Stay up to date with the latest debt and consumer news.
While passing through the damn Amsterdam airport the other day I grabbed a couple of magazines to read on the flight. Some of the stories really jumped out at me and I wanted to share them with you.
Did you know that if you buy an American car you are more likely to miss payments and get it repoed than if you bought a foreign car? In fact, get this, Saturn buyers are 22 times more likely to default on their loans than a Toyota owner. Hum, what do we make of that now?
Japanese car owners are 56% less likely to stop paying than American car owners. All very interesting, but why? Here is a reasonable guess, remember when US car dealers were begging you to come in and buy a car? The offers were so ridiculous with the 0% financing and six and seven year loans that basically a bunch of people that never should have been given loans, were.
More information on this can be found in the upcoming book, Household Credit Usage: Personal Debt and Mortgages
Sounds like the same intelligent lenders that raced to originate all the bad sub-prime mortgages that they could.
Quote of the day: Stupidity + Greed = US Sub-Prime Mortgage
Looks like Warren Spector, president and co-chief operating officer of Bear Stearns lost his job over the unbelievable screw-up that Bear Stearns created in the loss of confidence from creditors and investors.
While Bear Stearns was once the 10th largest mortgage lender, they are now the first largest joke as two of their hedge funds, invested in mortgaged backed securities, went bust. Oops. I think we need to send Bear Stearns to collections over this.
I can hear it now, "Hello, is this Mr. Stearns? I'd like to leave a message. Please tell him I have an urgent personal business matter to discuss."
In an interesting situation that I've never thought of before, apparently 6% of respondents to a recent survey said they've accidently called their boss mom or dad.
Nope, never done that but I was so stressed out during a math test in elementary school in third grade once that I forgot my name.
Also in the same survey, 90% of managers think they're among the top 10% of performers in their workplace.
Damn, say it ain't so. And all this time I thought I was a good manager. Appears I was just fooling myself along with all the rest.
More little jewels and nuggets can be found in the latest issue of BusinessWeek
The fiasco over the power grab by the Insolvency Exchange (TIX) in the UK continues. Not much has been resolved this week, besides a flurry of meetings and lawyers earning good money. The word on the street this morning says there will be a press release out today with some interesting information and updates.
Apparently, there is now good evidence at hand to further the argument that the six TIX creditors (HSBC, Halifax / Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Marks & Spencer Money and First Direct) have acted as a cartel and in violation of the competition commission by issuing directives that tell licensed and regulated independent Insolvency Practitioners how much they can charge for their services. These moves also severely limit access to the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) from consumers.
With the elimination of an IVA as a good solution for debt problems in the UK, it leaves only bankruptcy as a binding debt solution for debtors since every other solution would be an informal arrangement without security that it would be honored over its life. Without a binding agreement a creditor is able to unilaterally change the terms of the debt repayment proposal at will, thus changing a plan years into it. Not fair.
Other creditors and bad debt buyers should be outraged about this power grab by TIX and their band of unholy creditors (I just like saying that) because there self-serving interests and voting power for IVAs can block another creditor from accepting the IVA and getting paid.
Here is one idea, why don't we restrict the voting power of a company that represents a majority of creditors. So if a group like TIX admittedly controls 70% of the voting power in IVA proposals, let's just knock the weight of their vote back to 35%.
At the bottom of this newsletter you will find links to the most recent IVA articles out of the UK this week.
Sincerely,
Steve Rhode
President
Myvesta Foundation
A Global Social Enterprise
Today's Top Stories:
Debt Collector Gets Scammed
In an interesting twist, a debt collector becomes the one stung in a financial fraud. He even played a part in helping to collect money from victims before he became a victim himself. Oh the irony. Who's the liar now?
Debt Collector Attacked and Killed
Interesting story out of Malaysia about a debt collector that was slashed to death. What makes the story interesting is that Lee Bon Kin was attacked by unknown attackers in his apartment. They fled before police arrived. What I can't figure out is why the story is about a debt collector being killed. Do they have that much hatred of debt collectors in Malaysia that if one is killed the fact that he was a debt collector is the feature?
Shedding Light on the Debt Collector Story Above
It looks like debt collectors in Malaysia aren't winning the hearts and minds of the public and maybe that's why people find great interest in the killing of a debt collector. It seems that recently a debt collector in Malaysia used a new approach, pay up or be my mistress.
Of course any article that has a quotes like "I hope Goo will come out of hiding to settle the debt as I have received many threats and I still fear for my life," and "I refuse to sell my body to settle someone else's loan," has got to be worth reading.
Capital One to Close Business and Fires Employees
Apparently even lenders having financial problems. Just last year, our old friends Capital One bought a mortgage lending business and now, its bust.
This failure is going to cost 1,900 Cap One jobs and now those people will be out of work, many unable to pay their bills soon. I just hope they don't hold Capital One credit cards and expect to be treated as individuals or sympathetically when they call for help.
If the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) Was An Airline
So yesterday I flew over to visit our Myvesta Netherlands office and got to spend yet more time flying around in a tin can. Now I'm a pilot and I love to fly, but it's hard to really say that being a passenger is really flying. It's more like riding the bus these days. I'd rather sit up front.
Do We Need to Wave Goodbye to the Simple IVA (SIVA)?
Thanks for your calls over the past few days. Many have raised an interesting point about the risk to the SIVA. If the Insolvency Exchange aims to control 70% of the essential voting for IVAs and they have their own agenda, where does that leave the SIVA?
Why a Debt Management Plan (DMP) is Not Like an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
I thought I'd just take a moment to get back to basics for a moment. There has been some talk about putting consumers into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) if the IVA is going to be corrupted by creditors.
Reward Offered For Payplan and CCCS in the UK
With all the hustle and bustle going on with the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) fiasco lately, you know, the one that robs consumers of access to good solutions to bad debt problems and castrates Insolvency Practitioners, a noticeable hush has been present from our old friends.
IVA Update: Six Creditors Restrict Access and Knowingly Hurt Most Vulnerable Citizens
So much has happened over the past few weeks regarding creditor demanded changes to the way Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA) are to be withheld from consumers in financial trouble that I thought it would be a good idea just to take a quick look at the fundamental issues of the situation.
Guess What IVA, HBOS, TIX, TESCO, and ASDA Have in Common
Just when the allegations of Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) price-fixing, collusion, cartels and the like were flying around about the Insolvency Exchange (TIX) and its beloved banking clients they dragged into this mess, there is yet another wrinkle.