Is this even an option? I’ve tried cancelling cards before that still had a balance on them and was refused. I was told that the balance had to be zero before the account could be closed.
Like I said. Most of what I wrote was bullshit, but it was good bullshit.
Credit card company’s put all kinds of ridiculous terms in their agreements, some that are enforceable and legal, and some that are not.
They do this for the same reason that stores put “you broke it, you bought it” on a sign. If you think they have the athority to do something, than they do.
Service, late, and overbalance fees are allowable. Usury on the other hand is not. You are arguing that the service fees amount to usury, adnt elling them that the jig is up.
Depending on what state you live in, this may or may not be a dubious proposition. However, it is going to be one that will be a bitch for them to fight, and would entail some risk for them if they do.
Obviously Opal has no intention fo going to court.
What I’m suggesting is an edge, a negotiating stance. Opal is now in the pool of “shitheads” that have defaulted on their debt, and they are going to keep treating her like a shithead unless and until she does something that makes them stop.
The time to do something is now, before this thing becomes a multi-thousand dollar problem. They would likeit to become a multi-thousand dollar problem. They have a whole department that does nothing but try to squeeze the vig out of honest, but fairly naive people who have fallen into hardship.
That is the business of selling credit cards to people with poor credit ratings. You minimize your exposure, get them to default and own them forever.
She has to break out, because she is under personal attack from this company. It threatens her life, her wellbeing, and her children’s well-being.
A credit counselor or a lawyer is more than likely going to suck more money from her.
There is no reason why she can’t do it herself. All she needs to do is use these threats as levers to force them to renegotiate the debt.
If all else fails, she is much better off by taking this route and defaulting in full, giving them notice, and stopping the snowballing.
Opal:
These guys aren’t brain surgeons or they wouldn’t be doing what they are doing. Just be polite and firm, and it will work out.
If you think about it, they really have no negotiating position other than your goodwill, which they are abusing.
I have had lates fees removed in the past when my electronic payments cleared a day late or whatever. The “check’s in the mail” won’t hold water, though, as they can clearly check my account history and see that I have always paid my bill online and never by check.
But you can still call them and ask. “The checks in the mail” might not work. But any other excuse might. They are pretty quick to remove those late fees if you call and ask. I have never had a problem.
The other thing you could ask for is an increase in your credit limit to $500.
Scylla’s right. He’s not suggesting a bulletproof legal remedy but a negotiating stance. Be cocky and arrogant when you talk with them. Slap the customer service rep around, sound like you know what you’re talking about, and you’ll find that you get MUCH better service and responsiveness.
Most of these guys hav eset patterns they wish to function within. Shake them out of those and they’ll be more willing to listen to reason.
And on the home refinance:
It’s not a bad option. Just about any bank will do it for you at this time. It allows you to lower your monthly mortgage payment, shorten the term of your mortage, or pull cash out.
Example: I got into my place in 1997 with an 80-15-5. 80% of the cost in a standard note (9% rate of interest), 15% on a second mortgage (at 12%) and 5% downpayment. Our monthly payment was about $1850. Simple enough. 30 years and out.
I refinanced in January to a single mortgage at 5.75% for twenty years, took cash out to pay for Baby Kate Virginia Education Plan, and lowered the payment to $1700 per month.
If your home has appreciated in value since you purchased there can be a lot of sense in refinancing. Especially if it allows you to get out of credit card and other high interest debt.
And as a final bonus the interest you pay on your mortgage is tax deductible. Unlike your credit cards and such.
You know how to reach me. Let me know if I can be of assistance.
Meaning no disrespect…
Meaning no disrespect…
This way lies madness.
Does your county (I can’t remember if Centreville’s in Fairfax or Loudoun) have any free credit counseling services? Check with them. If they don’t, the county social-services people might know of a local nonprofit that provides such services for a minimal fee.
What is involved? Do we just say “refinance our house” and they do it? Do they need to come out to our house? Because that ain’t gonna happen. It would take us weeks to get this place clean enough to have anyone come in.
If someone could outline the very basic steps I’d be really appreciative. This sounds like the best option to me.
We’re in Fairfax County (sheesh, keep up! I expect you to know every detail of my local situation!) and I have no idea if they have free credit counseling… where would I check?
Doesn’t have to be madness. Her current balance is $425. If they raised her limit to $500 then the over limit fees and late payment fees on the over limit would stop. $425 in credit card debit is not really excessive and she can work on paying it off in her own time. As long as she makes the minimum payment on time of course!
I would only take that option if they refused to remove the late payment/over limit fees that have piled up. It is certainly better then defaulting on the loan or debt consolidation. And it is easier then refinancing your home. Although with her other cash problems refinancing might not be a bad idea.
Effectively, you’re getting a new mortgage to replace the existing one. It’s just the same as when you got the first one.
They’ll want to inspect your house but the inspector isn’t going to care if your pantyhose are on the staircase. Inspectors look for tight roofs, water damage, that sort of thing.
Step #1 would be to contact a bank and ask about refinancing. Any of them might be willing to do so.
Note1: You’re current mortgage holder might be willing to do a ‘no pain’ refinance. Bear in mind you’re paying them approximately 200% in interest above the cost of your house over 30 years (numbers vary). They don’t want to lose that income. This is also why other banks are so willing to issue you a new mortgage…they want all that lovely money. Silly them.
Note2: If you have access to a credit union (in any way) you can try the Credit Union Mortage Association. They can cut you a great deal. That’s who I went through.
Step #2: Find a bank you like and fill out the paperwork. This will take the same stuff as before so have it ready.
Step #3: They’ll have your place appraised. You’re in NoVa so odds are it’s gone up in value since you bought it. You might find out that you paid $150K (to make up a number) but now the appraisal says it’s worth $200K. BINGO! You’re in refinance heaven. You can lower your payment AND get the money to pay off those high interest debts.
Step #4: Get inspected.
Step #5: Wait for approval.
Obviously it’s more complicated than that. The first step is clearly to call a bank or credit union and start gatheirng information. Hell, even try that lending tree thing. It would give you some idea of where the ground lies.
Again, let me know if I can help.
I think all these suggestions for “handling” the creditors are well meant, but given the relatively small amount of the debt in real world terms (at this point) , what you really need is ready cash not elaborate “management” or delaying strategies for the $ 250. of debt. that would get the card down below it’s minimum. You need to get out from under the rolling stone ASAP. Here are some ideas for extra cash.
Why not go to an indoor farmers market or indoor craft show and sell your T-shirts direct.
Babysit for neighbors (at your house) - seriously, my daughter get $ 120 a month for 4 (weekend) days a month for @ 6 hours a day of taking care of 2 kids.
Sell t shirts on Ebay (possibly you are already doing this)- target college, high school and middle school boys
Have an Ebay house cleaning - There’s got to be a few hundred dollars of usable stuff you have and no longer need hanging around the house that you could sell
Most effective idea cashflow wise would be to get a evening/weekend job as a waitress or superstore drone. Not ideal self fullfillment, but it’s cash.
You may want to re-assess your priorities. If (as you seem to indicate) you have been living on the verge of improverishment and financial peril for over 6 years now you may want to ask yourself where you want to be 10 years for now and start making concrete changes to get there. I have seen people with very few resources, and considerably less intelligent than you, become very financially sound and pretty damned successful by setting concrete goals and sticking to a plan.
If I refinanced my home and got $3000 in spendable money, I could catch myself up completely
And that probably wouldn’t be hard. I took $25,000 out of my place and still lowered my monthly payment and shortened the term.
Really, with interest rates where they are it’s silly not to do it.
Ok but the basement is packed floor to ceiling with boxes, piles of laundry, and secret hidden caches of cat poop. The studio upstairs is Cat Pee Central. There is a very narrow path to get through the living room… not so much because of trash or anything, just that we have way too much stuff (most of which isn’t worth anything, but we haven’t gone through it to throw stuff away yet, and it will take us months to do so). I’m scared that the inspectors would not only run away from our house screaming, but also report us to the Messy House Department or something.
Is this unjustified?
Opal, I don’t know you at all but since we’re only talking a few bucks a month and cash is so tight for you now is it possible for you to do without your ISP for say, 6 months? That must be about $20 or so? Or do you post from your work and don’t have an ISP at home? Is there any other “little” cutbacks you can realistically do?
//I for the $ 250. of debt. that would get the card down below it’s minimum. //
But what about the 500 electric bill, the overdue water bill, the 6 months behind on homeowners’ association fees, etc? We are really quite behind and need about $3000 to catch up. Once we are caught up, we can stay there if we’re careful. We just can’t seem to get out from under the stuff we’re behind on.
//Why not go to an indoor farmers market or indoor craft show and sell your T-shirts direct.//
This would cost me a HUGE amount of money, as I’d have to buy the stuff first, in order to sell it (and of my 100+ designs, which would I buy? What sizes? Etc). As it is, it is printed on demand by CafePress and shipped out from them to the buyers. All I do is design the stuff. I have no overhead costs and no inventory is maintained (by anyone).
//Babysit for neighbors (at your house) //
Our house is not currently acceptable for visitors of any age. I’ve actually considered sleeping in the van at times myself.
//Have an Ebay house cleaning - There’s got to be a few hundred dollars of usable stuff you have and no longer need hanging around the house that you could sell //
I’ve already done this to a certain extent. The problem is that everything is buried in boxes 10 deep, and the boxes aren’t even neatly stacked, they are sort of a jumble, so getting to any of them is a Major Ordeal. Plus half of them have been peed on by the Cat From Hell.
//Most effective idea cashflow wise would be to get a evening/weekend job as a waitress or superstore drone. //
It would be hard to have any sort of scheduled job, as my husband’s work hours are extremely erratic.
//You may want to re-assess your priorities. If (as you seem to indicate) you have been living on the verge of improverishment and financial peril for over 6 years now //
No, it was up until 6 years ago that we were impoverished. For the last 6 years we’ve been pretty hunky-dory. Before that we were living in Tucson, in college, working at McDonald’s and Pizza Hut… then we had a new baby, I was home, Rob was making $7/hour working for AOL while we lived in a 1 room studio apartment. When he got his promotion and we were moved to VA, things got much, much better. It’s just that last spring and summer hit us hard and dumped us into a hole, and we’re having a hard time getting out of it.
We pay $40/month at home for our cable connection, which is completely and absolutely not optional. I am self-employed as a freelance web designer and web hosting service. I run my business from my home (except for the actual server, which is colocated at Equinix for $250/month)…if I didn’t have an ISP, I would lose my job, essentially. If I didn’t have a high speed connection, I would be nearly unable to do my job. In addition, my husband, who is a senior sysadmin for an international ISP, is constantly having to do work from home in the evenings, the middle of the night, the weekends, etc. Neither one of us could work effectively without a high speed connection.
[and before anyone suggests dropping the $250/month server costs… consider that it would completely destroy the business that I have built up for the last several years and I would lose ALL of my paid hosting customers and ALL of my credibility as a web host.]
I call pull some connections and get you a better server deal than that probably. Email me.
On the cat pee issue I couldn’t really tell you. Our carpet (if you noticed) is stained and ratty and no one called me on that. The inspector mostly looked at the outside (though they did go through the inside). They didn’t gig us for the water damage in the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom, either.
Of course you can’t give up your business expenses.
You could try getting hubby’s job to pay for the internet since they require him to have it. 
Home refinancing sounds like the way to go for you. I hope that everything works out okay.