61–70 of 323 posts
How does OWS think this debt accumulated? Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street. You have to get yourself into debt. It used to be taboo, but it's acceptable to get into debt these days and worse yet, walk away from it. OWS, to me, represents an entitled generation.
someone should write a guide on how to buy up your own debt for 1/30th of the cost
Indeed. I know that if I can buy a dollar of debt that I owe for a nickel, I want in on that. It'd make things a lot easier on my pocketbook.
How does OWS think this debt accumulated? Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street. You have to get yourself into debt. It used to be taboo, but it's acceptable to get into debt these days and worse yet, walk away from it. OWS, to me, represents an entitled generation.
"Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street." Except debt can be exactly due to some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street and you don't have the insurance to pay for the medical bills. I'm not saying that this is true for all of the OWS debts: probably not even the majority. I'm just saying that it's not as easy as "it's your fault you're in debt…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Indeed. I know that if I can buy a dollar of debt that I owe for a nickel, I want in on that. It'd make things a lot easier on my pocketbook.
More interestingly, how would the 1099-C work in such a case. Wouldn't it be like matter and anti-matter colliding wiping each other out since you would simultaneously incur a tax-deductable loss and a taxable gain of equal value?
If you buy $10k of debt for $500, the debt buying business' basis in the debt is $500. If they cancel it, they can deduct $500.
If $10k of your debt is forgiven, you get 1099-C'ed for $10k in income.
Net-net, this would cause $9.5k in income if you went through with it.
For the benefit of folks who might not understand how debt collection works, which may include OWS: if you buy $10,000 of an individual's debt for $500 and then forgive the debt, they have just incurred income of $10,000 and are obligated to pay taxes on it exactly as if you had handed them $10,000 in cash for services rendered. If you don't inform the IRS that you forgave the debt, via a 1099-C, you're going to get…
From what I can find: A bank will make a loan, after 120 (or 180) days of no payment the loan becomes "charged off", this means it's now tax-exempt The purpose of making such a declaration is to give the bank a tax exemption on the debt Then a debt buyer will purchase the value of the debt for a percentage A debt buyer is a company [..] that purchases delinquent or charged-off debts from a creditor for a fraction of…
The debt collector's tax basis is the price they paid for the debt. If they fail to collect the debt, there is a net loss equal to what they paid for the debt. This tax loss can be set against other debts that are recovered (profits).
If the full face value of the debt is recovered, the debt collector owes tax on the difference between their basis (what they paid for the debt) and the amount collected from the debtor. Of course, this profit is set against the losses on the remainder of the debt portfolio, so the net tax owed is the cumulative debts collected above the basis, less the loss on uncollected debt.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street." Except debt can be exactly due to some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street and you don't have the insurance to pay for the medical bills. I'm not saying that this is true for all of the OWS debts: probably not even the majority. I'm just saying that it's not as easy as "it's your fault you're in debt…
This may sound harsh, but medical attention isn't free, and crossing that street without medical insurance and getting hit by a car and accepting expensive treatment you can't pay for is still incurring debt which you are obligated to pay back. This is why insurance of all forms exists; to protect us from expensive, catastrophic events. So as far as fault goes, you are very much to blame if you take risks and choose…
How does OWS think this debt accumulated? Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street. You have to get yourself into debt. It used to be taboo, but it's acceptable to get into debt these days and worse yet, walk away from it. OWS, to me, represents an entitled generation.
Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car
while crossing the street.
OWS, to me, represents an entitled generation.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Debt isn't some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street." Except debt can be exactly due to some random accident like getting hit by a car while crossing the street and you don't have the insurance to pay for the medical bills. I'm not saying that this is true for all of the OWS debts: probably not even the majority. I'm just saying that it's not as easy as "it's your fault you're in debt…
This may sound harsh, but medical attention isn't free, and crossing that street without medical insurance and getting hit by a car and accepting expensive treatment you can't pay for is still incurring debt which you are obligated to pay back. This is why insurance of all forms exists; to protect us from expensive, catastrophic events. So as far as fault goes, you are very much to blame if you take risks and choose…
It would be cool if someone created something like prosper, where I could see bad debt from people, and they could make pitches for why I should extinguish theirs. For $x, I could purchase and extinguish N x $x in debt, where N is some function of type, time to maturity, etc. I personally would be more likely to buy deserving-seeming medical, failed business, etc. debt than car notes or whatever, but maybe others wou…