@Anonymous wrote:
@sean23 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@sean23 wrote:In my opinion, the people that are most upset by this are the people that "fudged" or "over-estimated" income on their credit card applications. Everyone can claim that its "so intrusive" etc, but credit card statements and bank statements are much more personal in nature, yet everyone is so much more willing to give up this info than a tax return that shows overall financial picture. So its fishy to me that this causes some people to get so defensive.. The other thing is that people act like they have some RIGHT to dictate the terms of the credit line when they are asked for tax forms. Again, you knew what you were in for when you signed up the card, the credit card companies don't owe you anything, you owe them! I think tax forms should be a requirement for ALL credit applications. I see so many people on these forums that have ridiculous amounts of credit without the income to back it up. This is why so many people cant dig themselves out of the holes they put themselves into. If it wasnt for irresponsible customers that cant manage their credit and ended up abusing their credit lines and defaulting or going into bankruptcy , companies wouldnt need to ever conduct financial reviews. And I say this as someone who has been irresponsible in the past, so I speak from experience. Financial Reviews protect the lenders, and they protect irresponsible customers from getting in over their heads. If that doesnt apply to you, then a financial review should not really bother you at all.
As far as mortgages go- im sure the reaon that more poeple are more accepting of supplying tax forms for mortgages is because they are submitted as part of the application, and they dont really have the opportunity to lie about their income in the first place.
This is all my own personal opinion. Just want to make that clear.
Tax forms provide a different info from bank statements and pay stubs. Apart from the case I keep mentioning of filing jointly where the other person has no interest in the credit card, there is also dependent information, exemption info (spouse is blind for example) and investment information (which you may have chosen not to include in the app).
Just because you don't have or see any privacy concern does not mean that anyone who does is doing something wrong. Compare with "Let the police install cameras and mics in your house and monitor you 24 hours a day, if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear."
Re "This is all my own personal opinion. Just want to make that clear". What else might people think it was!
Oh, come on now. Really? You're seriously reaching.
Not at all! You are more or less saying that the only reason for refusing to submit forms is because you have done something fishy. And requiring it for all apps would prevent people getting into trouble. Think how many crimes could be prevented if everyone was continuously monitored!
+1
He isn't Reaching at all ....
For those that find the process intrusive, you do realize that you don't have to borrow money from American Express. There are hundreds of other credit cards available for personal and business needs that are for the most part accepted at more places than AmEx. When I bought a house they required damn near everything that took place in my life over the last two - ten years. When I bought a car they wanted quite a bit of information too. So I don't see it out of character for American Express to perform a financial review of any account, especially when the funds that they provide are not backed up by collateral of any sort. They are taking your word at face value that you will continue to pay them on time, each month, for as long as you have your account. Now that I think about it, they should require just as much if not more documentation than home or auto lenders as these companies at least have something to go after other than causing a blemish on your credit history (which some people don't care about when times get rough).
If you want to use their money, then you have to play by their rules. It may be an inconvenience but a lot of these inconveniences are meant to protect their interests and at times, yours as well. It would be a lot more inconvenient for millions of consumers/businesses if credit cards weren't available to spend money that most people don't have on hand.
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@sean23 wrote:It's just the only people that seem to object to it so indignantly and say they are flat out refusing to submit based on invasion of privacy, are the ones whose stories never really seem to add up and are weirdly willing to submit bank statements or other more personal info instead of the tax return. The people who have been reviewed and genuinely have nothing to hide, are the ones who appear to complain more about the inconvenience of it, rather than the privacy aspect of it. And in my eyes, this is suspicious. You never hear people complaining about tax info being submitted for mortgage or FAFSA applications.. only on credit applications that werent previously verified. Just odd to me, so I draw my own conclusions based on what I see and interpret from the behavior.
+1. Pretty fishy, when someone will let their accounts be closed over "privacy." Yes it is privacy - as in "I don't want anyone to know I was lying." Lol.
That said, there are other scenarios.. Say the bulk of someone's income is "under the table" and avoids tax. They didn't misstate the amount in this case, they're just fudging with the IRS and the actual amount can't be verified through tax records. Still fishy activity, but a different sort. While I wouldn't agree with them, I think that's their private choice.
