Wow, these folks take the cake. This article talks about how people run up debts and then file lawsuits against debt collectors to not only get out of paying their debts but get money to boot.
Now these are not stupid people, nor are they running a scam. Turns out what they are doing is complete legitimate. They are suing debt collectors for telling them they can “file liens against their homes, or garnish their wages.” Basically they are suing the debt collectors for misrepresentation.
They aren’t suing them because they don’t actually owe them money. Nope these people actually have run up these debts! They have run up $100k in credit card debt, but rather than pay or settle, they wait for debt collectors to call and then sue for $1k or $3500!
Um, wow. Talk about working the system. One particular individual worked the system and lost everything with the housing crash. His name? Craig Cunningham. He borrowed and borrowed and borrowed to keep investing in real estate until it all went south. Then the $100k he borrowed against credit cards, etc all went up in ash. Not to mention the multiple foreclosures on properties he was trying to leverage. Yikes. Sounds like a stupid person right? Actually he went to West Point and graduated. Makes you wonder?
Anyway he sees this practice of not paying the debt collectors and suing them as “justice” for what happened to him. What he CAUSED to happen to him by knowingly borrowing money he didn’t have, because he borrowed from the US military and it wasn’t reported to the credit bureaus. Thus he was able to get more credit than he should have. He says his money already went to pay back the creditors through the bailout money. Never mind that he was a major contributor of the problem.
What the hell is this guy thinking? I can’t believe that people moralize and justify their own stupidity so easily. And people think it’s only subprime mortgages? No way, sometimes, it’s just jerks who work the system to their own benefit, walking away from CC debt, mortgages, investments as they see fit because it’s more financially advantageous for them.
Until we stop letting people walkaway without repercussions for their behavior, then we’ll never be able to change our social relationship with money. There will always be those who choose to do wrong because it’s more advantageous financially.
4 responses so far ↓
1 tom // Jan 27, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Hop on over to Bargaineering, I’m extremely surprised by Jim’s response:
http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/debt-collector-crusader-craig-cunningham-in-dallas-observer.html
2 Andrea // Jan 27, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Well I would worry about it too much. I don’t think he would get very much money even if he did win. At least not compared to the amount of credit he ran up. Plus he probably had to declare bankruptcy, and that’s harder to do these days.
3 Cat // Jan 27, 2010 at 10:08 pm
I think these people are despicable.
4 Vickie // Jan 28, 2010 at 12:33 pm
People who screw the “system” are screwing those of us who do work, pay taxes and pay our bills on time. Ever wonder why CC interest rates are high? You can thank Craig Cunningham and others like him. How unfortunate that he has ‘misused’ his education when others with his educational opportunities could have made a positive impact on society.
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