The 5 businesses that rip off the poor

[liberal N proud]

Banks rate right there with the Check/Loan Sharks

1. Payday lenders

2. 'Buy here, pay here' car lots

3. Used-car leasing

4. Rent to own

5. Banks

http://money.msn.com/shopping-deals/5-businesses-that-rip-off-the-poor-weston.aspx

[Reader Rabbit]

2. State lotteries should be on that list.

It's basically a tax on the poor. Yeah, it's optional, but you don't see the rich buying lottery tickets.

[MH1]

3. A lot of non-poor buy lottery tickets.

Often when the pot gets big enough, groups of coworkers will all buy tickets as a pool. If any one wins, they split the pot. That improves the odds of winning for everyone in the group.

Which is why you often hear about a group of coworkers winning the lottery.

Usually these folks aren't what is generally meant by "poor" although they aren't rich either. (Some make enough they would be derided as "rich" by some posters on DU though.)

[MedicalAdmin]

4. More accurately it is a tax on the mathematically challenged.

Having said that I see more poor and middle class buying tickets than the poor and I say that by noticing where the ticket machines are. They ubiquitous in poor and middle class neighborhoods. I have as of yet to see one at any country club or high end restaurant area.

[Romulox]

6. In economic parlance, many people derive "utility" from the *chance* to win. So the money isn't

"wasted", strictly speaking. That said, I'm not much of a gambler.

[Scuba]

11. Bingo.

[zbdent]

7. Donald Trump bought a number of Powerball tickets a while back ...

and he wasn't "poor" ...

And I also wonder why a lot of my Republican/Conservative "friends" play the Powerball and Mega Millions ...

[liberal N proud]

9. Winning for him would be pocket change

He only does something if it draws attention to himself.

[Fumesucker]

12. Innumeracy is even more rampant than illiteracy..

[Romulox]

5. Nike. nt

[Fumesucker]

13. +1

[NightTemplar]

8. Banks are the worst...

Your checking account has 1000 dollars in it... and you have a $1000 check come thru, a starbucks debit card transaction for $3, a double cheeseburger and coke for $3 and a $5 loaf of bread and gallon of milk...

For your crime of spending more than you have in your account (that the bank promotes and ALLOWS) you will PAY $105 in fees because they pay items from large>small to maximize overdraft fees.

[Art_from_Ark]

14. That's one reason why I never pay for anything with a debit card

It's too easy to start racking up fees.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

10. Books by Gregory Squires

( http://www.amazon.com/Why-Poor-Pay-More-Predatory/dp/sitb-next/027598186X ) and David Caplovitz ( http://lccn.loc.gov/90219758 ) would add many other businesses to the list of exploiters, including mortgage lenders, grocers, liquor stores, gun stores, cigarette vendors, etc.

[high density]

15. Why do people lease used cars?

First off, what the car dealership is doing is terrible by preying off of people in this manner and they need to be punished if they're breaking the law. But secondly, what the heck was this person thinking?

Did the person in this article really need this specific 2008 Jeep Patriot to get to work? I mean $124/wk ($537/mo) over three years will buy you a brand new vehicle. So, why do that to yourself? I would hope that even with bad credit, this buyer would be able to finance the purchase of a cheap $5k car and pay it off over a year or so. (12 month loan for $5650 at the ridiculous state max of 25% APR is $537/mo.) That would be lot better than putting $6500 a year into a lease. If that's the amount you're paying for a lease, you should be in a brand new BMW.

[liberal N proud]

16. I think they prey on people who can't manage to come up with a few hundred dollars for down payment

[OriginalGeek]

17. That and credit rating

A brand new car almost always requires, at the very least, decent credit. Nocredit , slow credit or poor credit doesn't stand a chance and lenders don't care why you were late on a couple payments or that you had a big hospital bill. (not saying there aren't also people who really do just plain fuck up their own selves but they aren't the only bad credit people)

But these "no credit check" places will soak 10 people on the same car and make tons simply because they can go repossess it over and over and keep selling it...