Do the people who keep requiring credit card companies to produce ever more complex and lengthy agreements not understand that this works to the advantage of the credit card companies and against the consumer that the agreement is allegedly supposed to protect? Almost no one is going to bother to read those 31 pages of legalese, so the consumer doesn’t actually have any idea of what he’s agreeing to. 31 pages of legalese is 31 pages of opportunity to word things to favor the credit card company, 31 pages of points of dispute to be argued over by lawyers, and 31 pages of material that the credit card’s lawyers can use to threaten consumers they are in dispute with.
If I could negotiate credit card agreements, my mortgage, or car loan agreements, I would have no problem with them being 31 pages long.
But I cannot. If I want a loan, I must take what is offered or go home. That is because the lenders are idiots and rely totally upon lawyers for their contracts. They will negotiate nothing except, maybe, interest rates.
This is far different from business to business loans, which are carefully constructed to meet the needs of both parties.
What we need is a set of rules and regulations that each party adheres to and, if the parties which to deviate from the rules and regulations, there must be a showing of equal bargaining power on both sides. I believe this is how it happens in Europe.
I recognize that much of this problem is brought on by consumers suing. But the fault also lies with lenders who wish to take advantage of consumers.
>>Real estate closings used to require a few pieces of paper. Now I can’t >>count them all.
Part of the problem here is that each jurisdiction has it’s own separate form for some things. Is there really a good reason to have to fill out a completely different form for each of the Feds, State, County and City that says I wasn’t discriminated against due to my race?
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Real estate closings used to require a few pieces of paper. Now I can’t count them all. Every conceivable problem turns into another federal issue.
“Pay your bill in full on time, or be raped by 31% interest rate.”
Fourteen words. What’s so hard about that?
Do the people who keep requiring credit card companies to produce ever more complex and lengthy agreements not understand that this works to the advantage of the credit card companies and against the consumer that the agreement is allegedly supposed to protect? Almost no one is going to bother to read those 31 pages of legalese, so the consumer doesn’t actually have any idea of what he’s agreeing to. 31 pages of legalese is 31 pages of opportunity to word things to favor the credit card company, 31 pages of points of dispute to be argued over by lawyers, and 31 pages of material that the credit card’s lawyers can use to threaten consumers they are in dispute with.
If I could negotiate credit card agreements, my mortgage, or car loan agreements, I would have no problem with them being 31 pages long.
But I cannot. If I want a loan, I must take what is offered or go home. That is because the lenders are idiots and rely totally upon lawyers for their contracts. They will negotiate nothing except, maybe, interest rates.
This is far different from business to business loans, which are carefully constructed to meet the needs of both parties.
What we need is a set of rules and regulations that each party adheres to and, if the parties which to deviate from the rules and regulations, there must be a showing of equal bargaining power on both sides. I believe this is how it happens in Europe.
I recognize that much of this problem is brought on by consumers suing. But the fault also lies with lenders who wish to take advantage of consumers.
>>Real estate closings used to require a few pieces of paper. Now I can’t >>count them all.
Part of the problem here is that each jurisdiction has it’s own separate form for some things. Is there really a good reason to have to fill out a completely different form for each of the Feds, State, County and City that says I wasn’t discriminated against due to my race?