When speaking with a bankruptcy client last week, he said, “I’ve always paid my bills, and eventually I want to pay every penny back to the credit card companies.” I told him while I applaud how noble his thinking was, I also thought it was noble to take care of his wife and children INSTEAD of the credit card companies. I advised him to pay the credit card companies back, after his Chapter 7 case, AND after he had funded his own retirement account and 529 college savings plans for his kids.
Of course, after his Chapter 7 case, he will not be legally obligated to pay anything back to the banks. If that doesn’t seem right, it should.
This article from the Charlotte Observer explains that banks are the third largest lobby in our country. They spent 472 million dollars last year to make bankruptcy rules tougher, get more of your taxpayer money in the form of bailouts, and to write the very rules which govern debt relief. The end result for banks? Record profits. For people? More minimum payments. If that doesn’t seem right, it shouldn’t.
If you are tired of your credit card company raising interest rates and taking advantage of the system, learn your rights during a free, initial consultation.