Sadly enough, this is not a joke but a huge warning that could help protect your financial health, if you heed it.
Bank of America and American Express are being referred to, worldwide and respectively, as "Thieves of America" and the "Mafiosi Express" (It is ironic that both have the word "American" on their name).
A wave of reports is rapidly spreading around the globe, as to how these two giants of the banking and credit industry are robbing the consumers blind .... and they do not discriminate.
Don't think for a minute that you are immune, if you use credit cards, chances are you may already be a victim and have been robbed ....(remember, B of A is the underwriter for many different types of credit cards).
It was not enough for them to receive billions of dollars of tax-payers bail-out money, but what makes things even more outrageous, is that instead of taking that money to stimulate credit and make life easier for the economy and the consumer like they were supposed to, they used it to strengthen their position and screw the American tax-payer/consumer even more.
It is like saving a drowning victim's life, only to find that the person you just saved, turns around and pushes you underwater and holds your head down until you drown.
It is estimated that the perpetrated theft is in the millions if not billions of dollars. Not only are they getting away with a monetary crime, but they are destroying people's lives by indiscriminately ruining their credit reports.
Their criminal tactics include but are not limited to the following:
- They hide or make it extremely hard to find the actual interest rate they are charging you in your statements.
- They increase your interest rates to 24% to 30% for no particular reason and without notice.
- When they sense that the ratio of your credit balance/credit limit has reached a certain point, and that you may not be able to pay the account in full rapidly, they secretly increase your rate to 29.9% or higher without letting you know. This is done regardless of how great a payer you are. It has nothing to do with being late on your payments.
- If you are a day late or a dollar short, not only is your interest rate increased to 29.9% or more, you get hit with outrageous fees of $35 and up.
- If you were not paying attention on your Christmas shopping or while on vacation and your credit limit was exceeded by one dollar, ditto! .... more $$$ fes and higher interest rates!!
- If you have an account that you are not using and it has a zero balance on it, they will close it without notifying you.
- If you have an account with a small balance to credit limit ratio, but you are only paying minimum payment on it, they will shrink your credit limit to the amount that you owe.
- If you fart, they charge you a fee .... the list goes on and on.
Now, let's keep in mind that the bank's cost of this money today is only 0.00% to 0.25% (practically FREE money) .... doesn't 30% or more interest to you, feel like they are pocking you in the eye?
The closing of an account and the reduction of your credit limit without notice are of particular significance, because this action will sink your FICO scores like a rock in the water ...sometimes 100 to 150 points at the drop of a hat......again, this has nothing to do with being late on payments.
So if you find yourself with more credit card debt than you are comfortable with, and wanted to refinance your home (given enough LTV on it of course), to bring your monthly expenses down, you may discover that these banks have just ruined your credit scores enough that now you cannot get the right loan to pay them off.
Seems like financial suicide on their part, given the fact that credit card debt is in the trillions (with a T) of dollars, and making it harder for the consumer seems like a shot in their foot.... but then again, greed has no logic!
Now, in the old days, you could have just picked up the phone and called customer service and have the late/over the limit fees waived, and your interest rate reduced to a decent level .... NOT ANYMORE!!!
Remember when banks got so big that we crossed the threshold from being a person to becoming just a number? .....well, WELCOME TO THE FUTURE, .....TODAY YOU ARE NOT EVEN A NUMBER!!
We are all now reduced to a series of green digital bits of information of infinite zeros and ones, endlessly and rapidly moving in a black background, just like we saw in the movie "The Matrix".
So when we now call Customer Service and speak with one of their "friendly" representatives, regardless what the issue may be, we hear things like: " Oh, we are so sorry sir, the computer defaulted you, there is nothing I or anybody here can do for you".
In other words, "the machines" are now running these institutions and nobody has the authority to over-ride them ... WOW!!!! ..... now, I don't know about you, but I find this whole scenario extremely disturbing.
The fact that these computers are thousands of times more intelligent than human beings, have no emotions and are in full control, scares the bejeewits out of me!
The fact that as we speak, the US Navy is getting ready to deploy nuclear subs, fully loaded with nuclear warheads, and placed at the command of computers to make lightening-fast decisions, based on defense/attack protocol, is beyond the scope of this blog and a story in itself.
"The machines" are now beginning to control the humans and we are giving them full power and, the financial and tactical weapons to really inflict some serious damage.
So what does all this have to do with the price of beans? ...... how does all this even relate to Real Estate?
The implications are numerous and it helps us gain a better understanding of the clients and institutions we deal with on the normal course of a business day.
But a little closer to home, we are hearing horror stories about realtors who are listing REOs for the banks and paying (mostly charging on their personal credit cards) for the cleaning, repairs, maintenance, utilities, HOA fees, etc. of the properties they are listing .....they are actually taking on the responsibility of being property managers and bearing the brunt of the liabilities and expenses.......with the carrot at the end that it will sell.
Let's skip for a second the many levels of personal liability they may be incurring and focus solely on that credit card debt.
I spoke with a fellow agent yesterday, whose company handles Foreclosures and REOs all over Arizona, and she told me that her credit cards were getting maxed-out to the tune of thousands of dollars, and that she has not been able to be reimbursed, even when she went directly to the VP of the department, who told her that he "did not have a clue how to help her".........WOW!!!!!!
Aren't realtors in similar positions, exposing themselves to lower credit scores, high interest rates, late and/or over the limit fees ...... and even the possibility that the bank may not pay them because they lost a receipt, or did not fill out the forms correctly, or the bank just happened to go belly up? Isn't this an imposition on their personal lives an finances?
"caveat emptor" .... let the buyer beware ..... per Merriam/Webster: "a principle in commerce , without a warranty the buyer takes the risk upon himself"
Don't be a victim .... check your interest rate, check your fees, check your credit balances, check your credit limits, ask the bank for an expense account if you are listing their REOs ..... the banks are not watching after you, they are sucking you dry.
As far as I know, and as of this day, Congress has tried unsuccessfully to curve the blood sucking appetite of these financial institutions.
Feel free to copy and pass this along to friends and relatives ......you won't be struck by calamity if you don't, and you won't receive some great miracle or financial reward if you do ..... only the satisfaction that you have alerted your kin and opened your eyes.
Live Long and Prosper.
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