same who lobbied for the restrictive bankruptcy bill, like Washington Mutual.


Bad mortgages slashed Washington Mutual's profit by 72 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. Citigroup's third-quarter earnings fell 57 percent on mortgage losses. Bank of America stopped so-called warehouse lending to mortgage brokers after its profit declined 32 percent in the same period. Morgan Stanley subprime losses will cut fourth-quarter earnings by $2.5 billion.


You made your bed, big companies, now lie in it.

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Pom_felo

Pom_felo

San Antonio, TX
February 2004

NOV 09, 2007 01:03 PM

I assume the next logical step is for credit card companies to open debtor's prisons. The American Express Correctional Facility has a nice ring to it.

jquincy

jquincy

Dallas, TX
August 2005

NOV 09, 2007 02:17 PM

marionpoliquin said:
The financial institutions mentioned in the article may have taken a financial hit, but they're still making a profit.

On one hand, I'd really love to see some credit and loan companies really take a hit up the ass.

On the other hand, how many more consumers would be screwed if this happened?

Maybe the most satisfying solution would be to lock up some CEO's in a cage with a bunch of horny gorillas.



AGREED!!!!

jquincy

jquincy

Dallas, TX
August 2005

NOV 09, 2007 02:19 PM

dear FearTheReaper,

this is some of your finest work. finally, you actually have something... just kiddin'.

Munke

Munke

Roseville, CA
May 2004

NOV 09, 2007 03:06 PM

pomfelo said:
I assume the next logical step is for credit card companies to open debtor's prisons. The Ameriprise/Haliburton Correctional Facility has a nice ring to it.



Fixed.

FearTheReaper

FearTheReaper

NEWSWIRE

I'm lost

NOV 09, 2007 03:08 PM

jquincy said:
dear FearTheReaper,

this is some of your finest work. finally, you actually have something... just kiddin'.



Ooohhh. Snaptardation!

Necia

Necia

San Francisco, CA
August 2005

NOV 09, 2007 03:14 PM

MilitiaBishop said:
Does anyone force you to enter a credit agreement? I don't think so. Read the paperwork, you agree to X,Y,Z. Its all in there up front. Don't bitch and moan because the lenders want their due. The mortgage companies have homes to sell now, just as was agrreed upon by them when they loaned out the money. They don't like that either but they are bound as is the lendee.



whatever

Credit card agreements, fine, maybe--but don't even tell me that you're able to read the fine print on any of those various fucked-up kinds of mortgages they've got and understand what they mean. 99% of the college-educated population couldn't understand what the fuck those things are saying. "Up front"? What lending or credit contracts are you reading?

King_Mob

King_Mob

I'm lost
September 2005

NOV 09, 2007 03:39 PM

Roethke said:

MilitiaBishop said:
Does anyone force you to enter a credit agreement? I don't think so. Read the paperwork, you agree to X,Y,Z. Its all in there up front. Don't bitch and moan because the lenders want their due. The mortgage companies have homes to sell now, just as was agrreed upon by them when they loaned out the money. They don't like that either but they are bound as is the lendee.



Thus spake someone who has never had to choose between food and paying rent.




Additionally, no one plans getting sick or having their car blow up. But quite often you need both your health and your car to continue working and thus getting paid, and thus paying off the debts. Nobody buys a home with the intension of going bankrupt, they buy it in the hope of actually owning it one day and getting OUT of debt.

thefreak

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

NOV 09, 2007 03:43 PM

Roethke said:

MilitiaBishop said:
Does anyone force you to enter a credit agreement? I don't think so. Read the paperwork, you agree to X,Y,Z. Its all in there up front. Don't bitch and moan because the lenders want their due. The mortgage companies have homes to sell now, just as was agrreed upon by them when they loaned out the money. They don't like that either but they are bound as is the lendee.


Thus spake someone who has never had to choose between food and paying rent.


To be fair...that's quite the assumption you're making.

-TM

Rude_Ruca

Rude_Ruca

I'm lost
December 2004

NOV 09, 2007 03:47 PM

But, um, what about the fuck-twats that don't know how to pay bills and bought into the "quick-fix-get- 'cha- in- the- door" adjustable rate mortgages?....I mean, I'm just sayin' is all....I seriously think that in order to graduate from high school (because, as we know not everyone goes to college) it should be MANDATORY that in your senior year, you take a full year of financial planing, or something of the sort. whatever Oh, and by the way, this comes from a someone who has not had to choose between rent and food for the sheer fact that I PLAN for times when we may be short, and I pay my bills on time!

FearTheReaper

FearTheReaper

NEWSWIRE

I'm lost

NOV 09, 2007 03:59 PM

Rude_Ruca said:
But, um, what about the fuck-twats that don't know how to pay bills and bought into the "quick-fix-get- 'cha- in- the- door" adjustable rate mortgages?....I mean, I'm just sayin' is all....I seriously think that in order to graduate from high school (because, as we know not everyone goes to college) it should be MANDATORY that in your senior year, you take a full year of financial planing, or something of the sort. whatever Oh, and by the way, this comes from a someone who has not had to choose between rent and food for the sheer fact that I PLAN for times when we may be short, and I pay my bills on time!



Yeah, uh, those are the people you shouldn't be giving loans to if you are a proper mortgage company.

Rude_Ruca

Rude_Ruca

I'm lost
December 2004

NOV 09, 2007 04:05 PM

FearTheReaper said:

Rude_Ruca said:
But, um, what about the fuck-twats that don't know how to pay bills and bought into the "quick-fix-get- 'cha- in- the- door" adjustable rate mortgages?....I mean, I'm just sayin' is all....I seriously think that in order to graduate from high school (because, as we know not everyone goes to college) it should be MANDATORY that in your senior year, you take a full year of financial planing, or something of the sort. whatever Oh, and by the way, this comes from a someone who has not had to choose between rent and food for the sheer fact that I PLAN for times when we may be short, and I pay my bills on time!



Yeah, uh, those are the people you shouldn't be giving loans to if you are a proper mortgage company.



HA! But loan sharks, unfortunately for the last year, or so have NOT equated "proper mortgage compan[ies]" and THAT is who/what MOST of these folks are gettin' tangled up with. Again, there needs to be a class for this that 18 year olds must take AND pass before graduating. I swear to gawd!

masterfrederick

masterfrederick

Beaverton, OR
November 2006

NOV 09, 2007 04:30 PM

MilitiaBishop said:
Does anyone force you to enter a credit agreement? I don't think so. Read the paperwork, you agree to X,Y,Z. Its all in there up front. Don't bitch and moan because the lenders want their due. The mortgage companies have homes to sell now, just as was agrreed upon by them when they loaned out the money. They don't like that either but they are bound as is the lendee.



Last time I saw a troll like this, a Billygoat kicked his ass and threw him in a river.

thefreak

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

NOV 09, 2007 05:01 PM

masterfrederick said:
Last time I saw a troll like this, a Billygoat kicked his ass and threw him in a river.


That reference, sir, wins you the Interweb for today.

-TM

_kungfoo_

_kungfoo_

Los Angeles, CA
April 2005

NOV 09, 2007 05:11 PM

I think the judges would rule that guy isn't a troll, just an dick.

Horrorflick

Horrorflick

Detroit, MI
February 2003

NOV 09, 2007 05:33 PM

You know what I've noticed? This really isn't the country to live in if you're not greedy. If you want to be number one, CEO of fuckeverybodybutme.com by the time you're 23, own 3 platinum edition hummers, huge house made of glass in LA (surrounded by a razor wire fence and ADT security of course) and be so rich that you never, ever get sick and don't have to worry about health insurance like the rest of us lazy fucks, you're fine. If, however, you just want to work your 40 (or so) hours a week and get by, be reasonably content and not own a lot of shit, just do your thing, you're fucked from the get-go. It's the regular folk that these soulless, money-hoarding maggots really hook by the balls and string up...Pretty soon, it'll just be: I've got mine, fuck you! Go get yours...

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