Bac

Quote from Sandybestdog:

Well gee, I’d love to pay down the balances, but it’s kind of hard when almost the entire minimum payment goes to interest. The terms pretty much state that they can change the terms whenever they want, for whatever reason they want. How was I supposed to know they were going to triple the rate when I had perfect history?

Imagine for a minute you get a mortgage. You qualify for it and follow the contract. 2 years later they send you a notice tripling you interest rate. You call them asking why and they say, “well you owe money, so we’re going to jack up the interest rate.” This would never happen with a mortgage, but we accept it with credit cards and in fact blame the borrower for never being able to pay it off. I guess I learned my lesson now.

Sounds like you need to get a new credit card and throw the one screwing you on the interest away. LOL
 
Quote from jficquette:
Sounds like you need to get a new credit card and throw the one screwing you on the interest away. LOL
Nobody’s going to give me one when you need it. They give you lots of credit when you don’t need it, and cut it off when you do. Actually I got a card from B of A about 6 months ago. But they only gave me $500. I called them and they said they wouldn’t give me anymore. Besides I don’t trust them. Their terms actually say if you are late even by one day, one time, they will throw out all of the current terms and raise the rate. It's like they're trying to find ways to make you screw up.
 
Looks like BAC is cutting its dividend to 1 cent per share. This is one of the fears I was having about the banks and why I have not invested in them. I felt that the government may come in and take over the banks and/or force them to get rid of their dividend. If anyone know of any bonds or preferred shares that will not get a dividend cut and also stay solvent, feel free to let me know.



Friday, January 16, 2009, 10:08am CST
BofA posts 4Q loss of $2.4B, cuts dividend
St. Louis Business Journal



Related News

Bank of America Corp. reported Friday a fourth-quarter loss of $2.39 billion, or 48 cents per diluted share. The news comes on the same day the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank said it will slash its dividend to one cent per share from 32 cents and accepted an additional $20 billion in bailout money.

The federal funds are in addition to the $25 billion BofA has already received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which is designed to thaw the credit markets and boost the economy.

BofA earned $215 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2007.
 
Quote from Sandybestdog:

Well gee, I�d love to pay down the balances, but it�s kind of hard when almost the entire minimum payment goes to interest. The terms pretty much state that they can change the terms whenever they want, for whatever reason they want. How was I supposed to know they were going to triple the rate when I had perfect history?

Imagine for a minute you get a mortgage. You qualify for it and follow the contract. 2 years later they send you a notice tripling you interest rate. You call them asking why and they say, �well you owe money, so we�re going to jack up the interest rate.� This would never happen with a mortgage, but we accept it with credit cards and in fact blame the borrower for never being able to pay it off. I guess I learned my lesson now.

Sounds like an ARM, and you sound like the tools who didn't bother to be responsible and read the fine print
 
Quote from Sandybestdog:

Credit score is about 670, perfect payment and account history on all accounts.

Pay it off with what? I’m not a bank, I can’t xerox money or get a bailout. Of course I should have paid it off instead of closing it. I used the credit, but never thought they’d jack the rate to 25% for no reason. For 2 years most of the payments have gone to interest. I’ll never be able to pay them off at the rate I’m going.

Google this. I am not the only one. Many people are dealing with this same problem. It's capitalism and free markets gone wild.

670 is not great by any stretch.In fact you are half between really bad and perfect credit score.Also they jack up rates on people who pay off only the minimum or very small bits of a large balance.
 
Quote from matgallis:
Sounds like an ARM, and you sound like the tools who didn't bother to be responsible and read the fine print
You have no idea what your talking about. An arm’s reset procedure is written into the contract before it starts, and then adjusts accordingly. They took what the original contract stated as a fixed apr of 8% and changed it to 20% plus prime. This flies in the face of hundreds of years of contract law that says both parties should agree to a contract and follow it, not unilaterally change it in the middle of the game.

Yes technically the contract says they can change the terms at anytime for any reason, but no reasonable person would expect them to triple the rate after 3 years of perfect payment history. It’s kind of like most jobs. Yes they can technically fire you for whatever reason, but any reasonable person would assume that no employer would fire you without just cause.

Lastly, why are you calling me “irresponsible.” I’ve paid my bills on time for 6 years, even though I’m being screwed. After these companies made stupid decisions and jack up interest rates to make up for it, they then get a trillions in bailouts. We should start blaming the truly irresponsible people
 
Quote from dsq:
670 is not great by any stretch.In fact you are half between really bad and perfect credit score.Also they jack up rates on people who pay off only the minimum or very small bits of a large balance.
My credit score was over 720 when they raised the rate. This has nothing to do with credit scores. They are targeting people who they think they can screw. They aren’t going to do this to people who will immediately pay off the balance. Now, almost my entire minimum payment goes to interest.

So basically credit cards are ceasing to exist as a legitimate way to keep a credit line open because as soon as you decide to use it, they will change the terms on you. What a shame.
 
Not a shame as much as a sham.

Truth is though if you aren't capable of paying each monthly balance in FULL you probably shouldn't be using a credit card.

But you do have a point. The rules surrounding credit card debt are a travesty. One needs to run a very tight ship not to run afoul of the arbitrary rules the credit card companies have. Most people are not that diligent and the credit card companies take advantage of it.

Now in the distant past I might have been willing to buy the argument that it's not really the credit card companies' fault because if credit cards are so bad people should simply stop using them. But no longer. When people are discriminated against for NOT using credit cards you know the system is f***** up. New regulations are being implemented and further regulations are probably required. People should have been complaining about this invasion and coercion of their personal finances long ago.
 
Quote from Sandybestdog:

You have no idea what your talking about. An arm’s reset procedure is written into the contract before it starts, and then adjusts accordingly. They took what the original contract stated as a fixed apr of 8% and changed it to 20% plus prime. This flies in the face of hundreds of years of contract law that says both parties should agree to a contract and follow it, not unilaterally change it in the middle of the game.

Yes technically the contract says they can change the terms at anytime for any reason, but no reasonable person would expect them to triple the rate after 3 years of perfect payment history. It’s kind of like most jobs. Yes they can technically fire you for whatever reason, but any reasonable person would assume that no employer would fire you without just cause.

Lastly, why are you calling me “irresponsible.” I’ve paid my bills on time for 6 years, even though I’m being screwed. After these companies made stupid decisions and jack up interest rates to make up for it, they then get a trillions in bailouts. We should start blaming the truly irresponsible people

Firstly, You do have a contract with those companies who do hold your revolving debt. What you failed to notice while signing your contract, was the varability within the contract interest rate. Hence the comparision to those ARM holders. 8.99% fixed ONLY holds if a plethrea of conditions are met and held. Ask for your contract and read the 5-6 pages of fine print. I do know what im talking about because i've held multiple credit cards through various issuers and have paid very very little interest since i've got them (<4%).

Secondly, you ARE irresponsible! You can only pay your interest? Come on what were you buying with that credit card and with what expectations? Grab that fleshy poutch between your thighs and pay off your card! You are right, you were screwed. But who's fault is that, and who has to pay for it? Man up
 
The credit card debt contracts are designed to be obscure and not clear. The debtors aren't free of guilt to be sure but I don't see why people should have much sympathy for the creditors.
 
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