Getting Sued For Credit Cards
Movie Review:
MAXED OUT , 2006 truly*indy film, written, produced, and directed by James Spurlock, run time 87 minutes.
The slogan on the jacket of the film MAXED OUT says it all-"Nothing Is Priceless". Certainly not anything related to credit cards, which over the lifetime of a card averages out to about 66% interest and 33% principle in total repayment.
"Get down to Disneyland in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed." President George W. Bush
Although this is an overly partisan film, in my opinion, with a bias against Republicans, the above quote by then President Bush is revelatory, especially in light of the film's disclosure about MBNA, the largest credit card issuer in the country, also being the biggest Bush financial supporter. The section concerning the Bankruptcy Act of 2005 also serves to portray Bush as a grinning and fairly evil stooge of high finance.
The movie uses anecdotal stories of credit card horror mixed in with pop cultural references. Any film that disparages Suze Orman immediately finds a sympathetic audience with me, and MAXED OUT did not disappoint. An Elizabeth Warren of Harvard University appears throughout, and she provides some of the film's highlights. At one point she discusses a seminar she gave to the executives of a credit card company, where she mathematically proved that if credit was denied to the least reliable fifteen percent, most collection problems and expenses would be eliminated.
Professor Warren was then told by one high ranking exec that if you cut out the most marginal borrowers, you would cut out the bulk of the profits as well. This gets back to that 33%/66% principle/interest ratio mentioned earlier. All those late fees add up, and with George Bush and his pals cooperating, discharging debt through bankruptcy got a whole lot harder in 2005. Judgments are good for twenty years, mainly.
Speaking of bankruptcy, Warren also explained why people who do successfully file for bankruptcy are immediately targeted by credit card companies again-they can't file again for at least seven years and they have a proven taste for credit, and will typically make minimum monthly payments while ignoring the principle balance. In short, in credit terms, such folk can be regarded as annuities for the large finance companies-the gift that keeps on giving at high interest each month.
One wonders though, if dishing the loss off on to the taxpayers should be legal. After all, if credit card companies know letting unreliable people have easy credit will result in tax write-offs for themselves, does this preknowledge not represent a form of theft from the US Government?
The movie makes some interesting observations. Former slaves who became sharecroppers in the antebellum South almost immediately became debt slaves after being granted access to high interest credit. Many lost title to their property, though one assumes they were pretty good farmers. (Note-this assumption is predicated on the idea that former slaves would be used to the labor successful farming requires).
Offering college kids easy credit access is compared to dealing drugs in this movie, and it makes a pretty strong case for this. Worse, the schools get kickbacks for allowing credit card dealers on campus. It's a symbiotic relationship-the school and the local community benefit from college students running up their credit card bills. The story of two mothers whose children committed suicide due to despair over their credit card tabs is particularly touching. Stories of veterans of the Iraq War who were denied bankruptcy are cleverly juxtaposed with the grinning George W. Bush.
One topic that was news to me was the story of Choicepoint, a corporate data mining outfit. I was blissfully ignorant of this company and it’s role in American History until I screened MAXED OUT. Although only briefly mentioned, it prompted me to “google” it, and I was surprised at how involved Choicepoint is in current events. They were the company that disallowed all those African American (Democrat) votes in the 2000 Presidential Elections in Florida. An FBI agent named Robert Fuller claims to have used Choicepoint to no good purpose when screening 911 hijackers (Choicepoint denies this), and John Ashcroft became a high paid consultant to Choicepoint after leaving office. While still in office, Ashcroft lobbied to have Choicepoint made accessible on every government computer. I guess Ashcroft taught Michael Chertoff how to make a buck, because Chertoff did a similar trick with those airport full body scanners.
The movie MAXED OUT is well worth watching, and making a bad credit addict watch as well. I suggest reading the book JUNKY ROAD, by Attorney Eugene C. Kelley for a more in depth analysis, but all in all MAXED OUT was a great movie. The solution to America's financial troubles must pinpoint the true causes, however, and laying the bulk of the blame on the Republicans is not thorough enough. This film was so much more convincing than, say, Michael Moore's FARENHEIT 911, because it wasn't just partisan propaganda. When it descends to this though, the movie breaks down as an effective vehicle for diagnosing a truly awful American Debt Crisis.
Fired From Bank Of America For Being Too Nice
How Much Should a Lawyer Charge You for Defending a Credit Card Claim? (Posted 12/23/2010).
If you get sued by a credit card company or debt purchaser, this is probably the first question to hit you, after you get over the shock of reading a complaint, filed at the courthouse, which states, in intimidating legal language, that you did not pay a bill.
Lawyers in Pennsylvania charge a bunch of different ways. How much you should be charged depends on the size of the claim, whether it has merit (sometimes the wrong person gets sued) and how much time the lawyer will have to put into defense work. In my practice, some of the cost comes from my initial estimate of how hard the client will be to work with. Some people are very difficult, most are not.
Many lawyers charge by the hour. Many require a retainer up front to make sure at least their initial investment of time is covered.
Typically, in my neck of the woods, hourly lawyer fees run from $150 to $300 per hour, depending on the lawyer’s experience, reputation, etc. On Wall Street and in Washington DC, you can find many lawyers whose hourly rate approaches $1000. These guys haven’t the slightest interest in you or me, unless we suddenly become very wealthy, so don’t worry about engaging them.
Some will charge a flat fee for each task. This is usually tied to how many hours the lawyers guess the case will take. For someone who has done loads of any type of law, they build all of their experience into handling a matter, so you might pay more for someone good.
Lawyers charge these rates for many reasons. Obviously, they need to make money. Operating a law firm can be an extremely expensive proposition. In some areas of practice (no fee until you win) lawyers carry the entire cost of a case, filing fees, doctor’s reports, court reporters, for years before any recovery is made. Sometimes they do this and don’t recover at all.
Happily, it is a bit different with a suit for money. Credit cards are contracts, and the basic contract collection case is pretty uniform and has well established rules. People have been suing each other over money since before the Bible was written, or at least they fought about money back then. The trick in retaining an attorney is to get someone who is good at it.
Choosing a lawyer at a stressful time is frightening. It pays to ask around, see some results. Above all, it pays to lay out lawyer fees carefully. If someone sues you for 2000, it makes little sense to spend 1000. You might settle the claim yourself for half if you can find it.
What if you are sued for 15000 however? The stakes are higher.
A good lawyer can evaluate your situation, give you your options, and even tell you if it’s so hopeless you need a bankruptcy. He or she can give you a price range for each alternative as well. A good firm, every day, varies fee arrangements to fit individual circumstances. Many of our clients turn their lives around and hire us for other work. The lawyer client relationship is a mutual investment between people, and will require work, loyalty and honesty on both sides.
So how much should you pay a lawyer? You should pay what the lawyer is worth, and not a penny more.
Eugene C. Kelley, Esquire
Kelley & Polishan, LLC
259 South Keyser Avenue
Old Forge PA 18518
Tel: 570-562-4520
