Forum Post: How You Can Fight the Banks

How You Can Right the BAnks:

1. Withdraw all your money out of the bank. Then join a Credit Union and Deposit it there.
2. Refinance your home, car, boat, or what ever loan you have with the credit union.
3. Switch your credit cards to a credit union.
4. If you’re thinking about bankruptcy do it now. If you can do a Chapter 7 bankruptcy not a 13. Go online and see if it is for you.
5. Tell all your friends and relatives to fight back to. If they say no at first keep trying. Banks operate on a 90% leverage. For every $100 they have in deposits they can loan out $90 of that $100. When you take out all your money and don’t put anymore in they are going to have to cover that 90% that left their bank from somewhere or become insolvent. Credit unions’ core values and structure are very different from those of banks. As a member, you’re not just a customer; you’re an owner, with a say in the future course of the credit union. Plus, credit unions’ not-for-profit status means that all earnings are returned to the members in the form of great rates and low fees. Banks, on the other hand, exist to make a profit for shareholders, so their definition of success is different. Credit unions provide a place for members to save and get loans at reasonable rates. Other services vary by credit union, and are tailored to meet members' needs. This is one place where member voting comes in; as a member, you get to say what's important to you. Credit unions also give members the chance to get involved. The board of directors is made up entirely of volunteers, as is the supervisory committee (which audits the credit union’s books). As a volunteer, you can be a driving force in your credit union. While their values and structure are different from those of banks, credit unions offer just as wide a range of services. They include: credit cards with low or no annual fees and low interest rates, direct deposits, cable and wire deposits, financial education and counseling services, high interest rates on savings accounts, CDs and money market accounts, investment services, low cost or free checking with low or no minimum balance requirements, low interest rates on mortgages and vehicle loans, notary services, online banking. And your money is safe it’s insured up to $250,000.

If you go bankrupt will you ever get credit again? Yes! A number of banks now offer "secured" credit cards where a debtor puts up a certain amount of money (as little as $200) in an account at the bank to guarantee payment. Usually the credit limit is equal to the security given and is increased as the debtor proves his or her ability to pay the debt. Two years after a bankruptcy discharge, debtors are eligible for mortgage loans on terms as good as those of others, with the same financial profile, who have not filed bankruptcy. The size of your down payment and the stability of your income will be much more important than the fact you filed bankruptcy in the past. The fact you filed bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years. It becomes less significant the further in the past the bankruptcy is. The truth is, that you are probably a better credit risk after bankruptcy than before. Remember that these banks are the ones that got bailed out and didn’t help those people in need of refinancing their mortgages. Instead they: partied; tightened regulations so most people couldn’t qualify for a loan or didn’t extend the current terms of the loan; forced people to live off their credit cards and pay very high interest rates and then they foreclosed on them. Give them the same compassion that they gave those millions of families they ruined.