Cap The Credit Card Interest Rates!

Image by Public Citizen via Flickr

TARP funds are being dispursed to financial institutions today.

I just reviewed a story which addresses Washington State's proposal to pass a bill which would limit the interest rate on credit cards to 12%.

House bill aims to cap interest rates

My thoughts on the subject were expressed in my comment to the story:

It should be a FEDERAL LAW and the rate be "X" above the PRIME or lower. The law should also stipulate that only "x" amount of LATE and OVERLIMIT charges be allowed, and that after that, any unpaid balance would accrue interest at "x" above Prime.

If the government gives all this money to bailout the banks, they should pass laws to help head off the rising amounts of BANKRUPTCIES. Laws that would actually help the consumers pay their debt down, instead of allowing the banks to BURY THEM in interest and fees.

Why do we allow the banks to push the populace further in the hole? People get behind in their responsibilities, and the "swindlers" come in with their huge interest rates and continuous fees, which knocks the person further into debt, until their only option is bankruptcy.

Don't think the banks don't sell that debt to the next tier of "swindlers", for less, and then this tier adds another fee on top of the original balance. They then continually harass, attempting to collect the original amount plus the added "Collection Fee". These entities are called Collection Agencies.

The system is broke. Capitalism should not be fueled by those who would take advantage of the taxpayer, and then ask the government for a bailout.

They are effectively asking that same taxpayer to foot the bill when the banks and finance companies are "losing" money, because of their cheating business practices.

Wheww!!! I'm finished. Thanks for reading.

Identity Theft - Get Protected: Part 2

Documented Examples of People Who Have Suffered Form Criminal Identity Theft

As I stated in my last post, Identity Theft is much further reaching then just credit card numbers and cleaning out bank accounts. Examples abound relating stories of arrests, denied credit, and denied passports of people who have been victimized by someone using their private information.

A person acquires your information through some malicious means and commits a crime. They use your name in the execution of the crime, or they are picked up by authorities and give your name when asked. They later are released on bail or what have you, and skip town. The authorities issue a warrant for your arrest. It could be in another state and you might not even know about it for quite awhile. Meanwhile, you are being hunted by the police, your credit is being destroyed, and countless other things are happening to you without you even knowing it.

Please take a look at this article “ But, Officer, This Isn’t Me” from The Kiplinger Report,October 2005. It may be old, but is still extremely relevant.

Identity Theft - Get Protected

Image via Wikipedia
The Time has come to protect ourselves from cyber-crime.

The information below is quoted from The Sturgis Journal. It outlines some disturbing information and statistics concerning identity theft.

Employers Beware: 50 Percent of all Identity Thefts Reported from Work

(ARA) - It seems that every other day another company issues a press release announcing the loss of financial or health records of thousands or even millions of Americans. The news behind the headlines has a huge impact for employers. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that more than 50 percent of identity thefts occur through the workplace, or are perpetrated by someone the victim knows. Recent legislation requires companies to notify the press when they experience loss or theft of information that compromises 1,000 or more identities. And the liability of identity theft can continue for years - even long after a compromised employee leaves the company. Through the first 11 months of this year nearly 200 organizations have reported losses of personal information affecting at least 65 million employees, students, consumers, veterans, soldiers, nurses, patients, teachers, homeowners, taxpayers and children.

The FTC reports that the average identity theft victim spends 177 to 300 hours repairing the damage, including a great deal of time during business hours, making identity theft a workplace productivity issue as well as a personal security concern. Some startling identity theft statistics include:

More than 30 million employee names and Social Security numbers have been lost by employers or their vendors in the past 12 months.

As a percentage, the group at highest risk of ID theft earns less than $40k annually.

If Identities are compromised by an employer, the liability never goes away because it may take years to be discovered and the dollar amount of the liability can often be more than $100,000 when costs and professional fees are considered.

Employees are worried about identity theft - 83 percent site it as a major concern.

IT managers have long invested millions in systems that prevent intrusion by hackers rather than systems that simply detect an occurrence of intrusion and theft.

ID theft has become a $50 billion problem forcing the government to step in trying to propose legislation to “freeze” personal information and credit accounts. The result is disagreement on what should be frozen, how to provide easy access to frozen information and limiting cost.

Consider the major Midwestern company that had to notify more than 1,000 employees of lost personal data due to the negligence of an insurance provider. “The only thing we did wrong was partner with a company that ran a loose ship,” notes the human resources manager. “That one incident in the long history of our company will forever change the way we do business.

Smart companies are emphasizing prevention, encouraging customers and employees to take proactive steps such as regularly reviewing their credit reports, checking bank and credit card statements for unusual activities, filing police reports and shredding mail. But credit industry leaders admit that these efforts are too little, too late.

“That doesn’t protect consumers. It’s not going to help and the public is starting to learn that,” says Thomas Chapman, CEO of Equifax, one of the “big three” credit reporting agencies in the United States.

Anyone of us can be a victim. I speak from experience because it happened to my family:

A thief managed to find a way to into my wife’s personal email

They cracked her PayPal account

They cracked her Ebay account

They Purchased tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld and an Amazon Gift card. (Over $1200 in purchases)

She spent an enormous amount of time on the phone and emailing authorities, PayPal, and the bank, trying to get this all straightened out. She found herself requesting credit for bank overdraft charges, and filing paperwork concerning the fraud.

That was before we found the Identity Theft Shield. The company does all the restoration for you. They monitor your credit, and even send you a credit report after you subscribe to the service. Continuous monitoring of your credit and your identity means you will be informed of any mis-use before the bills start showing up.

There are many extreme examples of the effects of identity theft on an individual.

Denial of health insurance

Wrongful arrest

IRS Bills which are not valid

Wrong treatment and death from inaccurate medical records

Many more…

We need to protect ourselves. This is one of the fastest growing crimes in America.