Newly Bankrupt Raking In Piles of Credit Offers

[NVMojo]

Oh, now this is making sense to me! No wonder Reid and pals voted for the bankruptcy bill!! New customers who start all over again! Gee, makes alot of sense. Wonder why I didn't see their point before?

December 11, 2005

TACOMA, Wash., - As one of more than two million Americans who rushed to a courthouse this year to file for bankruptcy before a tough new law took effect, Laura Fogle is glad for her chance at a fresh start. A nurse and single mother of two, she blames her use of credit cards after cancer surgery for falling into deep debt.

Ms. Fogle is broke, and may not seem to be the kind of person to whom banks would want to offer credit cards. But she said she had no sooner filed for bankruptcy, and sworn off plastic, than she was hit with a flurry of solicitations from major banks.

"Every day, I get at least two or three new credit card offers - Citibank, MasterCard, you name it - they want to give me a credit card, at pretty high interest rates," said Ms. Fogle, who is 41 and lives here. "I've got a stack of these things on my table. It's tempting, but I've sworn them off."

If it seems odd to Ms. Fogle that banks would want to lend money to the newly bankrupt, it is no mystery to the financial community, which charges some of the highest interest rates to these newly available customers.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/national/11credit.html?th&emc=th

[liberaltrucker]

1. I'm one of those newly BK's

Yep, there's a flurry of CC offers. I just send them back with a not-so-subtle GO FUCK YOURSELF, CAPITALIST PIG note. Feels damn good:).

[NVMojo]

2. good for you!

[PinkTiger]

3. So am I. I haven't received any offers.

I opted out of offers through the credit bureaus. Anyone can do this; all you have to do is get your free credit report and opt out of offers.

[No Exit]

4. This is not new

It was always an amusing phenomenon: the bankrupt would be inundated with offers of credit. Why? Because the lenders knew that the bankrupt could not declare bankruptcy again for many years. (There were, however, some ways to blunt this harsh reality.)

As always, those who are shredding these credit offers are doing a very wise thing.

Incidentally, some people learned how to survive w/o credit cards from being in debtor's court (not the same thing as bankruptcy except in a certain technical sense.) In debtor's court, the general idea is that the debtor gets the protection of the federal court, and in return he/she sticks to a payment plan in which the debts are paid off in 5 years. Debtors in this plan are warned not to borrow MORE money while they're enacting the plan.

Of course, some of them borrow again anyway (even at the risk of falling afoul of the federal court.) But I've met others who took the warning to heart. As a result, they went for an extended length of time w/o borrowing. IOW, they learned how to do that. (I think everyone should at least experience how it is to go on a cash basis--if possible.)

[Deja Q]

8. Donnie Trump seems to borrow, bankrupt, borrow again, bankrupt...

Why isn't he facing the feds?

And why do people buy his book on becoming wealthy? Apart from the obvious that they're stupid to the point where "handicapped" needs to be redefined...

[No Exit]

10. I get sick of hearing about that attention-whore, Trump

and automatically turn away when I see anything about him in the media. He bores me!

So I can't speak with much knowledge about his so-called business practices. All I can say is it looks like just so much hocus-pocus to me--IOW, he's a con artist.

Trump could hide behind bankruptcy time after time if the bankrupt was actually a corporation, and not him personally. I mean, he could have successive corporations of his declare bankruptcy, or something.

I really think most of his "worth" comes from puffing, not from anything substantial. But as I said above, I don't follow his attention-whoring in the media!

[northzax]

24. well, yes

his corporations declare bankruptcy. And, to his credit, he has made some brilliant real estate deals, and he never uses his own money. Imagine convincing otherwise savvy investors to put up all the money for a building in exchange for less than 100% ownership and no control! That's what he does, basically.

an example. I want to buy, say, the chrysler building. I get you you to put up the $250 million (made up number) asking price. I agree to manage the building, rent it out, etc, in exchange for 25% ownership. I just made $75 million, overnight, with none of my money at risk. it's a pretty good gig, and Trump is good at it.

[NVMojo]

16. I am a bit confused, is this because businesses can go bankrupt

and the owner walks away and starts a new one over and over? I never have understood the Trump revolving bankruptcy door!

[No Exit]

17. Well... yeah, I guess it is.

I mean, a person can be a part of numerous different corporations. That seems to be the case with Donald. And the corporations might just go bankrupt at different times!

[SoCalDem]

5. We called and cancelled and cut up all of ours except for one

which neither of us carry.. Between all the cards we had collected over the years we had about 100K of "available credit"..Never paid any attention to them because we only ever used a few of them..

But after the BK rules went into effect, we wanted to "send a message" even if we were not among the ones who filed..

And yes.. we get about 5 or 6 "offers" every day.. We just feed thwe shredder...burrrrp!

[PA Democrat]

6. I posted this info on another thread about "opting out"

You can opt out of credit card and insurance mail solicitations similar to the "do not call list." Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com

More info here:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.ht...


I did this about a month ago and I am starting to see the decline in my junk mail. It's not supposed to be perfect, but I was getting tired of shredding all of those offers, and I just hated the waste of natural resources.

[Jamison]

20. Thanks for posting that link!

You should post a new thread somewhere in DU with that link in it for everyone to see. I'm so sick of getting their crap in my mailbox, and I never knew you could opt out.

[Deja Q]

7. That's what banks do. They've been doing that for YEARS.

Hell, I'm in counseling and they still send card offers.

Low balances, up to $30k in unsecured debt. The card has pictures of the US flag, eagle, or other jingoistic feces.

[soda]

9. credit?

Is it not illegal for a bankrupt person to apply for a loan ?

[PDX Bara]

11. Apparently it's not...

Surely there are persons working in the credit industry who are members of DU who could answer that. Certainly there are circumstances where there is no other answer but as someone who has always very carefully guarded my credit status, I really resent having to pay higher rates for everything because of people who can't/don't/won't discipline themselves.

[VegasWolf]

12. No, of course it is not illegal! It is up to the discretion of the

creditor whether to lend money or not. It is a business transaction. If the debtor has bankruptcy or other bad credit, then the creditor will charge a higher interest rate to cover his increased risk for making the transaction.

[Lars39]

18. Might depend on the state,

but in TN a person in bankruptcy must get permission from the court/trustee to incur debt.

[northzax]

23. you won't get the offers

until your case is closed. then the court requirement doesn't apply.

[complain jane]

19. Why would it be illegal to apply for a loan?!?

People need to rebuild their credit (if they choose to).

It's real hard to get a loan after bankruptcy, at least for a few years.

But it's certainly not illegal to apply for anything...

[madmark]

13. they need to stay away from them

[AnnieBW]

14. Just Throw 'em Out!

After my husband and I declared BK, we were inundated with credit offers and offers to refinance our house, too. I toss them all.

[Javaman]

15. And this with a bad credit rating...

once upon a time, the time span after bankrupcy was 7 years and all credit companies treated people with bad or poor credit like they had the plague.

Also once upon a time, good credit actually meant something, now it's the kiss of death.

biden can go kiss my ass that credit card supporting shill. He is on some sort of very fine drugs if he actually thinks he could run for prez without his credit card loving past catching up with him.

[depakid]

21. Loan sharks

That's basically what the Republicans AND many of the Dems allowed the financial "industry" to become.

And if you think they're bad- look at the payday and car title loan people.

Now, if the Dems would ever get behind the return of usury laws and consumer protection against various "fees" and fraudulaent practices- they're have a huge populist issue to run with.

Alas, they won't. Yet another of the 99 reason that the Democratic oarty is irrelvant in national politics- and seems to be trying awfully hard to stay that way.

[InkAddict]

22. A credit app (offer) is not a credit line

It will lower a credit score further to apply, receive, and leave unused or use and fall behind even further! - and by golly, if you read the letters, applications don't guarantee you'll be approved, so a little teaser $200 line of credit isn't going to help much and could hurt more if one is in debt in the 1,000s and is already hurtin' even with sweet promises of short-term waivers of big, bad interest.