Off The Cuff

Loan Shark Credit Cards

Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, Credit and Financial stuff, Credit and credit cards, It's A Rant, Shame of America on Mar 27 2008

Welcome back!

We live in a world filled with credit this and credit that. Most people are buying something on credit, be it a house or a car. It could be the latest fashions, a set of golf clubs. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that most people no longer know how to exist without buying on credit. And the greedy, nasty people and corporations in this world take full advantage of it. They want your money. They do not care how they get it as long as they get every dollar that you have. If you do not have it, they will go after what you don’t have and want that too. What on earth am I talking about???? Credit cards that are gouging you. They’re called “fee harvesting” credit cards. And you might already be a victim.

This post is actually for those who have less than stellar credit or a poor income or both. College students are part of that. They have not had the time to establish their credit as yet. They are prime targets for these companies. Around graduation time, possibly before, most students start receiving offers of great credit card deals. These seem to be fantastic because it gives the student a leg up on the costs of tuition or books when they have just run out of money for those things. It’s a blessing!!! Or so you thought.

In come the credit card companies peppering the student with all sorts of attractive offers. Recently, a young college student-to-be accepted a credit card so she could pay the last part of her tuition. Her mother agreed to pay the small amount off, $350 on a card with a limit of $500. That sounds pretty good. Shouldn’t take long to pay that off, right? Uh yeah, right. The first extra charge to her account was billed as an $100 “origination fee”. Interest started piling up immediately because it was put down as a cash advance on her account. In addition, the credit card company charged a monthly fee of $10.95 for maintenance on the account.

Now, with the original $350 out and the “origination fee” out as well, she had only $33 left to use on her card. Add on the “maintenance fees” and you got problems. When the second semester came around and the college hit the card for that second tuition payment, the card bounced it and charged her another fee for going over her limit. The college charged her penalty fees because they were not paid their payment. She had to quit college because it had now become a financial nightmare on a small credit card.

Then Mom went to pay the payment online and was shocked to find out that they charged a fee for an online payment. Mom and Daughter paid the company over $300 in four months, yet it was not enough to make a dent in the now ever growing balance. In a few months, the company said that they were over the $500 limit and owed them that much. At that point, she closed the account. That did not stop the company from charging her account with the $10.95 maintenance fee on a dormant account.

If you truly check it out, you will find that this particular credit card company, Applied Bank, is charging over 200 percent in fees and interest. The balance continues to grow long after you have decided to close the account. It will NEVER go away unless you get some help like these people did. They contacted a news agency that confronted the company and bugged them about it. The president of the company made a deal to only charge the original $150 still owed to “get the news guy out of my hair”.

Applied Bank is considered to be a credit card company in the Credit Card Hall of Shame as it should be. And now you were thinking that this is just one company. All the others are the good guys. Uh yeah, right. If you say so. Unfortunately, if you think that way, you may just find yourself a victim of the same type of tactics in other credit card and loan companies. Or has no one learned anything yet???

First, we hear about all those ridiculous loans on homes that are now coming due and foreclosures are rising daily. If that is not bad enough, we have those companies that prey on the low income people and those who have low credit ratings. These types of credit card companies are greedy, out to make a buck and do NOT care how they get it. They will run you over to get to your dollar. This is legal loan sharking. It ought to be ILLEGAL!!! Why? Because they are licensed to steal. Period.

While I do feel that too much government in our lives is wrong, I do think that this time some measure needs to be taken to rid ourselves of those legal loan sharks and leaches who are wrapped up in legalese and hard to read rules and regulations which is what snares the people in the first place. Credit cards are not your friend. They will make you pay and pay and pay, even the best of the bunch will cost way more than you should want to pay for that “bargain”. Does anyone get this???? A bargain is only one if you pay less for it than anywhere else. But, if you pay out in credit card fees and charges, that ain’t no bargain. It’s a ripoff!!!!!

The biggest problem is that so many people are hungry to pay their bills, get those extra nice things or pay the tuition on their college that they are willing to step into the muck to do it. CREDIT CARDS will NOT solve the problems. They will only create more in the long run. Too many people do not look at the long run…only the right now. People most likely to get into this kind of trouble are those whose income is low enough that the more prominent credit card companies won’t give a card to them. That should be a HUGE clue. If they will not but this card company will give it to you, BEWARE!!! The fees and interest may be with you for years, if not forever. If you must deal with them, READ THE FINE PRINT. READ it again and again until you understand it. If you cannot understand it, do not get the card.

So, I am awarding the fee harvesting credit card companies with a SHAME OF AMERICA award that they so definitely deserve. I hope lots of people read this and decide not to have that credit card after all. It ain’t WORTH IT!!!

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