Why the Elderly File Bankruptcy in Florida! Part II
By Carmen Dellutri, Attorney at Law on Jul 8, 2007 in Benefits of Bankruptcy, Florida, General Bankruptcy Information
The other day I wrote the first part of this post, and it really got me thinking about other reasons why the elderly file for bankruptcy. In Southwest Florida, we have a very large population of seniors who are living on a fixed income. One of the main reasons that the elderly are filing for bankruptcy right now in Southwest Florida is housing costs and/or mortgage payments. Due to a very sensitive real estate market, this may only be a temporary crisis; however, the main culprit is really credit cards obligations.
Many seniors use their credit cards to buy medicine and prescriptions (and maybe some early bird dinners). When they are purchasing the products and services, I honestly believe that they are fully aware of the obligation to repay the debt, and I fully believe that they have every intention to repay the obligations. But then comes the day where they are either late on a payment or simply cannot make a payment. Usually this happens when there is a sickness, or other emergency, or death or they just simply run out of money. As stated in Part I, family obligations sometimes infringe on the monthly budget.
These seniors are actually shocked by the way they are treated by the credit card companies when they have had the card for a very long time, sometimes over 20 to 30 years. They shake their heads at me when I explain universal default rates and how much money the credit card companies are making on interest, late fees and penalties. Inevitably, they ask me how can these types of things be legal? I then welcome them to my world, where people aren’t always treated fairly, where profits reign supreme over individual rights, and how credit card companies are constantly trying to find new ways to get more of their social security checks.
When they realize that they were playing a game which was designed for them to lose, and which never had their best interests at heart, it makes them realize how much the world has changed and is a much different place than what they learned growing up.
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