"Your Credit's The October Surprise"

[Hissyspit]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/20/173341/766

DKos diary by cskendrick posted today. Highly recommend you read it in it's entirety:

Your Credit's The October Surprise 2005
by cskendrick
Sat Aug 20th, 2005 at 14:33:41 PDT

It shouldn't be a surprise. I mean, after all, people have had months to prepare. There's no shortage of articles in the Internet about it. And it's for your own good. Just ask the guys who sponsored the legislation.

But that's just it; come October, all minimum payments for credit cards must be quoted for a 10-year pay-down. That's roughly 4% of your outstanding balance. Most credit cards quote the minimum payment for a 20-year pay-down. That's 2% of your outstanding balance.

It won't be just college kids and retirees on fixed incomes who are sandbagged, either. Many small business owners use personal credit cards as cash flow management tools. Likewise persons who work for commission, or have seasonal cash streams (skilled and unskilled laborers, for example).

Banks are already budgeting for massive defaults, on the order of tens of thousands of cardholders. It might not be nearly enough.

It promises to be a nightmare for millions of surprised working- and professional-class families.

MORE AT LINK

[Dervill Crow]

1. Oh, shit. Wish I'd listened to my parents and paid cash for everthing!

[wli]

2. my few remaining debts I can pay off instantly in cash

The only reason I don't do so is because a long string of payments is better for one's credit history than a lump sum payoff.

But yes, most of the country is fscked. Not to mention the "body attachment" garbage...

[Skink]

3. I'm going belly up in October then...

Might as well celebrate.

[skids]

4. If you really are...

...you should look into bankruptcy right away before the new laws kick in. If you wait until October to do it, things will be much worse for you.

[progressivebydesign]

5. Just sold our house to pay everything off..

..we'll be debt free, except for the new house at a lower price. Didn't really know about that October surprise when we did this, but man.. I am SO glad we're gonna be debt free and plan to stay that way. It's hard to give up the house you love for something else, but there's no way I'm going to sell my soul to the Bush supporting credit card companies.