Debit Cards and Colleges; An Unholy Alliance

Colleges are courting the Devil - the Debit Card Devil. Debt counseling and money management are urgently needed on Campus! Hard pressed for funds, Colleges are resorting to "quiet" side deals to the detriment of its students. By this time most students are aware of some of the traps in credit cards, especially the killer default interest rates. The implication or at least the inference drawn by most people is that Debit Cards Are Safe:. THEY'RE NOT!

During the summer break, students and their parents, guardians, sponsors etc. should pay attention to the increasing use of, and demand for, Debit Cards on College Campuses by the Colleges themselves. The furor over credit card interest and fees has quieted (for now) but a more insidious replacement has arisen; Debit Cards.

A PIRG study, demonstrates that debit card using students have traded a headache for an upset stomach (I realize that shows my age but...). I was a banker for 18 years and ran failed banks and S&Ls for FSLIC and then FDIC. That part of me wants to delve into the extent the colleges have accepted payoffs for signing contracts with Debit Card Issuers that expose their students to legitimized financial crimes; transaction fees, overdraft fees, annual fees, a fee for being late paying a fee...

The Consumer Finance Protection Board ("CFPB") should jump into this mess but it has its hands full, especially with a Congress beholding to the Banking industry. In the meantime States' AGs could take up the fight. It will be easier than the Student Loan problem which is not getting any better in the near and maybe distant future. Here there are no issues with Federal agencies being the card issuers.

Every college, with an agreement with a debit card issuer, should be forced as part of disclosure regulations to explain, in plain English, with documentation provided, how much the college is receiving and what "arrangements" were made with the administration, development office, and financial aid office for starters.

Oh, and maybe, as a mandatory Freshman year course, all colleges should have a 1 credit course in financial management covering topics like budgeting, all forms of plastic, the full cost of attending school, and the probable length of time it will take to pay back student loans. In fact, maybe the college should have to credit each debit card user with student loans, at least one-half of the fees the college received to the Student's student loans

Author's Copyright by Richard Isacoff, Esq, July 2012

rii@isacofflaw.com
http://www.isacofflaw.com/

"I Disclose... Nothing"

There was an Opinion piece in the New York Times Sunday, Jan. 22,2012 by Elisabeth Rosenthal regarding the matter of Disclosures. Her position is that there isn't any, especially in the Consumer area. The link to the article is shown at the end of this posting. It's worth reading, every word of it!

NOW MY POSTING:

FOR DISCLOSURE PURPOSES ONLY!!!!!!

I am a lawyer. Please do not pillage me for thinking, many years ago, that lawyers HELPED people, and had a high degree of integrity. Even worse, at one foolish time I actually considered getting into politics, again thinking that our elected officials actually care about their constituents.

I come face to face every day, handling foreclosure prevention work, with federally mandated and corporate sought after disclosures like the "[NO] Truth In Lending" disclosure required at all real estate transactions. Unlike many of my brethren and sisteren I actually understand the documents. Having spent 18 years in Banking, at times working for regulatory bodies, and being an attorney, I learned the hidden meanings of the documents. Dan Brown would just be disappointed as would the Incas.

Instead of calling the volumes of paper presented to borrowers of any type disclosures, how about some honesty - call them DISCLAIMERS "NO MATTER WHAT WE DO TO YOU, WE HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING. IF YOU SHOULD ATTEMPT TO ENFORCE ANY LAWS WE WILL BRING THE FURIES OF HELL UPON YOU".

Unfortunately the last statement is only a mild exaggeration. The law firms representing the lenders and other large corporations can inundate a consumer or her/his lawyer with paper and deadlines.- EXPERIENCE.

No matter what a disclosure states, if there is no regulatory oversight in a meaningful way to protect consumers, the disclosures are worthless. The Tea Party et al who want less government better have an army of lawyers ready.

Most recently a Bankruptcy case involving a foreclosure was decided when the judge rules that all of the required disclosures were given to the borrower - the fact that the lender didn't follow federal guidelines was excused - guideline don't count. DISCLOSURES=OBFUSCATION.

Just remember "Less is More" in many cases

Richard I Isacoff, Esq.

Author's Copyright by Richard I. Isacoff, Esq, January 2012

rii@isacofflaw.com
www.isacofflaw.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/sunday-review/hard-truths-about-disclosure.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=opinion by Elisabeth Rosenthal