Desperate debtors are ripe targets

After Darren Robertson got laid off from his factory job, he and Julie Fitzpatrick, his girlfriend, ran up nearly $10,000 in credit card balances on food, gas, medical and heating bills.

[Vince]

I recommend Dave Ramsey's book Total Money Makeover. It explains a detailed method about how to get out of dept. His method isn't easy but it works.

[Joey K]

If our government is TRILLIONS in debt, don't feel bad about owing a few bucks to a credit card company that is already ripping you off on interest. Years ago it was called a "juice loan" and loan sharks were prosecuted. Now they use the law to collect their money...pretty sad.

[Harpo Michigan]

I have a debt management paying my bills and they have been awesome to work with. I get my statements each month that I send to them and I get a statement from them each month showing where my money went. I get no more phone calls.
I also wanted to pay my debt off but they would not work with me. They did work with the debt management people and lowered the interest plus stopped the over limit and late fees. Now I can pay them off which is all I ever wanted to do.
I was threatened with court action..but I also knew that being on Social Security they could not touch my income and it was in their best interest to work with me. My debt is not huge. I just got behind when I had to retire.
Green Path Inc. is a reputable company and I have access to a real person at any time and also by email. People just need to do their homework and research the company before they sign any contract. That is what the internet can do for them.
Debt Management can work for you if you find a good company,.

[Chijac8]

Don't they teach basic economics in school anymore? If you do not have it, do not spend it. If you have kids to support, you will not have as much money to spend on other items, etc. If you have a temporary job, it may not last the rest of your life! and so on. And this is the most important story of the day. This story could probably be run every day with a new cast of characters!

[Grunt]

Welcome to predator society. Make money or suffer. Don't expect the government to bail you out. Move to Canada.

[no commie]

There are bankruptcy laws on the books for a reason. They should just file for Chapter 7 and be done with it.

[phyllis]

When will people learn? The only way to get out of debt is ..pay the bill you ran up! Simple? If you can't afford the debt don't buy the item. I believe they still teach consumer economics in school?

[Grunt]

Chijac8, can't you read the article? What would YOU do if YOU got laid off, ended up with no health insurance and were confronted with healthcare bills and other primary bills? Do YOU have any clue how much healthcare bills are?

Would YOU still say the same like YOU do now if YOU were in their situation?

[Jack of Sarasota]

If it to good to be true, it probably is.

[EMD]

To Grunt. I AM in their situation - both my husband and I were laid off with minimal severance pay. Our insurance is deactivated and the only option is Cobra at $800 a month, with both of us needing prescriptions totaling over $600. We have a mortgage to pay with soaring property tax costs. But guess what? We are still smart enough to manage our debt without resorting to stupid desperate measures. If you can't figure out that debt doesn't go away by magic, then perhaps this is the only viable lesson for you.

[KINGPIN]

You got to be a born loser to fall for this one.
The only way to get rid of your bill is to pay them off.
HELLO?

[Reckless]

The Government does nothing to protect consumers and individuals in debt, especially those in debt because of illness or medical reasons, but everything to protect large corporatipons and the wealthy. As this country slides farther to a country of have and have nots watch the number of homeless rise and the tax base shrink, but yet the wealthy and a big Business will cry for more tax cuts. I laugh when a a person making $1,000,000 a year cries that paying 40% of taxes is too much, let them try to put food on the table, or even have a table to put food on, when all they have to live off of is $25,000 a year as opposed to $600,000 a year.

[Reckless]

KINGPIN wrote:

You got to be a born loser to fall for this one.
The only way to get rid of your bill is to pay them off.
HELLO?

One needs income to pay off debt, Kingpin, you need a dose of reality.

[Reckless]

Taxpayer wrote:

Blame everybody except yourself. It's a shame you lost your job. Ditto that you ran up a credit card . Did you check out the "credit rescue company" before you signed on the dotted line? No. If you did , you wouldn't be in the mess you're in now. Why this is in this newspaper is beyond me.

I hope you lose your job and health at the same time, jerk.

[tim2]

The lesson here is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Several years ago, we carefully researched and found a reputable consumer credit agency, called the ACCC. www.consumercredit.com . It takes sacrifice and discipline. What they did was negotiate interest rates on our behalf, made agreements on monthly installments to pay off the credit, and educated us on how to budget better. We sent them (the agency) one check a month to cover all payments which were made electronically. For six years we checked every credit card statement, and it was ALWAYS paid. We watched our debt decline, and celebrated when it was finally gone. This is responsible way to pay - yes pay - your debts with the financial help that many folks need. Your debt doesn't "vanish," you pay it off - which is the only way to responsibly eliminate debt.

[Reckless]

Typos aside you still get my drift.It's something with the Trib post board, I proofread and all looks fine, I post and it has typos

[Hardliner]

I would be curious to know what their debt load was prior to being laid off. I would bet you dollars to donuts that they were already in hock up to their eyeballs. Then they explain away all of their financial problems due to job loss and poor health. Judging from the picture they did not appear to have skipped many meals.

[entropy5]

I find it ironic and in poor taste to have 5 ads for debt settlement firms on the same page as a story about bloodthirsty debt settlement firms. America, what a country, eh?

[Hardliner]

Reckless wrote:

<quoted text>
Try this scenario, a man has a house worth 600K, owes 400K on it, is diagnosed with cancer, can no longer work due to the effects of cancer and Chemo treatments, tries to sell his but get's lowball offers due to the Real Estate "correction" and mortgage meltdown, goes through his savings fighting to stay alive, runs out of money but still has medical bills, has to eat so he runs up CC debt thinking he can pay it off once the house sells, house goes into forclosure forcing a short sell and only get's 360K for it, is in debt and know has a tax to pay on the gift of 40k, the difference what he owed and what the sort sell got his mortgage holder, now has 50K of CC debt and no place to live or and no way to pay for medical bills, food or living expenses. guess he did it to himself when he ate processed food loaded with chemicals and grew up breathing the polluted air of the somkestack industry and exposure to asbestos that was in the schools he had to attend for 12 years and having been exposed to chemicals from the place he worked at. Sure it was all his fault even though he tried to do all the right things, meanwhile CEO make hundreds of millions while killing us with their business parctices. When that guy bolws his lid, pulls out his gun and kills a few wealthy selfish ba$+@rds, all I say is the gluttons got what they deserved.

Wow, that sounds like an Irwin Allen disaster movie to be sure. However your well thought out scenario has about as much to do with the couple in this article as WMD's had with invading Iraq. Take a sedative and try sticking with the facts at hand.

[Been there_done that]

Very few understand how deep into debt they are going to get when they start using credit cards,and that paying your bill on time every month is NOT a guarantee that the banks won't raise your rates or hit you with hidden fees.Pay as you go or go without-it's much better than being swamped in debts you can never repay.