Panorama Tonight - BBC ONE, 8.30pm

pepe2008

there seem to be a number of people posting here of the 'you spent it, you pay it back' club.
Please realise that not all people who are in debt are there because of reckless overspending. Unforseen changes in employment status, health or marital status can have devastating effect on personal finances.
the majority of people are morally responsible individuals who want to clear thier debts fully....its just that more time may be required, or LESS interest will be earned by the original Creditor than they envisaged.
Lending Institutions are , or were, quick to lend money they themselves had BORROWED and need to accept a level of resposibility to allow those with a genuine need more time to pay.
Those Institutions themselves are also happy to accept the 'charity' being dished out by various Governments to shore up their businesses which have been, without exception, damaged by their own greed.
Banks have been allowed to trade without regulation for years and they have got THEMSELVES into their own mess....on a far grander scale than any individuals have. If I equate Bradford and Bingley with myself, this would mean that I would owe something like £1,200,000 against assets of £120,000, they blame 'the market', 'the readily available credit in the banking industry'....they were entirely wrong! As long as all the balls were in the air it was ok, as soon as a ball was dropped ( lending to jobless Americans, living in trailers ) it all came crashing down.
If Banks are expecting the charity of cheap credit ( OUR MONEY) then they should extend that understanding to personal customers.
If Banks have been negeligent to their own Shareholders in allowing money to be lent without the correct Contract then they should suffer the losses.
Selling of debt should be closed down...a write off is a write off!!

Bambywamby

It isn't the banks that suffer the losses, as recent events have shown...it is the tax payer.

themagics

so as a tax payer am i helping the banks recoup their losses if so then where is the understanding that i need when trying to pay off my debts .... oh thats right the banks has sold it to a dca who is taking me to court

fletch3163

Can I ask a question please? Oh, look that was one:D

Now, before I ask, don't go judging me to be battering the can't pays (as if) or judging the won't pays (which is tough) .......... BUT........... well what actually would happen to the debt that goes unpaid if everyone did just stop paying? I'm not niaive enough to think the balance sheets don't get over inflated but surely it's not all fake.

I think common sense will prevail in the end, or perhaps that's wishful thinking. I heard this morning that Citibank had halted x amount of foreclosures in America and that can only be a good thing. Surely if new credit ceased and existing credit is honoured, however slowly and without punitive charges, it will get easier.

pepe2008

Bambywamby wrote: »

It isn't the banks that suffer the losses, as recent events have shown...it is the tax payer.

And there is the problem!
the Banks try to ABSOLVE themselves from responsibilty....expecting OUR MONEY to bail them out.

The Banks want us to ACCEPT responsibility for our own situation.

the Banks have shown incompetence and mismanagement in allowing money to be lent without the protection of a legally binding agreement.

The debtor took that loan on without the KNOWLEDGE that there was no correct Contract. In fact the loan would be taken out after being told that they, the borrower, had the PROTECTION of the Consumer Credit Act. this was created to stop unscrupulous lenders changing the goal posts during the loan Term ( amongst other things ) and being able to foreclose on a debt when THEY wanted to.
Now that there are moves to misuse the Act in going for Charging Orders/ Forced Sales, the lenders must accept that the Act may also be used AGAINST them.

Lynn11

I watched the programme and my blood was boiling at some of the stories and other stories you can sympathy with. I realise that circumstances changed, as our has this year and will continue to do so, but I must have a sensible head on my shoulders, as I try to control my money including any money borrowed. It is both the banks and the people who are to blame - people should know that they will be expected to pay the money back but also the banks were too eager to fling money deals to us and now they will probably start to clamp down and start to charge us for current accounts and credit cards - time will tell. Banks work as a business and want to charge you for letters written etc but when they are making the loss, they need help cause they cannot seem to disolve as this makes it worse for us. The banks can change their rules whenever they feel like it and you just have to deal with it. I hate that fact that they can now take your home from you on an unsecured loan. What is the point of having secured and unsecured loans if they are all going to go down this route.

pepe2008

fletch3163 wrote: »

Can I ask a question please? Oh, look that was one:D

Now, before I ask, don't go judging me to be battering the can't pays (as if) or judging the won't pays (which is tough) .......... BUT........... well what actually would happen to the debt that goes unpaid if everyone did just stop paying? I'm not niaive enough to think the balance sheets don't get over inflated but surely it's not all fake.

I think common sense will prevail in the end, or perhaps that's wishful thinking. I heard this morning that Citibank had halted x amount of foreclosures in America and that can only be a good thing. Surely if new credit ceased and existing credit is honoured, however slowly and without punitive charges, it will get easier.

A debt owed to a Bank is an asset....thats what they used as security to borrow more money to lend it to ever more unsafe borrowers.
So a well-founded loan ( at point A ) with good security and a reliable borrower becomes, after the value of that loan is bought and sold over and again, ( at point Z ) a dodgy loan made without proper security to an unknown borrower...'sub-prime'!
When the 'sub-prime' defaults the security collapses from the bottom up!
everybody earns commission on the way down, everybody catsches a cold on the way back up.......sheer bloody stupidity and greed!!!

monkeyintrouble

Whats going on here? When I first came on this site, most people were sympathetic of each other and shared good advice on how to best address their debts.
Nobody is trying to get away with paying nothing, were all just asking for more time to pay because of varied personal changes in circumstances. The "crooks" that were on tv last night obviously had a plan and went all out to avoid paying anything back, while sitting on thousands of pounds worth of assets. Most people on here are genuinely struggling to cope with the high cost of living (due to huge money mismanagement by our government, who are also in debt despite high taxes etc etc) and are more than happy just to be granted a bit more time to sort out all their debts.

So, please, all you people constantly quoting " you borrowed it, you owe it", go and jump on your moral soapbox on another forum and leave this webspace for people to gain good advice on how to deal with their problems, not be constantly "told off" :mad:

Oh and another thing...I would never have signed any credit card or loan agreement if it was to be secured to my home. At the time there were two totally different agreements, secured and UNSECURED.All my agreements were UNSECURED. All of a sudden, they're allowed to move the goalposts!!! Well in that case, my personal finances have changed, so Im afraid I will have to move my goalposts and pay what I can afford when I can!

pepe2008

Well said Monkey, the 'pay up ' brigade are full of morals until.....
as Kirsty McColl sang,
'from the rats in the basement, to the sharks in the penthouse...its not that far

jinny

Well I did'nt sign up for unsecured debts to turn into secured debts. I'm a can't pay and I would love to pay off what i owe, but i just can't. I'ts very scary to think dca's can take your home from you. This cannot be right is the finacial ombudsman not getting involved. That bloke who had other properties, has done us no favours.