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Credit card debt collection

bitsaboutmoney.com

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Re: Credit card debt collection

#311

Post by pc86 »

beaviskhan wrote: post #306
Aardwolf wrote: post #218

> you, reader, use credit cards in preference to debit cards as a payment instrument Reader from Europe here. I use debit cards for daily payments, that's just the most standard expected payment method in Europe (with mobile payments now replacing it. Is a mobile payment app more like a debit or like a credit card? I have no idea actually!). But credit cards for online payments on the internet because (despite some d…

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge (which still happens surprisingly often, given that chips were supposed to put an end to that): - With a debit card, I am out $X of my own money, until the bank can be bothered to agree that the charge is fraudulent and refund my money, which can take weeks or months, if at all. G…

Same. I have a debit card that I literally only ever use to take money out of a secure bank ATM (the ones attached to actual branches), or ID myself at the bank teller.

Every single thing I'm actually paying for goes on one a handful of cards.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#312

Post by flutas »

nico wrote: post #60
eru wrote: post #36

> I will bet you that, in practice, they simply avoid collecting against anyone who demonstrates ability and financial resources to enforce their rights. This is one for the history books of borked equilibriums. We devoted substantial efforts to pro-consumer legislation to address abuse of (mostly) poor people. We gated redress behind labor that is abundantly available in the professional managerial class and scarce…

This is the same with tax collection in the US (seen different versions of this done by IRS, California’s BOE and SF treasury) It goes something like this: they send you a scary looking letter telling you there’s something off about your taxes, you then need to call them (because they don’t do email and mailing anything will go over the time limit to comply), then they tell you more in detail what the problem is and…

Yup, happened to me too (Arkansas).

For context, I moved in January of the year.

Sent me a letter saying that because I had filed my federal return with my Arkansas address I clearly lived in the state, and because I hadn't filed a state return they were assessing taxes on me for the entire year at the single rate.

I called and they said the same thing, I interrupted them and said "so should I tell California to fight you over this money, since I lived there until (XX/YY/ZZZZ)?" Oh and here's my AR lease, here's my CA lease, my CA tax return, me transferring my license to an AR drivers license, and me transferring my vehicle registration on (XX/YY/ZZZZ). Anything else I can help you get from the state, since you don't seem to have access, but do from the feds.

I got the most sheepish "this case is resolved" letter from them <72 hours later.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#313

Post by jjoonathan »

joezydeco wrote: post #299
dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the early '10s I was reading a report from a guy who had stellar credit and the card limits to go with them. He ran up about $100,000 of debt on his cards on purpose and stopped making payments. He then approached his bank to settle the debt and negotiated a 60% discount. The account was marked "paid by customer" so it never appeared on his on his credit report as a default. He did get dinged for missing paym…

Doesn't the IRS consider settled debt as income? Did he have to report that?

Yes, but "defaulting on $100k as an income strategy" is a tier above the usual tax avoidance schemes in terms of risk, so I suspect he availed himself of those too and wound up paying very little tax on the $60k.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#314

Post by dfxm12 »

beaviskhan wrote: post #306
Aardwolf wrote: post #218

> you, reader, use credit cards in preference to debit cards as a payment instrument Reader from Europe here. I use debit cards for daily payments, that's just the most standard expected payment method in Europe (with mobile payments now replacing it. Is a mobile payment app more like a debit or like a credit card? I have no idea actually!). But credit cards for online payments on the internet because (despite some d…

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge (which still happens surprisingly often, given that chips were supposed to put an end to that): - With a debit card, I am out $X of my own money, until the bank can be bothered to agree that the charge is fraudulent and refund my money, which can take weeks or months, if at all. G…

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything.

Does being a US resident have any meaning here? I mean, does the rest of the world not secure credit card payments, or does the rest of the world secure debit card payments like the US secures credit card payment?

Re: Credit card debt collection

#315

Post by DoubleGlazing »

There was a case a few year back around the time of the 2008 recession where a man in debt used the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to earn a decent living from their aggressive/dishonest practices. I did try Googling for the story, but I could find it.

His process was to let them lie to him - he even encouraged it, all while he was recording the call. After the call ended he'd launch a legal claim for compensation and he'd always win.

For example if they implied he could be jailed for not paying him debt, he ask them to confirm what they must said and use that as evidence of a violation of the FDCPA.

His logic was that in the good days credit companies were begging him to take on debt, but when the economy crashed and he found himself out of work they weren't so understanding about his circumstances.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#316

Post by Aardwolf »

beaviskhan wrote: post #306
Aardwolf wrote: post #218

> you, reader, use credit cards in preference to debit cards as a payment instrument Reader from Europe here. I use debit cards for daily payments, that's just the most standard expected payment method in Europe (with mobile payments now replacing it. Is a mobile payment app more like a debit or like a credit card? I have no idea actually!). But credit cards for online payments on the internet because (despite some d…

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge (which still happens surprisingly often, given that chips were supposed to put an end to that): - With a debit card, I am out $X of my own money, until the bank can be bothered to agree that the charge is fraudulent and refund my money, which can take weeks or months, if at all. G…

> The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge

Not sure if a fraudulent charge of a debit card is a thing I ever heard of in Europe. These cards have also been using chips for over 20 years. Maybe they work differently here.

To me credit cards sound less secure than debit cards: debit cards have chips and pin codes. With credit cards, knowing the number is in theory enough (they have digital verification now too though). Also, with debit cards, you put it in the payment terminal yourself.

With credit cards, in the US I've had the waiters in restaurants taking your credit card from your table, walking to somewhere else with it, and giving it back to you later. I had never seen that before (In Europe, they carry a portable payment thingie in which you can put/tap credit or debit cards to the table). How is that more secure? They could easily copy the number there.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#317

Post by beaviskhan »

dfxm12 wrote: post #314
beaviskhan wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge (which still happens surprisingly often, given that chips were supposed to put an end to that): - With a debit card, I am out $X of my own money, until the bank can be bothered to agree that the charge is fraudulent and refund my money, which can take weeks or months, if at all. G…

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. Does being a US resident have any meaning here? I mean, does the rest of the world not secure credit card payments, or does the rest of the world secure debit card payments like the US secures credit card payment?

I assume the rest of the world is less stupid/greedy than the US here, but honestly I have no idea how this works elsewhere - that's the reason for the "US resident" clarification.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#318

Post by beaviskhan »

wpietri wrote: post #310
beaviskhan wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge (which still happens surprisingly often, given that chips were supposed to put an end to that): - With a debit card, I am out $X of my own money, until the bank can be bothered to agree that the charge is fraudulent and refund my money, which can take weeks or months, if at all. G…

Yeah, I don't use rewards or loyalty programs at all; I don't like giving over the headspace to corporate manipulators. But I still use debit cards very carefully because of the better protections from fraud for credit transactions. The rise of the chip card may have fixed that; it's been a long time since I've had a problem. But I'm reluctant to find out.

I will say, it seems better than it used to be in the pre-chip days, but I've had to replace my primary CC once already this year due to an obviously fraudulent charge. To the credit of my bank, it was virtually painless - I had a new card in under 24 hours, and I didn't have to think about the $2000+ charge at all until they confirmed (two months later!) that it was in fact fraud.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#319

Post by ezfe »

Aardwolf wrote: post #316
beaviskhan wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is zero chance that I, a US resident, will ever use debit cards for anything. The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge (which still happens surprisingly often, given that chips were supposed to put an end to that): - With a debit card, I am out $X of my own money, until the bank can be bothered to agree that the charge is fraudulent and refund my money, which can take weeks or months, if at all. G…

> The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge Not sure if a fraudulent charge of a debit card is a thing I ever heard of in Europe. These cards have also been using chips for over 20 years. Maybe they work differently here. To me credit cards sound less secure than debit cards: debit cards have chips and pin codes. With credit cards, knowing the number is in theory enough (they have digital verification no…

That credit cards don't have PIN codes has nothing to do with them being credit cards vs debit cards, it's just a choice by the industry to not institute them.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#320

Post by [deleted] »

ezfe wrote: post #319
Aardwolf wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason is that in the event of a fraudulent charge Not sure if a fraudulent charge of a debit card is a thing I ever heard of in Europe. These cards have also been using chips for over 20 years. Maybe they work differently here. To me credit cards sound less secure than debit cards: debit cards have chips and pin codes. With credit cards, knowing the number is in theory enough (they have digital verification no…

That credit cards don't have PIN codes has nothing to do with them being credit cards vs debit cards, it's just a choice by the industry to not institute them.

[deleted]
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