AN INDUSTRY WITH NO SHAME….I do not like the credit card industry. The revolting travesty of “universal default” is one reason. 
That they have become obscenely profitable by transforming themselves into little more than genteel loan sharks preying on the unfortunate is another. And the fact that despite all this they still insist that bankruptcy laws need to be tightened so they can squeeze another few dollars out of their already wretched clients is the final straw:
In Cleveland, for example, a municipal court judge tossed out a case that Discover Bank brought against one of its cardholders after closely examining the woman’s credit card bill.
According to court papers, Ruth M. Owens, a 53-year-old disabled woman, paid the company $3,492 over six years on a $1,963 debt only to find that late fees and finance charges had more than doubled the size of her remaining balance to $5,564.
When the company took her to court to collect, she wrote the judge a note saying, “I would like to inform you that I have no money to make payments. I am on Social Security Disability….If my situation was different I would pay. I just don’t have it. I’m sorry.”
Judge Robert Triozzi ruled that Owens didn’t have to pay, saying Owens “has clearly been the victim of (Discover’s) unreasonable, unconscionable and unjust business practices.”
Read the whole thing. If you haven’t registered with the LA Times, then register. I know it’s a pain in the ass. Do it anyway.
