New CARD Act a little unfair

[Anonymous]

@always_asking:

You're right, it IS something that is earned.  Just not from the government.  You earn it by virtue of lenders agreeing to lend you the money.

I don't have a problem with rules, just on whose they are.  The government's job is to enforce contracts, not apply their predjudices as to who may enter into them, and different rules for different people.  That is wrong.

Income does not = means to pay.  Maybe it helps, but it's not the whole story.

Finally, I'll bet you this law doesn't even accomplish what it hoped to accomplish.  Maybe they'll be less 18 year olds in trouble, but in 3 years time, you see the number if 21 year olds in trouble skyrocket.  It's a silly law.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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jausanka wrote: ..."Some would also call it "idiotic" to comment on a law without reading it..."

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In the past year, Congress has not only commented on laws without reading 'em...they've passed laws without reading 'em. 

What are we (allowed) to call that? 

[Anonymous]

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@Equinox wrote:
I never said there was a "magic age". People who freshly turn 18 tend to seek out credit in an act of desperation, from what I've noticed anyhow.

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that must be something new with gen y and the millenials -- if you mean desperation to get credit for credit itself.

with mine (gen x) , the desperation was for the freebies that were offered on campus.  a free t-shirt was gold, when one was broke. hardly anyone sought out credit to have the cards (though that was nice); the big talk was 'how many free t-shirts can i pick up?' not APRs and credit limits and other stuff.  a 500 credit limit was as good as a 6000 credit limit was as good as 9.9 APR was as good as 22.0 APR -- it was all about the shirts.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
What is disturbing to me is the number of people that are whining as if credit is a right instead of something that you earn. Please, look at the definition of credit. The law does not require someone under 21 to have a cosignor. It requires anyone under 21 to have the MEANS to pay a credit card before it can be issued UNLESS they have a cosignor. It doesn't even specify that you have to show pay stubs. There is no proof of income requirement on the legislation. But the reality is that you should not be granted credit that you cannot pay at ANY age. The biggest mistake people make is thinking of credit as money they are entitled to. The people with the best scores and the most stuff in the long run are the ones that do not carry balances on credit cards and save for major purchases. Establishing credit used to be a process. Banks became too loose with money, which resulted in the economic mess we are now battling through. At one point the savings rate in this country was actually negative. We, as a society, had more money flowing out than we had coming in. Why? Too much easy credit. So now we want to cry because we can't just be handed loans without showing the means to pay them back? Get real.

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so much this.  so, so much this.

[MattH]

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@tianapb725 wrote:
I'm young myself (I'm 26) and didn't get my first credit card until I was 21.  I understand that they're trying to protect our "youth," but I also don't entirely agree with it either.  Only reason being that this country recognizes 18 year olds as "adults" and can be legally bound to a contract in every other aspect, i.e. auto loan, personal loan, etc.  Therefore, they should be able to apply for credit.  (On a tangent, I compare it to those who can serve our country at the young age of 18, but cannot have a glass of wine at their wedding if they get married at age 20).

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When I was 21 the normal expectation was one would get the first credit card shortly after graduating from college; I think I had to send American Express a copy of the offer letter from my employer along with the application.  I'm still an AMEX customer 28 years later.

[Anonymous]

That is EXTREMELY unfair. First I'm hearing of this age restriction, though. Like you, I am also very responsible with my credit cards and I don't think that being 21 automatically makes someone more mature than someone who is 19.

Congrats on your high credit scores! The highest I've been able to get was 692 with EX. You must have a car loan or something, right?

[MattH]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
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For those who commented about college students not having CC's back in the day, that's true. But graduates are facing a new world these days. They will have credit reports pulled for an apartment rental, for phone and utilities, for a cell phone, and quite possibly by a potential employer. You have to have a track record of responsible credit usage these days to qualify for good deals.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-17-2010 04:20 AM

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Perhaps a world when regulations mean the majority of college students don't have credit cards will make landlords in college towns go back to doing things the way they did when I was an undergraduate, just as the critical mass of car-less students when I was an undergraduate meant we had lots of retail within walking distance of campus?  The Berlin Wall was of course an awful thing, but it did have one positive aspect: West Berlin was the most pedestrian-friendly city in the rich world because very few residents owned cars (driving anywhere outside the range of public transit meant dealing with East German authorities).