topic Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006) in SmorgasBoard

Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

Scene — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:28:16 GMT

A 2006 documentary showing anecdotes of people that were affected by predatory lending practices and financial companies. It even mentions myFICO (indirectly) and says that FICO scores are 90% inaccurate. I almost lol'd at the gross exaggeration backed up by no credible sources. They also go on to say that the reason the FICO formula is not available to the public is because the scoring companies do not want to go under scrutiny of whether the scoring aspects are logical or even discriminatory.

I could believe the latter but the first statement is absolutely exaggeration. Has anybody else seen this movie? What were your thoughts?

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

laz98 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:45:47 GMT

I've seen it, & don't particularly care for it. Actually, it's currently showing on cable :smileyvery-happy: I noticed it yesterday.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

marty56 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:33:26 GMT

Back im my credit dark days, all those pre-approval letters forced my to apply for credit and max the cards out. I was in fear of my life if I didn't do it. It's all their fault.

Sadly there are too many people who believe my first statement.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

Repo-ed — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:59:36 GMT

No such thing as predatory lending. They tried like heck to get me to sign on the dotted line back then. But alas, I knew exactly how much I made, and I knew it didn't add up to be enough to pay for the loans they were pitching.

If I was smart enough to know that, so was the majority of the remaning population.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

marty56 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:35:55 GMT

Repo-ed wrote:
No such thing as predatory lending

Sadly there is such a thing as stupid people and those who don't take responsibility for their actions.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

FrugalRican — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:55:35 GMT

Repo-ed wrote:
If I was smart enough to know that, so was the majority of the remaning population.

I would love to think so, but 2008 proved otherwise... sadly, and unfortunately.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

Booner72 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:42:17 GMT

Yep, I've seen it. What struck me the most is that it was filmed in 06 and had that realtor in Vegas making a killing selling her house and selling other houses....Boy, TIMES HAVE CHANGED! I found it very interesting.

I don't think 90% is that much, if at all, of an exageration of those of us with errors on their reports.

True or False: EVERY SINGLE FORUM MEMBER ACTUALLY HAS OR HAS HAD SOMETHING REPORTING WRONG ON AT LEAST ONE REPORT. (Like really and truly wrong, not just, Oh my name is spelled wrong I shouldn't have to pay it, wrong.)

(I'd bet some serious money that most of the answers are true, which equals 90% or better!) Most people don't even know that there is something wrong because most people didn't get into this odd obsession that we have, and rarely even look at their reports, and those I know who do the annualcreditreport.com thing just glance to see if there is an account they don't recognize. It takes some real time and effort to understand a credit report.

Regarding predatory lending: I think a better term would be discriminatory. One bank was sued for selling the loans w/ the worst terms to minorities. (Read this in a legal journal and I can't cite the source or remember the bank). The folks on this documentary were minorities, elderly and likely uneducated. When I was watching the show I was very skeptical about how someone can be a "victim" of a predatory bank - but what I saw showed me that in SOME cases, it can be true.

You can also see this on Netflix.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:31:28 GMT

I've had false info on my reports, in the form of a 90 that should have been a 60 (rolls eyes), and balances continuing to report long after they were paid off.

To me, the word "predator" implies someone who stalks those perceived to be easy targets. So it's predatory lending if you deliberately go after people that you think you can fleece.

If these targets don't go along with it, that's great, of course, but the lender is still predatory in its business plan.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

cassembler — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:10:29 GMT

I had mixed feelings about the movie. On the plus side, the responsibility of proper credit maintenance is waaaaaaaaaay undersold to kids. By the time I hit 21, I was some $6k in revolving debt... And they would still give me a CLI!!! I'm not even sure if I made that much in a year!

On the minus side, like most documentaries, much of it was over-sensationalized... The <spoiler alert> suicides were kind of... Sad, of course... But I don't think 100% of that was caused by predatory lending... College is an emotional time to begin with, and a few maxed out credit cards are more of a catalyst than a cause, imho.

Also, the interview with the collectors was somewhat enlightening, but you can tell it was edited quite a bit to show them in a negative light... I'll bet many of them are just normal folk with, just in a job they hate.

I'd honestly like PBS to take a swing at a documentary on credit...

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

fused — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:14:06 GMT

I will NEVER defend banks, CCC's, or other lenders. They will do whatever it takes to make money. Period!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the movie, I believe some of it and the parts that I did, it really made me angry.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

cassembler — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:23:13 GMT

fused wrote:
I will NEVER defend banks, CCC's, or other lenders. They will do whatever it takes to make money. Period!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the movie, I believe some of it and the parts that I did, it really made me angry.

I agree to some extent, but like pointed out above, "There is no such thing as predatory lending." I don't think the problem is the lenders trying to make (legal) money, it's that we don't teach the kids to read (and think about) what they sign. The signature is the killer.

But I also heard a quote that "a free market is inherently unethical," which has some truth to it I suppose.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

IOBA — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:52:24 GMT

Booner72 - I am in that majority - something wrong on at least one report!

The people who accepted the borrowing terms who now claim that the lenders were "predatory" are trying to justify their actions as to why they aren't (or can't) pay the money back. Sometimes desperation fuels stupidity.

But in the end, we all have a choice.

Re: Maxed Out: Our Credit (2006)

Dadaluma83 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:49:56 GMT

Saw that documentary on netflix a few weeks ago. Like all documentaries it is slanted.

Yes there is a such thing as predatory lending. It is when the lending institution tries to be deceptive and prey on people who don't know any better. Not to sound elitist but all of us here know better and know how to play the credit card game. Some people believe it or not don't know any better but just charge everything and only pay the minimum. Predatory lenders prey on the same people in the same way computer scammers do, like click here for your free ipod, and the person truly believes they will get a free ipod. Or those fake emails claiming to be from your bank saying you need to "Confirm your details" People who fall for those things are the same type of people that fall into lending traps.

There are many cases where debt and collections and other negatives are just the result of hard times. You are current on your bills and everything is going good, then suddenly a medical emergency happens, job loss, divorce, etc those people go into trouble through no fault of their own, and most of the time try to make good on their debts but they need the collection agency to work with them.

The most rediculous part of the whole documentary was the college kids who were thousands of dollars in debt and their families were putting the bank in such a bad light "They just kept sending him credt cards." boo hoo. So the bank made your college student accept several credit cards and max them out. Sure. I know you can blame the bank for extending credit to someone with no ability to repay, but c'mon where does personal responsibility take over? You don't have a job, or a stable one? Then don't fill out the credit card application.

Really irks me when people can't take responsibility for their own actions, and unlike the people who just fell on hard times with job loss, ect the college students got into trouble due to their own decisions.

When I first started college it was before the credit crunch. Several times people would be out on university grounds handing out flyers that said "Show your university ID at a local restaurant for a free sandwhich/pizza/whatever"

That was literally all the flyer said. No fine print whatsoever. I was still smart enough to know it was BS, mostly because of how agressive people were handing out flyers. On the sidewalks if some students happened to walk by the people handing out a flyer without taking one, they would literally run down the student and forcefully hand them a flyer. Naturally the flyers were all over the ground blowing around in the wind from people who didn't take them and just let them fall to the ground. I at least went to the nearest trash can. It was pathetic.

I knew there was a catch because after all why would a business go through such aggressive tactics to give away something for free?

Turns out I later read on myspace and facebook from my friends who actually tried to claim the free food because according to the flyer you just showed your student id and get your free food. Well, the flyer left out the part that you get your food when you fill out a credit card application. Personally I would never trust some credit card application given out by pushy people and filled out in some hole in the wall restaurant. I told myself if I was going to get a credit card, I would apply myself at a local bank or credit union and take one out on my terms.

I believe the CARD act makes that sort of aggressive marketing illegal now. Plus with the CARD act all the terms and conditions are easily laid out so there is no excuse for anyone being irresponsible with a credit card.

Even though I don't have kids when I do and they become teenagers and get their first job I am going to teach them to be responsible, and take them to a local bank or credit union to get a secured card with a small limit just to build history. My goal as a future parent is never cosign for anything.