Credit card defaults seen climbing, report says

[spinbaby]

Source: CNNMoney.com

American consumers are defaulting on their credit cards at a sharply higher rate compared to last year, in what could be another consequence of the recent subprime mortgage market crisis, according to a report published Tuesday.

In addition, late payments are also up, cardholders are showing signs they are less willing to pay and credit card companies have written off 30 percent more payments during the first half of this year versus a year ago, the Financial Times reported.

The credit rating agency Moody's told the paper the problem could be due to the property market slowdown and fewer homeowners opting not to refinance their residences.

"The combination of higher interest rates and a softer real estate market diminished the attractiveness of mortgage refinancings in which many borrowers reduced their more expensive credit card debt by drawing on the equity in their home," Moody's told the paper.

Read more: http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/070828/082807_cards_defaults.html?.v=1

[Orsino]

1. The Bankruptcy Protection Act/Racket achieves its goal...

...and consigns more and more people to semi-permanent debt.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll108.xml
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00044

[comtec]

2. Good!

Fuck em.
Let them try charging reasonable interest rates!
If people could see an end to the long road they'd work harder to pay off with what little they have, it's just our nature. But when you work and work and work and it never seems to go down.. fuck em!
I tried my damnedest to work off my credit, but it just kept piling. Mostly for me it was unemployment.
In the end I had to give up and go bankrupt, thankfully it was before the new, horribly fucked up laws came into effect. Even Machiavelli would blush at this crap!

[Tempest]

3. The second shoe drops

This was predicted as the housing market started its drop.

Next comes the decline in consumer purchasing, ushering in a recession.