Brenda Jerez hardly seems like the kind of person lenders would fight over.
Three years ago, she became ill with cancer and ran up $50,000 on her credit cards after she was forced to leave her accounting job. She filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
For months after she emerged from insolvency last fall, 6 to 10 new credit card and auto loan offers arrived every week that specifically mentioned her bankruptcy and, despite her poor credit history, dangled a range of seemingly too-good-to-be-true financing options.
“Good news! You are approved for both Visa and MasterCard ”” that’s right, 2 platinum credit cards!” read one buoyant letter sent this spring to Ms. Jerez, offering a $10,000 credit limit if only she returned a $35 processing fee with her application.
I am not, thankfully, in this woman’s former financial position, but I am continually bombarded by credit card offers. I have only one credit card (by choice) and the bank with which I have it continually raises my credit limit. I have never asked them to do so, they just send me periodic announcements that they have done so. I have never used any of the added limit, but I wonder why they do this – if I were to use up to the present limit, I would find it impossible to pay off. Is that the *goal*?
Just another example of why we should not be bailing out Wall Street.