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the same bankers who simply refuse to enact laws that they don't like (no, really).

Sounds interesting, tell us more.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Dec 10th, 2008 at 07:46:54 AM EST
There has been a huge an persistent uproar over the fact that the banks seem to disregard most court decisions against them, as long as they can and even after that.
A recent example: there was a government law that protected small debtors by stating that no residence could be confiscated by the banks that issued the housing loan, if the remaining debt was under 20.000 Euros. But there are many recent cases in which the banks did exactly that: they put the small debtors house on auction. And yes, if the debtor is willing to undertake a huge legal expense he probably will be vindicated in court. But the problem is that a poor debtor can't afford such a legal battle. Over the past few weeks, leftist groups have been showing up in some auctions and breaking them up - nobody calls the police on them.

The same with say, no warnings about transaction fees in ATMs, unlawful penalties for quick repayment of debt and a host of other practices (not to mention a cartel like coordination which is certainly against anti-trust laws, but "surprisingly" the relevant regulators are understaffed and underresourced). The banks' attitude seems to be "we got an army of lawyers - and anyway what are you gonna do about it".

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Wed Dec 10th, 2008 at 08:43:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Sounds like the ongoing legal argument about bank charges for letters in the UK, where the banks have been charging those that exceed their allowed overdrafts in the region of £30 for sending them a letter telling them this. which in effect is a way of disguising excessive interest charges on loans to the poor. It turned out that these charges were totalling several billion pounds a year, and are illegal under various consumer credit acts. People started taking the banks to court over this, and the banks began paying some people off to avoid precedent setting court cases. We're still waiting for the final legal opinions to make the banks pay their stolen money back.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Dec 10th, 2008 at 08:53:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes apparently banks here too pay you if you take them to court but refuse to apply court decisions to their general practices. Thus an early repayment fee is judged illegal in court, the bank gives the money back to the borrower, but continues to charge the fee.  A government more interested in the clients than the bankers could easily have put an end to this. They don't.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Wed Dec 10th, 2008 at 09:06:19 AM EST
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I got a bank account and a bank (debit) card when I was attenting university: it was compulsory so that the state can send our stipendium with bank transfer rather than cash. What's more, our university made a contract with a single bank for this.

One year, looking at my account traffic report, I was surprised to discover transfer fees subtracted from my stipendium. I went to the bank to complain. I thought I'll need to fume at them about how they dare to take money from me that's mine, given that they are under contract with my university not me. However, the clerk just said no problem, the bank will give back the money if I fill out a form. (Which they did).

I immediately realised the scam they were running: they pay it back only to those who bothered to look at their account traffic reports and then bothered to go to their bank and complain, and kept the money of all the losers who didn't.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Wed Dec 10th, 2008 at 09:47:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]
In the US, this sort of thing is lawful. They actually tell you about the fees beforehand, but it's not like you can do anything about it, except refuse the student loan.
by Upstate NY on Wed Dec 10th, 2008 at 04:42:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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