Why are so many posts about "how can I screw the bank or my credit card company?"

[Bkman2]

I know that a lot of people will hate this post but I have to say it. Seems like since the new site came up the posts have changed to, “how can I screw them and stretch this out?”. We are all here for one reason or another. Loss of job, went crazy with credit cards, didn’t really read what our mortgage contract said. Because of not being able to pay those bills we had to file for BK.

A BK is there so you can.....

1) Learn from what you did and don’t do it again
2) Get a fresh start
3) Keep your home

I don’t blame the credit card companies for trying to get paid, I spent the money. I wouldn’t blame my mortgage for trying to collect if I was late, I agreed to pay. If the economy never tanked then I would have no reason for my BK. What I don’t understand is all of the blame and anger at creditors. Don’t get me wrong, all the calls suck.
But why, if you knew that you couldn’t pay then back would you wait 6 months, 1 year, 2 years to file for BK? If you don’t have a job I could understand waiting until you had the money to file, but if you have your job and are not paying anyone then you should be able to file within a few months. Your case would have been over years ago & your FICO wouldn’t have taken such a hard hit.

Mortgage contracts don’t change. The bank must follow the terms of the contract. I have talked to so many people that got a loan they new they couldn’t pay. They wanted a bigger house and in order to do that they took a loan with an arm. Payments were low and now they are high. Better yet they took out all of the equity so they could pay off other debt and with in a few years they built up all of the debt they just paid off. Is that the banks fault or yours for not asking questions and understanding what you were doing?

We all want someone to blame for our downfall. That’s normal, but in my opinion the only people that really have the right to blame anyone or anything are the ones that lost their jobs and cant find new ones, were injured and can’t work, and the people that lost a spouse and the income that came with them.

If you choose to push your BK off for a year or two because you are thinking ‘screw them”, the jokes on you because you are the one that’s loosing out on a fresh start and the loss of the stress that comes from debt.

If you know that you can’t pay the mortgage and didn’t want to modify the loan and are just going to walk away, then do it. Why keep the stress going? You got your fresh start so take it. The bank lost and will get the house back. You don’t owe on it and you don’t own it anymore. Move out and move on. Learn to let go.

I stopped paying my CC’s in NOV 2009 and filed in Dec 2009. At the time I had to go with a chapter 13. In July 2010 I converted my case to a chapter 7. I’ll be discharged this week. I’m free and I’m done. My stress from the debt is gone and I’m moving on. No anger, just a little regret from the things I DID.

[Freddy03]

I'm not sure what you are talking about because I don't see a huge increase of people asking how to "screw" the creditors.

But I am one of those people you referenced about not paying credit cards for over a year than filing BK. I'll just say this everyone's reasons are different for every situation. I personally wished I thought about BK a year ago to save me this past year of hell. But I thought I could ride it out and that OT would pick back up and I could get back on track but unfortunately I was wrong and I'm sure there are many people on this board feeling the same way.

[tobee43]

I know that a lot of people will hate this post but I have to say it. Seems like since the new site came up the posts have changed to, “how can I screw them and stretch this out?”. We are all here for one reason or another. Loss of job, went crazy with credit cards, didn’t really read what our mortgage contract said. Because of not being able to pay those bills we had to file for BK.

A BK is there so you can.....

1) Learn from what you did and don’t do it again
2) Get a fresh start
3) Keep your home

I don’t blame the credit card companies for trying to get paid, I spent the money. I wouldn’t blame my mortgage for trying to collect if I was late, I agreed to pay. If the economy never tanked then I would have no reason for my BK. What I don’t understand is all of the blame and anger at creditors. Don’t get me wrong, all the calls suck.
But why, if you knew that you couldn’t pay then back would you wait 6 months, 1 year, 2 years to file for BK? If you don’t have a job I could understand waiting until you had the money to file, but if you have your job and are not paying anyone then you should be able to file within a few months. Your case would have been over years ago & your FICO wouldn’t have taken such a hard hit.

Mortgage contracts don’t change. The bank must follow the terms of the contract. I have talked to so many people that got a loan they new they couldn’t pay. They wanted a bigger house and in order to do that they took a loan with an arm. Payments were low and now they are high. Better yet they took out all of the equity so they could pay off other debt and with in a few years they built up all of the debt they just paid off. Is that the banks fault or yours for not asking questions and understanding what you were doing?

We all want someone to blame for our downfall. That’s normal, but in my opinion the only people that really have the right to blame anyone or anything are the ones that lost their jobs and cant find new ones, were injured and can’t work, and the people that lost a spouse and the income that came with them.

If you choose to push your BK off for a year or two because you are thinking ‘screw them”, the jokes on you because you are the one that’s loosing out on a fresh start and the loss of the stress that comes from debt.

If you know that you can’t pay the mortgage and didn’t want to modify the loan and are just going to walk away, then do it. Why keep the stress going? You got your fresh start so take it. The bank lost and will get the house back. You don’t owe on it and you don’t own it anymore. Move out and move on. Learn to let go.

I stopped paying my CC’s in NOV 2009 and filed in Dec 2009. At the time I had to go with a chapter 13. In July 2010 I converted my case to a chapter 7. I’ll be discharged this week. I’m free and I’m done. My stress from the debt is gone and I’m moving on. No anger, just a little regret from the things I DID.

ditto freddy....

first many of us just didn't go out and rack up huge cc bills buying flat screen tv's and luxuries....

we had illness and job loss....and we had PERFECT credit in the 800's.

let's see now...why would i like to screw my bank...because MY BANK SCREWED ME...

never late for over 30 years and would not help us for a couple of months
never late in over 40 years and upped our interest rates on credit cards used for medical reasons and THEY KNEW it...5-7% forever until the BANKS decided for NO reason at all to raise the rates up to 39.99%
was in loan modification for over one year and never heard a word...it's over 2.5 years and we still do not have an answer

screw the banks......you reap what you sow...and these nice banks while during my loan modification process and illness served us with a summons of foreclosure ....why because they MADE us STOP paying them saying that was the criteria to get the loan mods...you needed to be in arrears....

well now they can have my house with the black mold, cracked foundation....flooding problems....needs a new septic and well and leech fields....

all they needed to do is work with someone that had been honest, loyal and never missed a payment...but refused....

SCREW THE BANKS!!

even tho you say oh...those with a job loss or illness it is understandable...how about those that were tricked because they did not know better...while that may not be an excuse...what here's the "american" dream...want it???? i can give it to you....


please.....and about waiting to file...you haven't a clue we had to wait almost 2 years or just about over...but it's for other reasons...it's called planning and preparing....

[Freddy03]

Posts like this make me mad. It makes me feel like I'm being judged by someone who has NO idea of my financial situation.

[drowning123]

Simple answer to OP's question. We bailed them out and we got no thanks. Also, people stress with the decision to file because of judgmental people like the OP. Believe it or not, OP, some people do have intentions of paying back the banks, but it doesn't always work out the way you planned your life.

[Bkman2]

I'm reading post after post of people that gave up the house but want a way to stay in the house still. I'm also reading post from people telling them how to file this and that to stay. Not paying the mortgage and giving up the house but then trying to find some way to stay in the house for free is "screwing the creditor". I have also read post after post of people that took out a loan and then a month later filed BK, people that went years not paying bills and then filed and are telling other how to do the same.

I agree we all have our reasons for not filing sooner. There are 4 basic reasons, (1) no money (2) thinking things will change and get better (3) denial, you can't pay so they should go away (4) fear.

Maybe I'm different or just an ass but we are adults that made bad choices. If you can't fix your lack of money problem in 60 days then you need to file, if you can't pay your mortgage and are giving the house back to the bank then you need to move. With everything we do there is a good and a bad. Shop with CC's, good. Can't pay it back, bad. Need to file BK to get a fresh start, good. Have to give up some assest to get that fresh start, bad. I read a lot of great advise on BK but a lot of bad moral advise on moving on and letting go.

Bad things can bring us together. Some will use it to help others and some will use it to feed off of other. My point is that is your are out to help other then your posts will be about fixing a problem and ending it fast so you can move on. If you are out to feed off of others stress so you can keep yours going because for some strang reason deep down you enjoy it, then you will give advise that helps others to prolong their stress.

[drowning123]

Look, BKman2, if we don't take advantage of ways to propel us into a successful fresh start, then we'd be back to square 1. Why run out and rent, when you can stay in the house and save money? Before this forum, I was wasting money. After this forum, I'm saving money. I'm staying in that house and saving all the money I can until they kick me out. Why make foolish decisions when you don't have to?

[tod183]

While trying to get my wife through school, we had foolishly relied too much on credit cards for survival. We had the thought that once she got out of school and got her job teaching that we would be able to really start paying the cards back. Well, she graduated two years ago, and still does not have that teaching job. Most of the schools are not replacing the teachers that are retiring. So, instead, she is working at the daycare which our two boys attend. So, with her working there and us paying them for the boys to stay there, she is bringing in about $400 a month. If it were me, I'd stay home with the kids, but she goes stir-crazy when she has no job! Anyway, when she didn't get her job first year out of school, I began to figure out that we were going to be in trouble unless something gives. We were able to make payments, but just barely.

Then, something does give, though in the opposite way as to what I had planned. Actually, two things at about the same time. First, new credit card regulations take place...announced months ahead of time, of course. So all the credit cards raise interest rates, pretty much at once. I managed to close a few accounts with the APR locked in, but I missed some. Plus, some 0% APRs from about a year earlier (trying to delay the inevitable), expired and all of a sudden my payments were taking all of our extra money. We really didn't have enough left to eat on, but we somehow managed to get by. Second, we found out we were having another baby (unexpected). That did it for us. We quit making payments on our credit cards then, and began looking at bankruptcy. We figured we'd save the extra money from not paying cards to pay the attorney. Of course, since we really didn't have enough to eat on before, that extra money just went to groceries. It took about 9 months for me to decide that if we were going to be able to file, we'd have to give up the car. So that is where our attorney fees came from. I would have loved to have filed a year ago, but things did not quite work out that way. And while I know the debt was my fault for living on the credit cards, I do put some blame for making it too difficult for me to pay on the credit card companies and the government for the way they did the new regulations with months of advance notice. That was just dirty.

[Freddy03]

If it was a moral issue then why did you file? Maybe you should have gotten another job to pay back your creditors. How's that for being judgmental? Not fun is it??

Maybe I'm misreading the advice on this forum. I have not seen one person say here is step by step procedures on how to "screw" the people you owe money to.

[LadyInTheRed]

5-7% forever until the BANKS decided for NO reason at all to raise the rates up to 39.99%
was in loan modification for over one year and never heard a word...it's over 2.5 years and we still do not have an answer

they MADE us STOP paying them saying that was the criteria to get the loan mods...you needed to be in arrears....

all they needed to do is work with someone that had been honest, loyal and never missed a payment...but refused....

I think the above pretty much explains the anger against the banks. I don't blame anyone but myself for getting myself into debt. But, I also don't feel bad about not paying the banks.

If the banks were willing to work with me by lowering interest rates on balances on which they already made a good profit, I would have spent the rest of my life paying them instead of even thinking about filing for BK, and they still would have made a profit. Instead, they get nothing.

Yep.... SCREW EM!

[Freddy03]

Oh don't get me wrong - I know I owe them. I used my credit cards for everyday living. I could pay them back when my fixed interest rates were at 4% but for no reason my interest rates jumped to 30% and credit limits reduced to balance owed. How is that fair?

I wish everyday I would NOT have to file BK. I wish I could pay them back but it's impossible. Do you think everyone here wants to have a BK or judgments follow them around?

[Bkman2]

I said "in my opinion the only people that really have the right to blame anyone or anything are the ones that lost their jobs and cant find new ones, were injured and can’t work, and the people that lost a spouse and the income that came with them".

Interests on CC's went up because the GOV was changing the rules for them so they started changing terms before the new laws. Loan Mods are a change in original contract terms and the bank doesn't have to agree.

Banks and credit card companies are out for profit and thats it. Your post shows my point that you are mad at them because they don't care about your life and any problems you are going through because you are a number to them and you stopped paying.

So many want to make debt payments personal and its not it business, just like BK. I'm not judging anyone other than the people that are giving advise on how to extend your stress and not end it.

[LadyInTheRed]

I'm reading post after post of people that gave up the house but want a way to stay in the house still. I'm also reading post from people telling them how to file this and that to stay. Not paying the mortgage and giving up the house but then trying to find some way to stay in the house for free is "screwing the creditor".

I wish everyone would stay in their house as long as they can. There are foreclosures all over my neighborhood. Most people move out and the bank doesn't even put the house up for sale for months. When they do go up for sale, they take forever to sell. The house sits there vacant and the bank doesn't take care of the property. It becomes and eyesore an lowers property values even lower than they already are. Why shouldn't somebody stay if the bank is going to let the house sit there vacant anyway? At least there's somebody mowing the lawn!

ETA: You seem to think somebody should move from their house as soon as they can't pay the mortgage. Often, the bank doesn't proceed with foreclosure and the house is still in the debtor's name. They are still liable for what happens on that property. They own the house and are entitled to stay. The bank can get them out by proceeding with foreclosure, but they don't.

[drowning123]

[QUOTE=Bkman2;463253]I said "in my opinion the only people that really have the right to blame anyone or anything are the ones that lost their jobs and cant find new ones, were injured and can’t work, and the people that lost a spouse and the income that came with them".


So, you ARE being judgmental. I guess we should judge you, too, for filing. At the time you filed I guess you fit in one of those approved categories. Are you working now? Why not go dig up the old creditors and tell them you want to pay them back?

[Bkman2]

I'm not saying to move right away (does anyone read what I wrote are are they just so mad they can't see straight?). I'm saying if you are giving the house back via your chapter 7 then that means the bank has to foreclose on the house to change title back to you. Most if not all states take from 4 to 5 month from the time the NOD is file to do that. So generally the bank will not file the NOD until you are 3 months behind. 3 months plus 4 months would give you 7 months to save and move rather than fight to stay after the fact. Now if your income is so bad that you can't save anything then you should talk to someone about GOV assisted housing or something else that will help you get back on your feet.
I have seem homes that the owner stayed after the fact and most, because they don't have ownership in the house treat it like crap. I've seen many homes where the past owner said 'screw the bank" and take the doors, windows, faucets, and anything else to destroy the homes value because they are mad because to them its personal and to the bank its business. Most banks will pay you to go but few people will do that.