I understand that we are not to be in debt, so I am not sharing the following with you wanting to be scolded for being in debt. What things are is what things are, and some of us for various reasons got ourselves into situations that necessitated taking on debt and now we are getting ready to pay dearly for it.
Sparing you the details, for they are not important, let me simply say that the following are the facts:
1. We have never been late on any obligation for twenty years.
2. We live in a home that when re-financed in May of 2007 had, at the time, a full one third equity position. In other words, there was deliberately room left for unexpected expenses in the future.
3. We have 7 credit cards with balances on them and another 5 with zero balances.
4. Our income and expenses are the same as they have been for many years.
5. NOTHING has happened, on our end, to alter our situation in the past year and one half.
With these facts in mind, let me tell you what is going on. We have three credit cards that all go through the biggest bank in America. We have had these cards for between three and ten years. At times they have had balances approaching their limits and at other times balances of zero. NEVER has there been a late payment, over credit fee or any other negative. At present, all three carry balances which are at or below 50% of the credit lines.
Last week we received notices with the bills that as of December, the interest rates on all three cards were going from 6.99%, which they have been at for years, to 18.99%. As if this was not shock enough, we were informed the credit lines on all three cards were being frozen at current levels. Although we were able to “opt out” of the rise in interest rates by guaranteeing we would never use the cards again, we effectively were shut down by a bank we had up until a month ago, EXCELLENT relations with.
Yesterday the exact same thing happened with another bank we have two cards with. In both cases the so-called justification for the action was the bank did not like our “debt to income ratio”. Hello, it is the same as it has been for months. Before I had a chance to take all this personally, I did some research and found out what is going on which pertains to any of you carrying credit card balances.
A very trustworthy source, whom I trust completely wrote in an article yesterday that all the major banks and financing institutions are in the process of dealing with 2 trillion dollars in bad credit card debts. To handle this, they are systematically going through their clientele and doing exactly what they did to us with all but the very best customers on their books. In other words, they are cutting their losses by assuming anyone not making $500,000 per year is going to default on their credit card bills and thus they are freezing lines of credit and charging outlandish interest rates.
This has been going on for months and months with those in deep financial trouble, the difference is that now it is spreading to the “common folk” like my wife and I. The banks are bleeding money faster than Uncle Sam can give it to them. Look at the stocks of all the major banks and they are nearing the point of being worthless. No amount of money poured into the banks is going to help, for they are slowing slaughtering the very people who could have made them money via mortgages, loans and credit cards.
We recently found out that the same home which we had one third equity in 18 months ago now mysteriously has basically no equity. How on God’s green earth can a home lose 30% of its supposed value in 18 months? At the current rate, we will be “upside down” within six months. Oh how the vultures are circling as they make their plans to snatch this attractive property and acreage out from under us. All we can do is pray and do the best we can. These matters are way bigger than we are.
Don’t be surprised if any outstanding lines of credit you have get frozen soon. Don’t be surprised if the assumed equity you think you have in your home suddenly evaporates into thin air and you find yourself owing more than someone says your house is worth. Don’t be surprised if the reward you get for paying your bills on time, not being extravagant and trying to save money via retirement accounts is having to file for bankruptcy along with 50 states, thousands of cities and in due time, the United States of America.
Yes, that is where this is all heading. Sooner or later the government’s funny money will not be worth the paper it is printed on and no matter how much of it you make or save, it will not be able to help you. Those who sit back thinking they are safe and secure, will see sudden destruction come upon them. Those who thought they had enough in savings to carry them through their retirement years will be trying to survive on Social Security checks alone. Those who thought they had money to burn will find that money has all been burned up.
America’s chickens HAVE come home to roost in the sense that gross mistakes made due to greed are destroying the very financial foundation of this country. All logical measures which could really help the common person are laughed at and rejected outright. Instead, more and more money is thrown to the hungry ravenous wolves which represent the corrupt financial institutions of this world. They will never be satisfied until they have gobbled up every dollar from every soul in America. God help us.
