It seems alot of these people are to stupid to understand that concept Ray.

yes.. you are damn right... why borrowing money to spend by over using credit card for a vacation... no money, no vacation... our government should not bail out these crunches..

I agree with you Ray except for the medical issue. I find it somewhat alarming that Doctors offices, hospitals, etc. push you hard to pay for medical expenses with a credit card. With interest already high and often going higher, this is a really bad way to pay for what is often very expensive procedures. Someone needs to come up with a better solution to paying for medical debt.

As for the rest, no sympathy from me...I owe people like them for my credit card interest rates going up even though I carry very low balances (only have 2) and often keep them paid off. At this point I was so mad at being raised from 11% to 18% I paid the card off and stopped using it altogether. I'm glad I could do that, but then I could because I didn't spend beyond my means.

Marie when my mom got sick about 20 years ago in less than a week the hospital had run up over $20000 in charges and that was after her insurance had paid 90% of the bill. The hospital was billing her for 7 different doctors most of whom she never even saw. Mom got pissed off and fired all the doctors but her primary. Then the hospital tried to push my dad into selling the house to pay off the balance of the bill.Mom and Dad fortunately had the house homesteaded and they told the hospital they would pay them off as they could afford.It took a few years but the doctors and hospital were finally paid off but those kind of predatory practices are all over the place.

This one is my favorite.

“We’ve done everything right. We’ve paid our bills, we’ve been responsible … and yet we’re being penalized because other people aren’t paying their bills,” said Laura Kolb, who is working to pay off $50,000 in credit card debt, mostly amassed during a difficult divorce.

If you are divorced and have $50,000 in credit card and you still think you "have done everything right" you are dilusional.

“What’s happening now is consumers are so scared. They don’t trust their banks at all,” said Robert D. Manning, author of “Credit Card Nation.” “Instead of going shopping or going out to dinner, they’re trying to pay down their debt as much as possible.”

Folks:

It's about time!

Except for larger purchases such as home and car loans; and except for monthly use of a credit card with an immediate pay off of the balance, you should not use credit instead of cash.

Unfortunately these times are luring people into even more debt as they lose a job and/or lose medical benefits. Where does it end?

All of this is related....the recent past bad fiscal policy at the corporate level....the bad fiscal policy at the personal level....the rapid rise in the expense of health care and the financial devastation of not having health insurance....the bubble economies that seem to be being inflated and blown up with more and more regularity.

We, as a nation can afford to spend 119% of our income.

We do not need everything we see.

We should not put much trust in our financial and industrial giants.

We should not let our politicians off the hook for decades of pandering to big money interests like insurance; medical; banking; automotive; energy.

I am so very disappointed in so many things that were once good about the United States of America.

Good Luck, you will need it!

re: the above post....a small error, so sorry:

We, as a nation can "not" afford to spend 119% of our income.

How can $30,000, $50,000 or $60,000 of credit card debt just "creep up on you?" That comment is almost insane. While I don't balance my checkbook to the penny, I have a darn good idea at any given moment as to what I have available and what bills are coming down the pipeline. But I can't be too critical.....

Remember the free-spending 80's? I do. That's when I amassed credit card debt. When I went to consolidate my debt, I got a letter stating "Debt exceeds income." I'll never forget it. Started paying the cards off, 1 at a time, cutting them up and returning them. Now I only have 1 card as does my husband. If it's over $100, we talk about it before we spend. When we refinanced the house recently, our bank officer said from the reports, "It looks like you pay cash for most things." It's not that difficult to do -- just requires some discipline and not thinking you have to have every new "this or that" that's out there. The one exception to the spending rule -- Dingo bones for our 2 sweet Boston Terriers. They've got to have their Dingo bones. :-)

"Except for larger purchases such as home and car loans...you should not use credit instead of cash."

I disagree. I don't even think credit should be used for these purchases either. Either you save & have the money up front to purchase a house or car, or you wait. If you don't have the cash & "need" to use credit for the purchase of a house or car, then obviously you can't afford it. It's that simple. I saved up $26,000 & bought a car outright. No payments. No interest. No debt. Now that's sweet.

Look I don't think they are complaining about paying their debt. what the complaint is after paying on time for many years and not being late the interest rates are going up. For example, I never used my Home Depot card (from Citibank) I had it for about a year until late last month. now I have a balance I was planing to pay over a 12 month time frame with the interest. When I got my first bill they (Citibank) informed me that my interest rate will increase next month form 22% to 27% that is the normal account rate NOT the default rate that will be like 34-36 %.

This is what people are complaining about. Home Depot was not the only credit card company that has raised my rates.

And as soon as you start paying it down they will lower your limit and the lower that goes the more negatively it will effect your credit rating which may raise your rate again.

Here's an idea. Sell the fifth wheel.

that would be more difficult than selling the pope trojans right now

Nukeman,

Here's a better idea: Don't buy the fifth wheel in the first place.

I'm not sure what's more painful, the people who are dieseased with the instant gratification virus, or ignorant people who lack any understanding of how our financial institutions and government work (or don't work). Maybe some of you are too young to know that when credit cards became popular, the terms were easy to understand and the banks had a decent reputation they looked to uphold in their communities. I don't excuse ignorant spending, but you can't ignore the vicious cycle of debauchery the banks have created (mostly since the housing boom) by jacking-up the interest rates of the customers with very good/faultless payment histories to cover the losses of those who've defaulted... typically defaulted because the banks lent money to people without regard to their credit rating - just like they lent money to buy houses the customer (or as it turns out, the bank too) could NOT afford. In addition to the banks ripping-off the middle income folks, the government has forced us to cover their malpractices with our tax dollars.

The health insurance problem is really just like the proverbial 'feather on the camel's back' at this point - it's coming to light because of the weak economy - but health insurance is NOT such a big issue when the economy is healthy and more people are employed and have health insurance benefits. Let's fix our banking system first and make sure they don't have the power to cripple our economy with their continued profiteering.

At the end of the day, the banks (like our government), have to be led by a moral conscience and not by greed. You have to ask yourself who is more responsible: the person who spent the money, or the institution who did the lending?

Dear President O'Bama: Where did our $750B bail-out and recovery plan money go to?

Nice comment; Boo Hoo. Ever think that for some, who have lost their jobs, they need to charge food, gas etc just to keep living. Sure there are many who simply don't care and charge everything, but for one of those, and there are many, who need to charge to stay going.

And how about those banks that screwed those exact same people on the home sale, throwing them into the street when they doubled or tripled their mortgage, and cry Boo Hoo to our government to "Please bail me out". But guess who winds up paying for the bail out, the exact same people the Banks are screwing with the increased interest rates.

Walk in someone’s shoes first before you start to throw stones.

Doc.

I agree with you about being responsible - but health insuraney ce is simply unaffordable if your job does not offer it. We have short-term catastrophic insurance, $10,000 deductible, and even then I am afraid that should we need to use it, they will find a way to ger around paying certain coverage.

I recently read that over half the bankruptcies in the US are due to medical expenses, and the majority of those people had insurance, but the insurance companies refuse to pay for so many procedures!! Especially if you have an existing condition.

AMERICA NEEDS PROPER NATIONAL HEALTH COVERAGE!! If all of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the UAE, Brunei, Singapore, etc. can manage to do create a system whereby no one has to face bankruptcy for emergency and necessary medical care, why can't we?

Please credit card companies are leaches, they suck every penny they can from people, even if they know it's morally wrong. There are people who get into debt recklessly, but there are those can't maintain without them, they are honest, hard working american's who don't overspend, so stop attacking, I am so sick that is all you read on newsvine, judgmental people, who have no compassion for anybody. Walk in someone's else shoes for a while, and get off your fricken high horse.

ljmahuiki, I can only walk in my own shoes, but the folks who take advantage of loose credit and and buy homes they can't afford, or end up owing $50,000 or more on their credit cards, are also leeches. Without people like that there would be no credit crisis, no matter how greedy the banks and the credit companies are.

Pay your bills like a responsible Human Being

Homesick is right.

Going bankrupt due to hugely overpriced medicine is sad. You get well, or are still sick and are now broke.

Well as I always say, with an economy that is 70% consumption if people did not buy things they did not need we would have all been out of work years ago, this economy is collapsing now because people are pulling back. As far as credit lines decreasing and interest rates increasing let me quote every investment house ad of the last 25 years, "past performance is no guarantee of future returns", meaning the credit card companies know you pay when your flush but hard times are coming and they don't know how your gonna pay when you loose a job and can't find a new one, or have to accept one at half pay. And remember please I and others like me pay high interest and fees so others can get their free loans every month with cash back etc, your the freeloader not me, they make money off of me. Bottom line, we are all being robbed blind and as long as we engage in this class warfare BS of whose more responsible, who's the better citizen we will all go down together. The Federal Reserve, a private banking entity has been givin free reign over our economy this week, we are no longer a free country and three quarters of the people on the vine don't even know it yet

Last time I checked on that particular travel trailer, 2 yrs ago, it run about $69,000.clearance price.  I filed for bankruptcy in 2005 because I had 1 good leg and no job because of injury. Best thing I ever did.  About lost everything but home. Credit rating was kaput but Capitol One took chance when I got new car for work transportation, leg got fixed. I have 1 credit card with 0 balance, and if I do use it I pay it off right away with money from savings. My 2007 car has just been paid off because I learned company is closing. So far I am healthy.  I owe nothing but utilities, car/house insurance, property taxes and almost got house paid off. Do I feel sorry for these people. Kinda-nope. Everyone wants to better their situation in life so they work hard to do it. But we have been slowly scammed by the buy now, pay later theory, by government and the businesses and their cohorts who pay for the perks of the elected officials.  I guess I kind of got lucky and woke up before I lost everything.   WHEN WILL  YOU WAKE UP  BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE???

America's healthcare the worst- are you kidding me?

I suspect folks like "Responsibility..." won't be happy until care for every little ache and pain he has is paid for by the government (that is, the rest of us taxpayers).

Basically--I won't be happy until a human being's survival does not depend on his luck at having a job when a medical catastophe strikes

Van. A list of industrialized countries with socialized medical systems that are better and much cheaper than the US system is easy to find. (Even Cuba is on that list)

Can you give a couple examples of the opposite?

You can do all those things with a debit card. I don't even buy checks anymore--I can get a free counter check at the bank for the very few bills where I can't use the card.

The 1st card company that raised my rate when I'm current is the 1st card I'd stop paying in til I paid off the rest. Talk about being stupid and greedy.

It is stupid and greedy. I was a long-time responsible user of my credit cards, and last year WaMu told me they were raising my rate. Doubling it in fact, from 13.99 to 25.99. Not because I was late, or over the limit, just BECAUSE THEY COULD.

I had a fairly significant balance on it, and I'm betting they did it because they doubted I could pay it off, so they expected to reap HUGE rewards by jacking up what they charged me for credit, even though all of the purchases I made were made at the much lower rate.

Cancelled it immediately, and paid it off in two months. They won't get another penny of my business. And Chase, who bought them out, is just as bad.

If a credit card company is changing the terms of it's agreement with you, you have the right to reject those changes and cancel the card. The interest rate will stay at the level it was before the change in terms, while you pay it off; you just can't use the card anymore. Why didn't they do this when they were notified of the rate change?

The exception would be if their rate was variable, not fixed, in which case arguing that it makes sense load up the balance on the 5% card because it's a better rate is awfully shortsighted.

That's their usual modus operandi, but the USPS decided I moved out of my house Christmas before last. It took THIRTEEN physical visits to my PO, and 5 calls to their 'Customer Concerns' line before I got my mail service restored. It took EIGHT MONTHS for the USPS to figure out they were twits. Meanwhile, the letter announcing the change to my account slipped by in the interim. WaMu KNEW my mail wasn't being delivered correctly (they told me so on-line), but still considered it an 'acceptance' despite it being returned.

NO announcement was made to me on-line, only via USPS, who hamstrung me for eight months because the special children who work there can't do their jobs either.

Am I 100% innocent? No, we took an extended vacation Christmas 2007, and didn't stop our mail properly. But after a visit or two, I would expect that to have been resolved. Instead it took until AUGUST to fix it. The USPS is just as culpable as WaMu in my book, prehaps more so.

jm

Actually in the small print, the credit card companies all have terms which say you give them permission to alter the terms of their agreement any time they want to and they don't need you to agree.

Also, for all these people who are paying of cards and the closing the accounts, you should remember that every time you close a line of credit, you lower your FICO score, so it will be harder to get credit in the future.

On the other hand, if you don't use the card for a while, like several months, they will lower your credit limit so low that that will also effect your FICO score.

Most FICO formulas do consider your credit to debt ration, which mean how much credit you CAN have versus how much you actually have used. So a credit card with a $10,000 limit on it and a $5.00 balance, is worth more on your credit score than no card at all or one with a $250.00 limit on it and no balance due.

I have very few credit cards - two national ones (one is my debit card which I don't use for credit) because sometimes you can't even rent a car, make an airline reservation (that's what the other one is for - like when a relative was very sick and I had to fly out quickly), etc., without a credit card. I also have a four store credit cards which I have had for decades. Two of them have allowed me to buy kitchen appliances when they finally stop working and replace my dryer when it caught fire with one year at no interest, which was easy, but I couldn't have bought them outright.

One of my department store cards I hadn't used in ages, and it hasn't had a balance in ages either. When my daughter-in-law came to help care for me when I had surgery, I rewarded her by giving her the card and letting her go shopping for herself (she spends everything on her family and would never buy anything for herself and they have very little) . There had been a $1500.00 balance on that card all the time I have had it. She bought about $500.00 worth of things she really needed. Imagine my shock when I went to pay and found out my card limit was $200.00. I was told this was because I hadn't used it and apparently didn't need it. I demanded (yes, I could have paid cash but I was mad and embarrassed with all these people standing around and my daughter saying she'd put everything back) that it be raised to at least cover the purchases already rung up and on the counter. They said if they did that, my interest rate would double. I said I didn't care (I was going to pay it off anyway), so everything finally went through. But now I notice, several months later, my limit is back down to $200.00 but the interest rate is still doubled.

I checked my other cards and found another one had done the same thing - lowered the $2000.00 limit, which has had zero balance since last year, to $350.00 and the interest rate is now higher. Unfortunately I found this out after we got robbed and needed to replace a power washer to finish preparing for hurricane season (cost $345.00 plus tax) so I used the card because they had a 20% off in that department that day if you used your card. The card didn't go through, but I also found out I had inadvertently overpaid them the last time by $300.00, but I could not use that for purchases. I had to write a letter and request it be returned to me in a check. I guess that must have been in the fine print somewhere too, and I missed it, so they have had my money all this tie and I couldn't even use it.

Since I have so few cards, each of these lower limits will effect my credit score. I can't get them back up unless I keep a balance near that amount on the card, or so I am told, and request increases as necessary even if I pay it off each month. So then I have to buy something else to show my "need" for the higher balance, even if I pay that off, or they will lower it again, etc., etc., etc. My other two store cards have not done this yet, but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It is a racket. I can't close them, I don't need to use them, and I can't not use them, but any choice I make will eventually have a negative effect on my credit, even though I have done nothing wrong.

I feel like they are just trying to squeeze every nickel out of everyone before the consumer protection bill takes effect next year. And of course, then a lot of people will who have been playing even above the rules will get a nasty surprise regarding their credit scores, which now effects job applications, school financial aid costs, refinancing a mortgage for a lower rate, etc., etc., not just getting a credit card.

I am in the process of trying to figure out where I can complain about this, since two of these cards are now handled by Citi which not only still has our tax dollars, but recently got booted off the Dow Jones. Anybody have any ideas?

yes but it involves torches and pitchforks which is not really practical.......yet, anyway congrats for being responsible, too bad you are getting diddled for it

To those that worry about FICO scores I have but one question...why?

Pay off the cards, cancel them and get off of them, tear them up. The scores are manipulated by the credit card companies and, due to the tremendous volume of foreclosures, car repos, credit card walk offs, etc, any one without a blemish from this period of time will have impecable credit 10 years from now, after The Greatest Depression ends.

Sometime in 2010, credit will once again be pretty much impossible to get anyway. Hyperinflation will be the death knoll of credit...no loan will be made with current dollars that will be devalued by 1/100 in a year.

Remember, there are still millions of homeowners currently struggling with ARM's that are yet to reset, deperately trying to refi in a "no credit" environment. There are STILL billions and billions of toxic assets on bank and credit institution balance sheets. (Heard anything about resolution of those yet? Heard ANYTHING on that topic lately?)

This week the creators of this national financial disaster (Congress) have put the original instigator (the FED) in charge of all aspects of recovery. Welcome to serfdom and the new national hegemony.

Pay off your credit cards and other minor debt with the chance of variable rates as quickly as possible. If you have a fixed rate mortgage, hang on as best you can. In two years time you will have the opportunity to decide whether to buy a tank of gas or pay off your house. (Providing you 1. still have a job, 2. have a variable pay rate closely tied to inflation each pay period, 3. have successfully survived the relentless attacks of thousands of homeless, hungry, desperate former citizens, police, fire, state workers and politicians who individually feel that they, and their families, truely deserve what you may have more than you or your family do.)

I have little sympathy for those that refinanced to cash out equity, bought on speculation, or paid bills from HELOCs (Home Equity Line of Credit).

I have even less sympathy for the credit card companies, banks or other institutions that barraged me with finance offers from 2004 to 2009, called me practically daily from telemarketing firms (even now after signing onto the "Do not Call" registry from the beginning), and made my family feel inferior because others bought all the toys, took all the vacations, and had fancy houses.

And I have NO sympathy for our current crop of self serving weasels in Congress when they eventually face the mobs in their home districts armed with any and everything in sight, mobs pissed at being ignored during the initial bail out, mobs pissed at being sold out to advance totalitarianism, mobs pissed at the loss of national confidence and pride, mobs pissed at the realization that they have lost everything, and mobs elated that they have nothing left to lose and one of the architects is near at hand.

Those who were educated 30 or more years ago, remember your basic economics lessons related to banking. In our system, as it exists, if you put $1,000 into a savings or CD account, right now the bank MIGHT pay you 1% interest. Yet, the bank, on the basis of your $1,000 deposit, can now loan $10,000 at 6% interest. In a year, you make $10, the bank makes $600 on YOUR money. It's the magic of the reserve banking system.

The whole system needs to collapse and be changed to something different.

Old...

My biggest worry concerning the FICO scores is how they are being used now. It is not just credit - you're right, there isn't any and there probably won't be for a while at least. But I and many others in much worse positions than me, are looking for a job. We had hoped to retire, but that isn't going to happen now, with one of us out of work, and the other one not well, and really needing to be able to retire soon. I am using some of my other skills to contribute something, but it will not be enough to support us all, since there are a lot of medical bills involved, and we can't survive without the insurance.

But now, at this time of all times, employers are doing credit checks as well as background checks, and we have worked too hard for a clean slate on both of those, and of course you will never know if that was the reason, but it can't help but cross your mind that this is something I am paying for that I had nothing to do with, as I pursue various possibilities.

We have another issue in my state, and I would be interested to know if it is occurring anywhere else. According to the FTC, they haven't heard of this yet, but our state Attorney General's office has. The three credit bureaus are now allowing marketing businesses to get stacks of credit reports and call people to solicit business. Being on the "Do Not Call" list doesn't help. I have talked to a lot of other people and we are all getting these calls, and they all freely admit that they have your credit report and FICO score, with all the personal information in it.

According to the Feds, this is illegal, since credit reports are only supposed to be released with the individual's permission or with a genuine "need to know". If you have still got good credit, they are selling vacation packages and whatnot. If you have bills, they are selling "magic" consolidation packages, or refis, or whatever. In any case, if you try to discuss the illegality of what they are doing (they are very upfront about having your credit report and which bureau they got it from), they hang up.

I have now started a new tactic and have been encouraging others to do the same - tell them you're very interested but right in the middle of something and need a call back number for a few minutes from now. They give it, and you can call back and get the exact name of the company (which they don't often volunteer in the first call). Our attorney general advised us to get these companies' names and phone numbers so they can put an investigator on it.

The problem here, as I am sure you know, is that too many inquiries into your credit report also lowers your score, because it makes it LOOK like you are shopping for credit. I had to make additions to mine when I bought my last car, shopped for financing, and had six or eight different agents competing over a period of a day or two. Also, the three bureaus have now changed their websites so it is impossible to get a hold of them now without paying a fee AND writing a letter (the fee started when it became possible to get a free annual report). I have written all three several times (without paying a fee) demanding an explanation (not a report) and gotten no response, but I was getting, when this started, just after the first of the year, a couple of calls a week. Now, I and everyone I have talked to, are getting several a day, in some cases, sometimes from the same company name.

I haven't changed anything in my life, except for the huge medical bills, where I simply met with the parties involved and made arrangements to pay off slowly, but I have noticed that over the months, when I ask what they have for my FICO score, it has slid several points. It had been the same or rising a little for years. I started over seven hundred (bless you with the 800+ - I can't imagine how you did that, but I have done the best I could), and at this rate, I could end up with a FICO of 2. In one of my letters, I even asked for instructions on how to put this in my report so it doesn't look like I initiated calls for "glorious vacations" and other such nonsense. I sent this certified, but again, no response.

So I guess I am wondering what other things these all-controlling scores are being used for and how "out there" all this information is now. I can envision a lot of new identity theft cases, for example. I see a lot of bad outcomes here for those of us trying to weather this economic meltdown as best we can, and I am starting to suspect we don't know the half of it.

Hmmm, I don't have a nice house with a fifth wheel trailer sitting outside, I don't go on expensive vacations or have Insurance debt (I wouldn't even CONSIDER paying insurance on a credit card: dumb,dumb,dumb) or a motorcycle that needs fixing. Then again, I don't have an $87,000 debt either.

I realize medical debt is a problem and totally understand it, but if it exists then you need to work at paying the debt instead of crying about your problem by sitting in your fifth wheel hoping people feel sorry for you.

Yes i had used a card to pay off a car loan because it was lower interest rate than bank offered. At the time they wanted us to use home equity loan to pay off about $3,000 which was not an option as we were working to pay off home loan. BoA just notified me that my interest rate was going from 5.9% to 11.9, still alot better than other cards. When credit card companies started jacking me around with interest and late payments a couple of years back I got rid of all but 2. Now 15 YEAR loan on home is paid for, only BoA card has a balance and I dont use credit unless it is for major purchase like a computer (Made in China crap doesnt last long) or appliance, or around Christmas. I have some sympathy for these people because $30,000 was for medical bills but what about the rest of it.

Erin

But with the credit card companies tanking your credit score with all these "adjustments", how do you keep your business going? You can't go somewhere else for credit during this recovery because your score will be too low and they are also raising the minimum scores for even issuing the little credit they are doling out. And every time you pay something down, your limit will drop accordingly, effecting your credit score again. What answer do you see here?

These people who ran up their credit card debt are just plain and simple idiots. They should consider the interest rate increases as just another "tax on the stupid".

CEOs and other executives of credit card companies are morons. They spend all their time biting the hand that feeds them--the customer.

JC

So much for credit card companies being willing to work with you, huh? And of course they can say "yeah, okay". They know that if you cancel that card, it will lower your credit score, so you are really the only one taking the hit in the end (pun intended).

Senior: You are 100% right. I do the same thing: have one credit card and pay it off every month.

I learned my frugal ways from my grandmother, who in turn learned hers from the depression!

I could not agree more. After a very brutal divorce I was head over heels in debt with cards. Took a second morgage and paid it off, wrote off the interest to the loan. Now everything is debit card. I still have a Cosco American express that I use 2-3 times per year and pay off that month. I don't understand paying auto or house insurance with credit?!. That means your house is paid off and don't need a excrow account. If that is the case. These people should take a 15 year morgage and use the interest right off with the P&I of 5.6% and pay it off sooner. Just my ho. Thanks

See my post at 8.1 above. That's the answer.

12345

Please explain. I read your post and I don't understand. Of course they are biting the hand that feeds them, but there are so many people out there who are going to be paying them forever so I don't think they care if they ruin the rest of us who aren't in that position.

I really would like to hear how some of us who have posted here are supposed to come out of this with our scores intact without having to use their cards.

I would personally like to see the credit card companies go under so that they have to BEG for business but that won't happen.

PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T WISH FOR THAT! Are you crazy? Guess who will bail them out? Three guesses, and the first three don't count.

Same here. I actually had a zero balance and BOA raised my rate to 15.6% or something like that for future purchases.

Mine was 10%, went to 25%. Then Citi sold my Upromise card to them (TARP funds at work) now the limit is cut. Interest rate hasn't gone up yet. I'm waiting for that letter.

And again, if you close the account or carry a zero balance on it, it effects your credit score - negatively.

Jerry

I could buy your reasoning 100% if credit scores weren't now also being used for a lot of other things besides credit, like business licenses and employment opportunities, to name just two. At this point, no one is saying a lot about this, but it is being included in even higher education admissions! My goodness, people are trying to get jobs, and the credit cards they don't have or aren't using are working against them!

One thing to point out is if you want a security clearance for gov't work they will be doing a credit check.

TX

There seem to be a lot of things that now include a credit check.

We have another issue in my state, and I would be interested to know if it is occurring anywhere else. According to the FTC, they haven't heard of this yet, but our state Attorney General's office has. The three credit bureaus are now allowing marketing businesses to get stacks of credit reports and call people to solicit business. Being on the "Do Not Call" list doesn't help. I have talked to a lot of other people and we are all getting these calls, and they all freely admit that they have your credit report and FICO score, with all the personal information in it. They are selling vacation packages, magic" consolidation packages, refis, or whatever.

Our attorney general advised us to get these companies' names and phone numbers so they can put an investigator on it, since this is flat illegal.

The problem here is that too many inquiries into your credit report also lowers your score, because it makes it LOOK like you are shopping for credit. Also, the three bureaus have now changed their websites so it is impossible to get a hold of them now without paying a fee AND writing a letter (the fee started when it became possible to get a free annual report). I have written all three several times (without paying a fee) demanding an explanation (not a report) and gotten no response, but I was getting, when this started, just after the first of the year, a couple of calls a week. Now, I and everyone I have talked to, are getting several a day, in some cases, sometimes from the same company name.

I haven't changed anything in my life, except for the huge medical bills, where I simply met with the parties involved and made arrangements to pay off slowly, but I have noticed that over the months, when I ask what they have for my FICO score, it has slid several points. It had been the same or rising a little for years. At this rate I could end up with a FICO of 2! In one of my letters, I even asked for instructions on how to put this in my report so it doesn't look like I initiated calls for "glorious vacations" and other such nonsense. I sent this certified, but again, no response.

So I guess I am wondering what other things these all-controlling scores are being used for and how "out there" all this information is now. I can envision a lot of new identity theft cases, for example. I see a lot of bad outcomes here for those of us trying to weather this economic meltdown as best we can, and I am starting to suspect we don't know the half of it.

I recently got one of these calls, saying my student loan was in collections. I stayed on line and talked to a representative and asked which loan they were refering to as I do not have a student loan. (I had cosigned a student loan with my son but have yet to see a bill as he is still in school) Lets just say I kept this person on line for a while before I got tired of the game and hung up. I never got a straight answer as they were just fishing for business. At least now I know why I am getting these kind of calls... usually use caller ID to screen these calls

Alykatma

In our state, our attorney general has advised us to try to find out how they know what they say about your "debt" and if it is from a credit report from one of the bureaus, say you would like to discuss this further in a few minutes (for whatever reason - personally, I can always say I'm in the middle of something without lying because I always am), and get a call back number. When you call back, you will get the company name. All f this should be turned in to your attorney general's office or where ever they handle these kinds of investigations, because the distribution of consumer credit files by these bureaus is in violation of federal law and there are moves afoot to prosecute this.

I know this takes a few minutes of everyone's time, but we need to protect what little privacy we have left, and the distribution of our credit reports to anyone who wants one is damaging to us and can become really serious if it falls into the wrong hands. But most of all, it is clearly and unequivocally against the law.

huh

But the problem is that they are making their money off of the people who will be paying them more and more for years and years. The rest of us will just sit and watch our credit scores drop, and that effects more than just getting credit.

Good.... I dont need their stinking business. Instead of spending I am saving. House is paid for so I have equity if needed... in an emergency.

Alykatma

But with this new and very illegal scam of the bureaus releasing your credit report to just anyone, even those of us with good credit may not be able to use it in an emergency. Every time some one accesses your report, your score is lowered, and that effects even things like whether you can use the equity in your home.

Also, this new free access to people's credit makes those who are saving and have credit or equity prime candidates for identity theft.

Three amens and a darned right!!

Isn't it funny? Its seems so much that the person who interviewed them said; "So, Mr and Mrs Hamman, you have $87,000 in credit card debt? Here, let me take your picture in your new fifth wheel, overlooking your beautiful house". Somehow, these people must be really ignorant to think they would be felt sorry for, Ha!

pnwseagal,

I apologize if anything I said was offensive to you. I truly feel sorry for those in your situation, and do not consider you a deadbeat. Hard times can fall on anyone. I know, I've been there. I don't think anyone is blaming people like you, especially since it sounds like you were responsible before you got cancer and the leaches got you. I do not believe in putting everyone's situation in a box.

But, there ARE many deadbeats out there. Those people AND the credit card companies are to blame. That's where I'm coming from.

YOU are NOT one of the deadbeats. YOU ARE one of the legitimate victims of the credit card companies and our financial system. I doubt there are very many people who would view your bankruptcy, due to health costs resulting from cancer, to be objectionable to any degree. Your situation is what the bankruptcy process was designed to enable...so get some sleep and don't worry about it.

We object to the millions of others that will be walking away from obligations resulting from short sighted and self serving choices.

Americans really are the most charitable people on earth, and there are few that will object to an extra 1/350000 of a penny that goes to offset your legitimate circumstance.

Jim

But with your credit limits lowered, which will continue if you don't use the cards, your wonderful credit score will also start taking a hit. This is turning into a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" game, and the good guys are getting shot too.