Fattening Credit Card Cos On Money Meant For Donation
– By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer
It is painful enough to be in bankruptcy (Chapter 13) and unable to afford to live life the way you want to, are accustomed to. But to rule that a debtor cannot tithe or donate money to charity when in bankruptcy is downright ugly. This whole ugly row took place because a New York couple wanted to give $100 to their local church. They were asked to use the money to pay their creditors and not the church.
Painful isn?t it? Blame the new bankruptcy law. As per the new rules, you cannot file for a Chapter 7 unless your annual income is at or below a certain amount based on your state?s median income. If you are not so lucky, you have to perforce file under Chapter 13. This means you must repay your debts over a three or five-year period. One important requirement in a Chapter 13 filing is that you are allowed only certain ?reasonable? expenses. And donation to charity is definitely not reasonable according to the law.
How do you explain this phenomenon? On one side we are taught to be kind, giving and caring. And on the other, the country?s laws say you don?t have a right to give to the less privileged because your financial health isn?t too good. So what do you do? Fatten up already bloated creditors like MasterCard, Visa, American Express?. I cannot even begin to fathom or explain the depth of my disgust here.
Can we become such a consumerist society that we forget our downtrodden? And what is the law asking us to do ? become even more selfish and self-centered? Gives you something to think about this festival season, doesn?t it?
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bad credit owner
May 6th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
The fact of bankruptcy is always awful and stays on your credit report for 7-10 years. If you want to get a credit card, you are eligible only for bad credit card, even if your credit score was good enough before bankruptcy.