Drunk from the billions in federal bailout milk, Bank of America decided to raise Red Bluff, California resident Ann Minch’s credit card interest rate to over 23%. Bank of America’s move was both bizarre and self-destructive.
Bizarre because Minch, though recently laid off, had continued to make the required payments to the bank, at times even paying extra. Self-destructive because Minch responded by refusing to make further payments on the card and by launching a debtor’s revolt complete with her own YouTube video. In her video Minch sent a message to the bank’s CEO, Ken Lewis, but repeatedly referred to him as “Ken Lay,” alluding to the disgraced Enron CEO who died of a heart attack while under federal prosecution.
Minch stated, “if I’m successful this will be the proverbial first shot fired in an American debtors’ revolution against the usury and plunder perpetrated by the banking elite, the Federal Reserve and the federal government.” She also called Bank of America “evil, thieving bastards.” Since the video was posted in September 9th, it has been viewed over 337,000 times. In the words of many on YouTube, it has “gone viral.”
Minch recently posted an update video after getting a call from a Bank of America official. The official was polite and allowed Minch to tell her story. He then suggested that the bank lower her rate to 17%, which Minch immediately rejected. By the end of the call, Minch had successfully negotiated the rate down to the 13% rate she had prior to the rate hike.
Minch stressed that just because her problem had been resolved didn’t mean that the problem had been resolved for others. She is starting a debtors revolt website at www.debtorsrevoltnow.com. “The movement marches on,” Minch said.
Minch’s success shows that one person can make a difference, especially along with the power of the internet to spread the message. Let’s hope the credit card industry has taken notice of Minch’s actions and that unjustified rate hikes will become less frequent.
Watch the debtor’s revolt video: Anne Minch\’s Debtors\’ Revolt
Watch the update video: Ann Minch\’s Debtors\’ Revolt (UPDATE)
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