Things that make you go hmmm....

That was a fabulous song of the 80's. I had lunch with a friend of mine yesterday. I did. I went out to lunch. Her brother built a new house probably eight years ago. He quit paying on it 18 months ago because he couldn't afford it and his credit card bills. So for those 18 months he paid off the huge balances on his cards. As this time was passing he tried to work with the bank to refinance at a lower interest rate. They would have none of it. Here we are June 2009. The bank agrees to refinance at a much lower rate. They will tack on the 18 months of missed payments to the loan. He also had a home equity loan. It was over $50,000. They settled for $14,000.00. Have you ever tried to work with a bank OR a credit card company? It's not that you don't want to be responsible for the debt you incurred. You want to pay it. You are offering to pay it if they would just lower your interest rate from 30% to something under 15%. You know what they say, "We can't do anything until you start missing payments." I don't want to miss payments. Sure, I charged too much but I want to pay for it. At 30% I'd be better off borrowing from Tony Soprano. Ever bounce a check? Probably not. It's $36.00 a check. Is that not legal loan sharking? I know, I know, I know. The simple answer is don't do it. So I'm questioning the point of why should we bother when it seems everyone else is getting a break or making their own? Why do we worry about making payments on time or at all? I must have some sort of moral and ethical standard thing that keeps me from joining the ever growing crowd of deadbeats. Thanks Dad.