Wow. Just got a letter from a CC company I do business with.
They lowered my payment cause I owe too much money.
I had a couple of deals come through after banks went nuts and raised their requirements. As a result I have more debt than i’m comfortable with. I am paying everything down and have no lates, yet this company (rhymes with radvanta) has decided to lower my credit limit which of course screws with my debt to credit ratio.
I cant believe this. IM PAYING. This is getting ridiculous. Housing goes down, I have no late payments, and now the banks are closing up shop 2 years too late.
Replies
close the barn door after the horse escapes!
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
You are confusing me.
Did they lower your payments? Or, did they lower your credit limit?
I know someone else who had their limit lowered.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
From his post it looks like both. If he bites on the lower minimum due they collect more interest.
And they lowered their risk by lowering his limit.[email protected]
They lowered the limit. I admit I had a few deals not work out the way I hoped but i'm making all my payments on time. They didnt like my debt-to-credit ratio, so to help it out, they lessened it.
Basically they took away $5k worth of available credit I guess to CYA.
housing crunch really hasn't hit here yet.probably another 3 years,anyway people are getting their home equity lines cancell just cause the banks don't want to get hung out. larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
What happened to your CC account is just the tip of the iceberg and the whole thing is a replay of the credit crunch many of us lived though twenty years ago. Until interest rates rise to match the risk levels, banks would be crazy to lend any more than they have to. Computer models have us all pigeon-holed into various risk groups and some are going to see their access to credit dry up completely.
One big credit company gives credit at a reasonable rate, but if you're late on one payment, the rate goes up to a ridiculous rate. Three people I know, same scam: payment was mailed, but they say they never got it. Up goes the rate. Next day it miraculously shows up in their mail, they cash the check, now you're bent over for the remainder of the balance. What's in your wallet?
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
It's all in the fine print - the stuff only people with a microscope can read. I read an article that said WaMu was doing the same kind of thing, using "late" payments as an excuse to hike interest rates or cancel grace periods on balance transfers. If the customers bothered to read the fine print of their agreement, WaMu clearly states that they alone can decide when a customer payment is received. If they want to let mail sit in a cart for several days, they can do it and if it makes a customer's payment late, too bad, so sad.The only way to fight back is to stop giving these creeps your business.
I called and complained about a bogus late fee and got it taken off. The customer rep said he'd do it "Just this once". Like I was in the wrong for mailing my payment 8 days before due instead of 10. The company wasn't WaMu, but a call might be worth a try.I got a check in the mail once for something like $3.25. Seems a lawyer filed a class action suit on behalf of people who had been charged bogus late fees. He settled and after he took his fee, that was my cut.I don't know if his suit changed anything or just changed the profit numbers for the CC co.
On-line banking. Presto, problem solvedTransfer the funds yourself from your working account to your credit card account. The process comes with a time stamped confirmation code.
you are right!!
Pay as much as you can online, stiff the post office!!
Not a USPS problem on this subject. Common practice for CC companies to hold a check overnight to CAUSE the late fee to apply.I had one company where I mailed two checks for two accounts in the same envelope to save postage. One payment was credited one day, and the other check a day or two days later.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Perfect reason to use the computor to make payments!
No cheques, no holds. Banking online, the money moves when I move it and I save the cost of a stamp and a cheque to boot.
That doesn't always work, either.I made an online payment to Bunko America, (Bank of America.) credit card.Got the confirmation page. Had the confirmation number, and everything.Like an idiot, I did not save a copy of that.Two weeks later I get notice of 70 dollars in charges. My payment was a day late.I had actually made the payment a week and a half early.They held that payment and didn't credit it to my account until the day after it was due.I made a stink.They actually changed the records, online, to show the payment a day late. And put it in my printed statement that way.Since I had not saved the confirmation page and number, I had nothing to prove otherwise......... Not even my bank statement. Because surprise surprise... BoA was my bank, as well !! And they changed those records as well, to show the money not being taken out until a day too late. Even though, during that week and a half, my bank account showed the money gone.It was gone, as in, they had actually taken it out, for that payment, and it was not available for me to use...Yet, a couple days after they pulled all this, the online records, (and subsequent printed statement), showed the money not to have left my account until a day too late.
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
If the banking system down there has degenerated to the point where a bank will engage in criminal fraud to earn $70 I'd suggest it's time to get your money out of it while you still can.
curious as to how your online banking payment is done.I pay bills on line, but everything is not an EFT.while a payment to my doctor may not make sense to be expected as an EFT, some payments you would expect to be EFT are not.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
According to my bank, its up to the vendor to set up to take an electronic payment, otherwise they get a printed check.As for the credit cards, I think a lot of them want you to use their own webpages to pay their bills, so they have control over it. They don't want the banks to have any part (at least smaller banks that aren't tied in deep with the credit card companies)
My credit card is issued by my bank and most of my working accounts and my line of credit are there as well. When I log into online banking, I get a summary page listing all of my accounts with them and have the freedom to move money between any or all of them. Each transaction gets a date-stamped confirmation number, and I do save the confirmation page until the next bill shows the payment has cleared as made.When I go to pay bills, I enter the name of the company in a provided search function and the site spits out a list of close matches for me from a list of companies who have made provision with my bank for it to receive payments on their behalf (edit: making provision essentially involves opening an account to receive the funds). I select which one I want to pay, enter my account identifier with the company and the amount to pay. So far, all my bills have been payable through the bank; due to the regulatory regime we have far fewer banking companies up here so it is an easier thing for the companies to set up than it is down there with the multitude of single branch 'mom and pop' operations. My wife's credit union requires her to set up payment recipients in person at the branch, and I assume I would have to do the same thing for a company not on my bank's list. As with the in-bank account transfers, I get a date-stamped confirmation number for these too.
Edited 4/23/2008 5:43 pm by observer
You haven't investigated the huge amount of money that the banks are taking in on late fees and more importantly, the raising of the interest rates on those that get late fees. The things they are doing are criminal and if you tried to make a loan with the same terms you'd be arrested for racketeering and usury. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Sure I have. I know how much money the credit providers suck out of the pockets of the foolish.The trick is to not be one of them. It's been a decade or better since I've had more than about $1000 in consumer debt and about the same since I've paid any interest. Credit works just fine for me because I use it as a no-cost convenience, not a way to finance a lifestyle.I read somewhere that the big credit card companies are all headquartered in one state (Delaware maybe) because the laws of the state permit rates that are classified as usury most other places.
I watched an episode of Front Line entitled "Secret History of the Credit Card" a few weeks ago. It addresses many of the shady business practices of the major credit card companys.
You can still watch it on there web site here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/
It's amazing that the legislatures are allowing the credit card companies to engage in practices like those. I think one of Bush's blackest marks was signing the bankruptcy bill that protected these predators. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
You know, some of the "suckees" are not fools, just broke.
Right now I'm trying to find a permanent job, meaning my actual profession becomes a second job, so that I can have regular income. The things that go on the CC are medical copays that have tripled for us this first quarter, repairs for my husband's 16 year old pickup so that he can continue to drive to work (with the oxygen tank he needs to breathe in tow), and sometimes groceries when things are really tight.
Our reserve money was exhausted months ago, there's no family to beg help from. I worked really hard to pay down debt last year and reduced it by almost $8k. Guess what, it's almost all back now.
Welcome to the world of the working class!
and on top of all that you, you get stung by a deadbeat!
Yeah, and he's not the only one in the last 18 months!
However, I have lots of things much more valuable than money, and I concentrate on those when I really get down. I've always been taught that, no matter how hard I think things are for me, there are always those who live harder lives and have less.
Maybe you are somehow sending out signals that I can be screwed and I will do nothing about.
It might work for you to inquire into collection agencies. They take no money up front and split what they recieve with you.
You ought to put hefty penalties in your contract if they don't pay. By doing this it will help pay for collection.
I really think if you can afford it, to talk to a lawyer and find out beast way to procede in getting paid.
I'm not trying to be sexist, but I'm the only female around dealing directly with only men on payment issues, so yeah they do think they can get away with stuff. All the other firms have women as designers, but you deal with the fellows if you don't pay.
I just sold a cabinet job, no install, to the customer of a remodeler I work with occasionally, and you can bet I was forceful on the issue of payment on delivery. No check equals no delivery, no negotiation. The driver just turns around and goes away. This is especially critical in this instance as the HO's are both engineers.
I'll soon be working with a colleague of mine who's opening a new showroom, and we're going to be talking about policies this week. I will keep my one builder, who's good as gold, but I doubt I'll pursue any others.
Don't give up on builders.
Go to their jobsites and talk to the subs first, most if they feal you are being honest with them will give you the scoop.
It sounds like maybe you ought to go to your good builder and have a talk with him. He knows and is probably friends with some and could give you names of the good ones to chase.
good luck
No offense meant by that.I understand that circumstances sometimes get away on you through no fault of your own, most particularly from medical costs arising from your for-profit health care system that hangs so many people out to dry. My comment was more aimed at those who finance lifestyle with credit and then complain when circumstances they should have foreseen smack them in the face.
Thanks!
We've never had much money, but we've always managed to pay our bills until lately. It's amazing to me that, even with health insurance, we are going broke slowly from what we have to make up. I heard a statistic recently about the number of bankruptcies that are caused by medical expenses, but can't remember it. Just know it was pretty high.
My husband is eligible for retirement in about 16 months, and I'm sure he will take it. We're fortunate that his company has re-structured his work so that he can stay in the shop instead of having to go all over the plant to do his maint & calibrations. I think they are actually trying to let him work until he can get to retirement, which I really appreciate.
However, when he retires, I'm out of insurance. That gives me 16 months to either find a job with insurance or figure a way to make enough money to buy my own.
"We've never had much money, but we've always managed to pay our bills until lately. It's amazing to me that, even with health insurance, we are going broke slowly from what we have to make up."You're not alone. Wishing you well on the upcoming changes. Hope you get some great coverage! It's frustrating to take a step forward and slide two back.
"particularly from medical costs arising from your for-profit health care system that hangs so many people out to dry. "
I'm a bit slow to pick up on this, and I don't intend to sidetrack this subj, but here goes. Most of my debt is due either directly or indirectly to medical expenses. That is one subject I won't grouse about though.
My oldest was born 7 weeks early with a serious (but fairly easily fixed) birth defect. 6 weeks and $250,000 later we took her home and every day is better than the last. She graduates from high school next week at the top of her class and has enough scholarships to carry her through a 4 year private college. Our insurance at the time put us through the wringer, but the hospital wrote off a substantial amount and we ponied up the rest.
My wife started at our our local hospital in the office in January and is absolutely flabbergasted at the abuse of our Medicaid system by patients. In a small town we have two fine medical clinics, but a substantial number of locals use the emergency room as their primary care because they are not paying for any of it, and they know it. In fact we have a succesful business owner here that takes the entire summer off to coach and play around, and makes no bones about the gov't paying his health care
I have a chronic affliction, and my insurance costs reflect it. We pay a lot for our care, but we pay it.
Our system should be a for profit enterprise. That's the only system that sustains itself in the long run. The problem with our system is not that we don't have enough government involvement, its that our government is too involved. They should provide oversight and prevent abuse only, other than providing the best for our veterans. They should not be in the health insurance business at all. Let the states handle the elderly and disabled, but make sure it is in a loving and humane manner.
We have the finest healthcare anywhere, and no-one is refused (at least in our area) so I'm tired of hearing this cr*p about how we need universal health care run by the gov't. What we need is for the Doctors to be able to tell the patient to go to the clinic for his runny nose instead of the emergency room, and to be protected from insane malpractice abuse (yes, there is a place for reasonable redress, but our system is seriously messed up in that regard as well). Those 2 things alone would do wonders to reduce the cost we now pay.
No anger or insult intended to those who think otherwise, but entitlements will be the ruination of our society.
Sidenote, my wife is very aware of HIPPA rules and never discloses who she is refering too, only that another "frequent flyer" was in.
Suit yourself but you won't find me signing up for your plan.Up here, that defect would have been fixed and you wouldn't have a bill for a quarter million.What you seem to miss is that value of universal health care isn't something to be evaluated by the cost from the small percentage that abuse it but rather by the benefits to the many times larger percentage who are served by it. It serves no purpose to financially cripple people who have the misfortune to have health problems in order to provide profit for an entire industry.
"Our [health care] system should be a for profit enterprise. That's the only system that sustains itself in the long run."I hear you, but the pols in DC have other plans. We're going to get rationed care of some kind in the next few years, paid for out of our taxes. When the supply of anything is limited, in a normal market the prices should go up. We're in a credit crunch at the bank level, and people who posted here about their CC interest rates going up are seeing the effects of constrained supply. When the pols mess with the medical system next year (it's already FUBAR IMO) and artificially cap the prices, the system will respond by limiting the availability of services. There will be free, "universal" health care for sure, but if you're 50+ and need a new knee joint or a heart bypass, well the line starts back there.
exactly. my biggest fear concerning universal health care is limiting my choice. After all, if I'm paying out of my pocket, I want to be able to choose who and when. And credit card co.s are evil.
It seems like most of my posts lately are rants. Must be the weather, I'm generally not that inclined to shoot my mouth off.
The problem with a for profit system is that some of us are more profitable than others. If my baby is born healthy, he gets coverage. If yours is born with multiple problems, she doesn't.
We need universal access to affordable coverage, which means that the Government makes insurers cover everyone; or the government covers everyone; or the government covers all catastrophic expenses over $XX and makes insurers cover everyone below that number.
I'm not eligible for a big group policy, so I need to buy in the individual market and get lousy, but expensive coverage. you might be the same age and general health as mee, but if you work for a big company, you get better/cheaper coverage.
Portability would be nice, too, so if you quit working for big co and go to work for me, your policy comes with you, at the same premium.
The government may be stupid and incompetent, but it theoretically has our interests in mind. A for profit insurer doesn't, and they are just as stupid and incompetent.
2 things about insurance
! if you had community rated policies instead of individual this problem of canceling your policy or exclusions because of illness s would cease to exist.
2 if state legislature would stop requiring ins. co. to cover everything including mental illness, our prices would not be so high!
Been thinking on this a bit. The crazy high interest rates the card companies are now throwing at people seem to me to be part of a carefully organized deal. First , limit personal bankruptcy . The claim was made at the time that only those reckless with their credit would get hurt. Now anyone who slips or is the victim of late mail , late posting etc gets nailed and has no protection from the usurious rates . The whole thing strikes me as not only contrived but really shortsighted on the CC companies part.
People will shortly tire of the rates, drop the use of credit cards and the CC companies earnings will drop. Killing the Goose that was laying the Golden Egg?
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I was with you until this comment: "People will shortly tire of the rates, drop the use of credit cards ..."
Is that the same time pigs start to fly?.
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
I was with you until this comment: "People will shortly tire of the rates, drop the use of credit cards ..."
Is that the same time pigs start to fly?
Yeah, right around the time teenage boys get sick of getting their hearts broken and give up chasing tail.View Image
...and I thought I made absurd statements! That one might win the 2008 BT award. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Blahahahaaa...the end of the world indeed!.
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
I don't know. I use several cards. While I do have a primary one I also rotate between them and always carry a small balance because that is what the "system" likes to keep the credit score high. I use one for awhile then switch to another, paying off the first one in full. Probably $100,00 in card credit available. I used to carry high balances and write off the interest as part of the cost of business, now because of the way the card companies handle things they get almost zero interest monies off of me. People will get tired of the game they are forced to play and find another manner to survive. I did.
Edited 5/4/2008 1:10 pm by dovetail97128
one of the great things about construction unions is the portability of benefits.
not only medical benefits, but retirement benefits as well, and the choices are limited, you can't just go see anybody but you can choose between a few.
it occurs to me that if there were a national health care system run like many of the construction unions systems, only including even more people than are now covered by unions, that would be a much better thing than the system we have now.
i can think of several ways to streamline administrative costs associated with billing, and i think that part of what union members pay subsidizes some of costs associated with those that can't pay. if we can increase the amount of those paying in, as well as reducing administrative costs, that should reduce the costs for us all and still keep a for profit based system of incentives in place.
i don't disagree with your post. and i would like to see improvements, but changes may or may not be for the better. a national heath care system run by the government may be worse than what we have now.
That's a fine plan until you're unemployeed for 6 months..
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
I sympathize with those in that tight spot for reasons outside their control. Those that consumed their way into the hole or didn't bother evaluating all the possibilities before acting are just reaping what they've sown.I learned my credit lesson when I was younger and it cured my habit of financing things. Learned to pull in my horns a bit and spend a little more carefully since it all comes out of my pocket money, not some magic sack at the bank. I don't drive flashy trucks, watch big screen TVs or keep up with the Jones.Consequence of that is mortgage paid out, no loan balances, no credit card balances and a cash reserve that would last into 2010 before touching the investments. Truck, shop and tools are paid for and my reputation is 18 years in the making so I don't expect a layoff notice.It's a fine plan when it comes together.
I think boa is hurting. they just raised min. payment on my wifes credit cards.
When I have time, I'm going to ask my brother about. He works for that outfit.
i am not at all surprised by this business tactic by bank of amerika, i had a job for a contractor years ago that paid with an account at B of A
it was when i was a very young man, just starting out, when i could least afford to have a chunk of money sitting in a bank account, i had to have all my money to pay the bills.
what they did was charge me a fee for cashing a check, even though it was their (B of A) account. so i opened an account with a 100 minimum so i could cash checks for free.
when i went to close the account after i had changed employers and no longer needed to leave 100 in the bank to avoid fees, guess what, a fee to close the account.
so i withdrew all but about 15 or so, and paid the fee for not having enough in the account until the quarterly fees eventually ate up the remainder, figuring i would at least get the bastards to do as much paperwork (statements) as possible to make up for their ripping me off.
lo and behold years later i get the check and explanation letter of how B of A lost the class action suit, and their business practice was declared illegal. i still have the letter, and will never forget that they will use every angle to rip off the people every chance they get.
i am hoping to use the letter i saved in a legal defense someday, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a rip off for a rip off. i cheer every time a bank of amerika is robbed! hopefully nobody gets hurt.
BOA is the institution that caught a lot of flak for creating mortgages for "undocumented" aliens.
I wonder how that's working out?[email protected]
I've had other people relay the same experience Luka. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Not all online payments are equal.
MOST companies either use a service or set up another division to handle them. So, they can get away with a "Lag time" between you making a payment and it actually getting credited.
ALl set up to cost YOU money.
Its much worse than we all think. I am a very positive person, but if you want to set me off, lets talk about credit card cos. I am a## deep in debt due to a number of reasons, mostly medical. I have always been on time for all my payments. Discover sent me a letter, pulled my credit file, don't like the total they see, nailed me with a rate triple what I was paying, but kept my monthly about the same in order to eventually extract more blood. chain reaction, BOA, First Omaha, etc... Its a universal code in your small print, they can arbitrarily jump your rates for no actual cause anytime they don't like what they see in your credit report. The bank where I have my operating line gave me notice last of March that they consider me in default and gave me 6 days to cure. Again, always on time, but they held my check until it was late.
I started listening to Dave Ramsey about a year ago. His way of thinking is basically the only way to go. Get out of debt. All debt. Always pay cash. Keep an emergency fund to cover only emergencies, beginning with $1,000, then 3-6 months once you get out of debt. Wish I had done so 5 years ago.
I started listening to Dave Ramsey about a year ago.
I listen to dave on occasion too. Sometimes I find his advice a little extreme or counter productive but generally agree with him.
Dave is a bit extreme at times, but even so I wish I were debt free now. Most everyone else I listen to is extreme as well, so I try to listen to lots and use my brain to filter out what makes sense. I can only take Rush in small doses tho!
I can't deal with Rush anymore.
To be honest, When i'm home I catch Opie and Anthony then Ron and Fez and the Dave.
that's my line up!++++++++++++++++++
"Where will our children find their enjoyment when everything gets itself done by steam? Frederick Law Olmsted, 1850s.
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You time stamp might not equal their time stamp. They post the funds to their account when they want, now when you want. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
The banks have another trick to generate revenue on overdrafts. When checks are posted each day, they post them not by date or check number but by amount; largest first. That way, if your balance is low enough, they can empty it with the largest check and charge multiple overdraft fees on the rest, instead of clearing the small ones first and "earning" just one overdraft fee on the big one.
BruceT
I looked at my credit report and notice that credit card companies are keeping tabs on me on a regular basis.
For example, I have a Home Depot card and I see that they are checking up on me several times a year.
I'm with State Farm Insurance for my house and car and they are also monitoring my credit status.
Darn right insurance companies look at your credit rating. Mine,Pemco, said they find people with lower scores claim more often. They make no bones about it and tell you what your credit rating was and will pay to let you go look for yourself. Now wouldnt it be nice if everyone carried car insurance ? I think it should be charged at the gas pump ,be no fault and get attorneys out of it.
That makes no sense to me. Why would I, who have never had an accident, and am a well trained and safe driver, want to pay the same rate for insurance as my ex, who manages to have two or three accidents a year because she can't turn off her cell phone and pay attention?
No fault insurance only makes sense if your the one who is at fault. One size does not fit all.
"...this company has decided to lower my credit limit which of course screws with my debt to credit ratio."
I think your debt to asset ratio is what they look at.
According to my banker, having too much access to credit actually makes you look WORSE to them. They don't want to loan you money, then have yuo run up a bunch of credit card debt.
One other way to look at it - If YOU are not comfortable with how much you owe, why would you think the credit card people would be comfortable with it?
debt to credit ratio is one area they look at.
If you have more than 40% debt used on credit cards or lines of credit, you are penalized with your credit score.
That credit score system is such a bs system. It's created by the credit industry for the credit industry and has nothing but the interests of the credit industry in mind. Yeah, I know that's the point, but it's ridiculous how things are calculated by numbers alone (as your example).
Rarely will anyone look at the personal information such as my sisters case who has made a house payment on time for 20 years but now can't get approved for a home loan that is less than her current monthly payment.
Her "score" is low due to multiple medical bills that were finally paid by insurance only after they were reported to the credit agency.
Watch the documentary Maxed Out..
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
not to tell you what to do, but, she needs to get the insurance co. to write letter to credit bureaus.
She also needs to report this in a short letter to them herself.
I think she needs to contact the co. that turned her over to a collection agency.
She's working it, thanks. Meanwhile the house she wanted to buy to downsize to was sold..
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
I'm not comfortable, but I wasnt out buying designer underwear either. I used the cards buying and repairing my houses. I have more equity than debt (not that is any great solace). I got stuck on two deals that didnt turn as much as I anticipated so right now i'm treading water.
I was under the impression that the credit to debt also has meaning.
I think your credit score lowers when you cross over a line which is 50% of your credit limit on the card.
I still have a 700 score. The only problem with my cred report came three weeks ago when the local elec co reported me as dead.
lol
They're lucky to have you as a customer with a credit score like that !
Thats why this is freaking me out. I think they're getting scared cause I bought four houses last year and thats where I accrued most of that debt.
They see large expenditures in this climate and think the worst.
Advanta seems to be trying to clean house lately.
Up until recently I had an account with them for my business. 10K limit at 7.99% I ran up and paid off about $2500/month on that card as my primary business credit line. Due to a Monday holiday and a glitch with computer banking I had a payment end up two days late. Totally my fault, but still my first late payment with that company. I got hit with the $40 late payment fee which I fully expected. But the kicker was that they bumped my interest rate from 7.99% to 29.99%.
I called, fully expecting to be able to schmooze them into resetting the interest rate. No dice. I then told the guy that if they wouldn't lower my interest rate then I'd cancel the card. I was told, "maybe that would be best Mr. McCarthy". Ouch. So I did.
Edited 4/29/2008 9:14 pm ET by dieselpig
Its getting tough. One month I didnt receive a bill from BOA. Same as you, great credit, no lates and the interest rate went up about as much as yours did. As soon as I realized what happened, I called and they were about as understanding as Advanta.
I admitted my error* and paid the ard off. After paying it off I tried to cancel the card explaining what had happened. They (at that point) lowered my rate back down.
*How can we be held to the fire when to post office has no accountability? I mean they're good at what they do, but they do lose stuff and then we pay for it.
The way I see it, if i'm held responsible for the mail getting to me it should be sent registered mail.
SOP for BOA
Had a card with MBNA that they bought out. They changed the due date with no notice. They did back out the charges when I complained; was planning on dropping them any way, they just made it easier :-)
This card was at one time an MBNA card. Funny.
They are using that trick all over the USA and when they find someone that can't pay it off, their "take" increases to usurious levels with no relief from the government or bankruptcy laws. I think this is perhaps the biggest scorn on the Pubs during the Bush tenure. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I'm half wondering if the bill ever really got sent, cause i'm a little too anal about my cred score to just lose a bill. I swear it never came across my desk.
The companies are intentionally pulling all types of tricks to make people late. I read an article on it which outlined how much more they are making on late fees, overdraws and racheting up interest. It's criminal. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
It is criminal. Surprising in this era of nobody being at fault for their position, that congress has not addressed the issue.
Still its funny I can have access to $100k unsecured through CC but have trouble occasionally getting a mortgage.
It's kinda scary really. I'd love to be debt free like some of the other guys here but damm if it doesn't seem about impossible from where I'm standing. I don't carry CC debt. I overpay my truck payment every month by a few hundred. Same with my forklift payments. But we're in deep with our house since we just built it about two years ago and took advantage of some funky lending tactics through a mortgage broker friend to get it done. We're cool and the fixed rate payments are managable at a respectable rate.... but it sure seems like a deep hole to be in for the next 28 years.
It ain't easy being a working stiff.View Image
suggestion: make one additional house payment a year to the principal only, it will reduce you time almost in half.
"suggestion: make one additional house payment a year to the principal only, it will reduce you time almost in half."That's only true if the interest rate is very high, like 1982 high. If you have a 30 year loan and the rate is 6%, an extra payment per year will get you to zero around year 25.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Please show me the math on that statement.
$100k loan amount
6.0% rate
30 year termIf you double the last payment of every year, the loan is paid off in year 25.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I'm not sure what is in that attachment, but it froze up my computer real nice![email protected]
had no problems here opening that Excel sheet from JonBlakemore.
If you go to bankrate.com and use the mortgage calculator there is an option for plugging in extra principle payments to see the impact. Its the same type of tool that was in the attachment.
it worked fine for me too, and i really appreciate JonBlakemore providing the numbers as well as pointing out that the original statement was wrong.
the thing i like best about this forum is how quick people correct posters who shoot from the hip and miss.
i like to shoot from the hip myself, and if i am off i find out most riki tik.
We're cool and the fixed rate payments are managable at a respectable rate.... but it sure seems like a deep hole to be in for the next 28 years.
It ain't easy being a working stiff.
Don't worry, it gets better. Wait till you get some kids.
Got 28 years left on a $3K a month Mortgage(30yr fixed), $1K a month to Bloomsburg university and $1K a month in car/truck payments and $800 for part time daycare.
Every time you think your gonna get one step closer, somebody adds something to the pile.
My turn finally came up, at the library, on the copy of "maxxed out".Watched it last night.My first impression is that it is heavy on the political partisanship.There were many other impressions, mostly providing even more incentive to get rid of credit cards.But the one lasting question was, I wonder just how many people commit suicide every year because of seemingly insurmountable credit debt ?
Politics: the blind insulting the blind.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
Yeah, that suicide part was sobering. Especially since it was happening to college kids..
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
I know. Like I said I have alot more on the CC than I would like to see. The last rental we finished left me equity rich and cash poor. Amazingly the CC companies dont care to hear about it.
Mark, are you trying to sell or lease anything right now? Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
All my houses are currently leased. I think were finally close on getting Onaway started (tax returns and P&L went up this week) which is the only project I have right now not including contracts.
I dying to get into commercial and am trying to secure about 50k liquid. Problem is that i'm pretty well leveraged right now so it looks like I need to pay some stuff down before I can make another move.
The people that are currently renting my house in Warren (old primary) want to buy it which would help, but I think they think they're gonna get a better price by waiting.
I have to get rent from them this week, i'm going to talk to them about buying it. I think dumping that house and paying doen some debt with the equity wsould get mo going again.
"...7.99% to 29.99%."
That's just wrong..
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
DP,
The spokes lady for the cc industry was on TV after the politicians climbed in bed with them.She said the reason the rates are raised for late payment is to "teach people the importance of timely payments". Could have barfed.Also, the fine print says that if you are late with one card, all cards you carry may/will increase in interest.When we finally got our cards paid off, they started increasing our credit limit....like I've not learned my lesson.Credit cards are evil.......Pete
They'll try anything. I just got a huge increase in a certain card's credit limit, presumably because I have borrowed less than they'd like.
In some States your car and home insurance can go up if your credit score goes down.
Don't you feel sorry for the poor corporations? < G >
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."
~ Voltaire
Evidently, cause I have an Advanta card that I carry a balance on but dont use. They apparantly dont like that cause they told me my cred to debt ratio was too high.
Their solution, drop my available balance to just above what I owe actually making the ratio worse.
Must be run by politians.
Messing around I googled 'advanta complaints'. Seems there's plenty or of that service spread around to other customers. wow!
Looks like there may be an attempt going by the Federal Reserve to rein them in:http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSWBT00892120080502++++++++++++++++++
"Where will our children find their enjoyment when everything gets itself done by steam? Frederick Law Olmsted, 1850s.
"
Nice bank im using there. Legal loan sharking. I wonder if congress will be able to do anything about this.
Advanta is pretty hardnosed. BOA tried to raise the rate on one of my cards. I told them that while things are currently tight, I am paying, and if they are interested in someone defaulting on them to keep my rate high and watch what happens......They dropped the rate back down immediately.
The only way to get the laws changed is to complain to so called powers that be. make it very unpleasant to congress. Don't forget the want to be presidential knot heads.
that means you need to send a short note to your reprobates in congress and don't forget the state government also.
Saw this yesterday . http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004389731_creditcards03.html
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Your probably right .
I will delete that .
thanks.
Now I feel guilty for telling you...I'm going to delete that! Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
wha? wha? what'd I miss?!
I hate that!.
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."
Just me making a dumbazz post. Not to worry though, I will no doubt come back around again with another one in the near future.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
lol.
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"Thank goodness for the Democrats! If you are terminally unemployable, enjoy living off of govt welfare and feel you owe society nothing you're in luck: there is a donkey waiting for you."