Credit Cards Are Unsecured Debt. Walk Away And They Can't Touch You. Federal Law.

Sure thing boss, just make sure your cc isn't at your bank you keep money in

True enough.

Me and hubby did,bankruptcy but hey we walked away just the same.

But watch-out if the original sold your debt and so on because it will follow you.

make sure you save any letters showing this,esp if your gonna file bankruptcy.

Yup. Strategic default is not for bobbleheads.

But you can screw them hard if you want to.

Bill collectors have a statute of limitations. If they don't get the pay off in a few years they must write it off. Also once that debt is sold to a debt collector they have NO legal right to collect that debt.

I watched a video on Youtube a year or two ago about this guy in California who owes 200 grand to various card companies and banks. The collection agents are calling him like 50 times a day.

Every time one of the breaks the law, like threatening him, or calling on weekends he files charges and scores the $1000 court judgement. The guy makes a living doing nothing but talking to collection agents. I shit you not.

I wish I had bookmarked that film.

If in GA. Call Khoshnood Law Firm. Ask for Chris!!

or, you could live within your means...

I know the statute of limitations in Ontario Canada is 2 years from the last payment. I beat those fuckers for something like 75 grand back about 2008. MBNA was the absolute worst. Those guys were relentless until the day I gave it to the straight. I straight out told them I was never going to pay them one red fucking cent. They told me they'd take me to court and have my wages garnisheed. I told them I have no assetts and next to no income. I dared them to do it. I said that if they can find a judge willing to garnishee my poverty level income then they should do so at once. I also told them that I knew about the two year limitation and that I planned to wait it out. MBNA didn't even bother me too much after that.

When those fuckers call be as defiant as possible. Talk about the fractional reserve banking scam and how you know they never really lent you a cent. Show them that you know the law and your rights. And above all be defiant. Laugh at their threats, dare them to do it, have no fear whatsoever, and tell them in no uncertain terms they will never see another cent out of you. Then they know they're wasting their time, and they won't bother with you anymore. Never hang up and never act pissed, like they are getting to you and eventualy you'll knuckle under. Act like you're having fun taunting them and you wish they'd call more often. They'll stop calling. Worked for me.

Amazing thread, Oppie!

Thread of the Day award!

I am an advocate of simple living. I have no debt and no bills.

However, if you find yourself being victimized by corrupt lenders then let them have it. Jacking rates to 22% for no reason certainly calls for a strategic default.

You can't do this if you are a slave to credit scores and all that sheeple bullshit. If i can't pay cash for something then i simply do not get it.

They can file a law suit against you, or they can write it off and file a 1099-C which makes you add it to your income tax at the end of the year. Sometimes that is not a bad idea. You claim it, get taxed on it, but afterwards they cant pursue legal action anymore.

Last Edited by Medic on 06/18/2012 10:35 PM

You can get by without credit. You find you never really needed any of that bullshit you were running up on your credit cards anyway. It's all just disposable plastic Chinese garbage that doesn't last a year and you never needed Slapchop or an I(am a sucker for cheap shit that retails for 50 times what it's really worth) phone.

The worst thing that could happen, is they file a lawsuit, get a judgement and file a realestate lien on your property.

But you can buy real assets with their fake plastic and then turn it back on the banks and screw them! Sounds fantastic to me. You don't have to buy shit. You can buy real things of value and make money. It is a classic scenario of using your enemies tricks against them. The enemies being the banks. Cool thread.

If you have no assetts and a small income or no income just tell them to fuck off. No judge in the world will garnishee a minimum wage and if you have no equity in your home, if you even have a home, there's fuck all they can do to you. By law in most jurisdictions you are allowed X thousand of dollars that the banks cant touch in several categories. You usualy get 10 or 20 grand in tols of your trade, about the same in personal posessions and in some places they can't take your car if it's worth less than 10 or 20 grand.

For most people suffering in the US right now in this depression, there is dick all a bank or CC company can legaly do to them. So just tell them to piss off.

Medical bills should be the main thing to walk from. I don't get how hospitals can charge you a huge bill without you knowing what the cost would be before going. Same applies to doctors.

Say you goto an Emergency Room for something. The hospital doesn't say what it will cost. Instead you get slapped a huge bill in the mail two weeks later and have no say in it. Its like an Emergency Room has a green light to charge whatever they want without you agreeing to it.

They can't do it if you don't own property. That's like ever third American right now or worse. Maybe half.

There is a way to beat that. There is a thread here somewhere about it. You go to the hospital right after you're done and offer to pay cash and ask for the cash price.

The price they give you on the bill is inflated like 60 to 70% to cover the inevitable bill collectors they have to send after almost everybody. Bill collectors take 50% of the bill so they mark it up 50% to cover that right off the top. They mark it up another 10% because they know they won't see their money for at least a year. Money they have to borrow for a year to cover their costs. Then the tack on another 10% for the 10% of people who flat out never pay.

If you show up with cash they'll knock off all those additional markups and give you the rock bottom price. Like 60 to 70% less than the billed price. i shit you not I know people who have done it and the people in that thread also knew people or did the same themselves at times. If you really want a discount that's what you do. Borrow the money if you have to. Paying 5 or 10% interest for a few years is cheaper than paying full bore upfront.

This isn't about credit cards but my husband got so sick of junk mail appearing despite the no junk mail sign on the letter box he spent a full day writing invoices to each one and charged them a $60 processing fee. Plus a letter saying any further unsolicited mail would be charged again at a higher rate... And guess what? Every single one of them paid it and included a letter with an apology and we stopped getting them. We made 1800 bucks in 3 weeks.. Hahaha

Umm they can sue you -- get a judgment and seize assets

You need a translator when talking with your brother

No they can't. Not for unsecured debt. Now for college loans they'll garnish wages or take your tax returns. A car loan they'll repo the car.

But for credit cards they can't. Credit cards should be illegal first of all. So in order to agree to let them rape the populace, the federal government does not allow them to do certain things. Like take your assets.

The reason being is that someone who has paid on a card for many years and never uses it will NEVER PAY THE CARD OFF. Card companies keep you enslaved in perpetual interest rate payments. Ive seen little old ladies paying the same amount for 30 years! And the 1000 dollar balance never goes down.

Thats fuckin evil. Everyone should default.

Never, never admit that you got a "credit" card. They can't loan credit. You signed a security instrument that they cashed and then they let you use some of the proceeds.

I got sued for a unsecured debt. Then they issued a 1099c which went on my taxes.

My 13 year old cousin said to me at a funeral

"He never paid off his debt. He complained about credit card debt every day of his life. If it made him that miserable, why did he do anything with credit."


13 years old, one of the smartest kids you'd ever meet. Apparently he's been held back twice in school, I bet it's because he calls teachers out on BS they can't even understand and it shakes their brains so hard they get him in trouble.

Here's an idea: pay your debts. Live up to your obligations. Did you spend the money? Yes. Pay it back. Stop being yet another deadbeat dragging the system down. Guess what? If you walk away from your debt, who pays? We ALL do. And by "we", I mean those of us who actually work for a living and pay our bills. Stop being a deadbeat and pay.

Yes they can and do. The debt is not secured to begin with unless they loaned you the money to buy the specific goods, such as an appliance on a store brand card. But with any debt, once a suit is filed and judgment is granted by the court, the judgment is then filed record in the county of your residence or any county in which you own property. This is known as perfecting the judgment. The judgment then attaches to your non exempt assets which vary depending on the state.

In some states such as Texas, a homestead is exempt and not subject to non purchase money liens, so they are safe from credit card debt judgments. Other assets may be at risk. Further, buying and selling of debt that is charged off is legal and routine. Charge off is for accounting purposes and does not limit rights to sue. Statutes of limitation vary from state to state and by type of debt. In many states the statute of limitations to sue on a debt is four years. In other states it is more or less. Credit reporting is generally seven years from charge off, which occurs six months after default. In other words, seven and a half years from your last payment, though this is also oversimplified.

Further, the Debt collection law (FDCPA) applies only to third party collectors, not to companies collecting their own debt, unless it was in default when they acquired it.

The Thousand dollars is the maximum unless their are actual damages.

Lastly, lawsuits are filed on much smaller debts than twenty thousand dollars. Many of the ones I see are less than five thousand dollars. I have seen a few of less than one thousand dollars, but that is not common.

I agree

I think some states let them get a judgment against you. Believe it's state to state and not federal, but I could be wrong...

Exactly. The card companies don't make people use those cards.