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posted by martyb on Friday September 26 2014, @02:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the scorn-the-poor-man-as-a-thief-in-country-and-in-towne dept.

Auto loans to borrowers considered subprime, those with credit scores at or below 640, have spiked in the last five years with roughly 25 percent of all new auto loans made last year subprime, a volume of $145 billion in the first three months of this year. Now the NYT reports that before they can drive off the lot, many subprime borrowers must have their car outfitted with a so-called starter interrupt device, which allows lenders to remotely disable the ignition. By simply clicking a mouse or tapping a smartphone, lenders retain the ultimate control. Borrowers must stay current with their payments, or lose access to their vehicle and a leading device maker, PassTime of Littleton, Colo., says its technology has reduced late payments to roughly 7 percent from nearly 29 percent. “The devices are reshaping the dynamics of auto lending by making timely payments as vital to driving a car as gasoline.”

Mary Bolender, who lives in Las Vegas, needed to get her daughter to an emergency room, but her 2005 Chrysler van would not start. Bolender was three days behind on her monthly car payment. Her lender remotely activated a device in her car’s dashboard that prevented her car from starting. Before she could get back on the road, she had to pay more than $389, money she did not have that morning in March. “I felt absolutely helpless,” said Bolender, a single mother who stopped working to care for her daughter. Some borrowers say their cars were disabled when they were only a few days behind on their payments, leaving them stranded in dangerous neighborhoods. Others said their cars were shut down while idling at stoplights. Some described how they could not take their children to school or to doctor’s appointments. One woman in Nevada said her car was shut down while she was driving on the freeway. Attorney Robert Swearingen says there's an old common law principle that a lender can’t “breach the peace” in a repossession. That means they can’t put a person in harm’s way. To Swearingen, that would mean “turning off a car in a bad neighborhood, or for a single female at night.”

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday September 26 2014, @03:38PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday September 26 2014, @03:38PM (#98599)

    If i knew my bill collector was going to turn the car off because i didn't pay then i just wouldn't drive it.

    So following you "just don't drive" plan: How exactly would you get to work to earn the money you need to pay off the car? If somebody is accepting a car loan with over 15% interest, chances are that ridiculously high cost for a mediocre-at-best car is the least-bad option for them, and they have no better alternative.

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  • (Score: 1, Troll) by tibman on Friday September 26 2014, @03:42PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 26 2014, @03:42PM (#98602)

    Pack a dozen PB&J sandwiches and sleeping bag into your car. Park it at your work's parking lot. Live through some rough times and tell the story to your friends.

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    • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday September 26 2014, @04:36PM

      by urza9814 (3954) on Friday September 26 2014, @04:36PM (#98623) Journal

      Pack a dozen PB&J sandwiches and sleeping bag into your car. Park it at your work's parking lot. Live through some rough times and tell the story to your friends.

      And you get the car to work how? Push it?

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Friday September 26 2014, @05:21PM

      by sjames (2882) on Friday September 26 2014, @05:21PM (#98635) Journal

      Throw your kids to the wolves...

      • (Score: 2) by tibman on Friday September 26 2014, @05:49PM

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 26 2014, @05:49PM (#98649)

        Sorry Sir, but that is illegal where i live : ) Also, not very moral!

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        • (Score: 2) by sjames on Friday September 26 2014, @06:35PM

          by sjames (2882) on Friday September 26 2014, @06:35PM (#98662) Journal

          Then why do you suggest it? It's a bit hard to live in the parking lot at work with a bag of B&J when the kids need to go to school.

          • (Score: 2) by tibman on Friday September 26 2014, @06:59PM

            by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 26 2014, @06:59PM (#98664)

            I'd rather not play the "nit-pick a flippant answer" game. But! In your proposed scenario i would see if the kid's mom (married to me or not) could take care of the kids while i deal with a life-altering and painful situation. Maybe have a retired family member come live at my place, that would work too. The answer is certainly not to just throw your hands up in the air and blame other people. Well, you can do that but it won't get you out of that situation. You'll have to do something, anything really, to get through. Playing the lottery doesn't count either, lol. Well, you can play the lottery too. Whatever gets you through it!

            Please don't be offended by my flippant answers to serious situations. It's never as simple as "Just do X and you'll be fine!". The ability to withstand suffering seems to be important in life.

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            • (Score: 2) by sjames on Friday September 26 2014, @07:23PM

              by sjames (2882) on Friday September 26 2014, @07:23PM (#98674) Journal

              I normally wouldn't, but when it comes to people struggling financially, a fair bit of their troubles come from people giving similarly flippant answers and somehow thinking they have actually solved the problem. They then go on about how pathetic the poor are for not using their mindlessly simple and completely unworkable 'solution'.

              It's good to read that you realize it isn't actually that easy.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @08:13PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @08:13PM (#98692)

                1) Find a credit union (a member-owned cooperative) near you.
                2) Join it.
                3) Stop giving your hard-earned money to for-profit financial institutions.

                -- gewg_

              • (Score: 2) by tibman on Friday September 26 2014, @08:54PM

                by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 26 2014, @08:54PM (#98705)

                I'm not a douche or asshat (usually). Have been poor but not dirt poor. Joined the US Army at 17 and left it after a year tour in Iraq. Best and worst times and all that. Left the army with about 14k$ in my name (couldn't spend it in a desert). Spent 8k$ on a Jeep and another 1k$ on civilian camping stuff + kayak. Survived the next year with little money and no job. I didn't have a home so i went camping. In the forest a homeless person looks (and smells) the same as the employed, lol. Crashed with some friends on a spare bed. Slept in the Jeep. Ran out of money and had to get a job. Worked at a hotel for a year (trash, mechanic, driver, plumber, whatever) before finding a job that i wasn't ashamed to talk about. Currently a self-taught software engineer who asks for a raise every six months, lol. Life is much better now! But unlikely to last forever.

                I have seen the truly poor while living in Iraq. Seeing kids' feet that are just giant calluses walking around on garbage and glass (no shoes required!). With no such thing as a trash service, the entire ground is just covered in trash. People with insanely scary medical conditions who can never get help. I'm talking about stuff just growing out of some kid's neck and deforming him. He hobbles over to you with his best (but twisted up) smile and a wadded up $1 bill and asks if you can help him. This world sucks man. I'm often flippant because my worse day is like a good day for some people. How can i complain about my car breaking down when some people's stomachs are literally eating itself! Laughter and shrugs is my best defense. I mean, i'm tearing up just remembering this stuff. I don't want to feel all those feels, it kills me.

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                • (Score: 1) by Squidious on Saturday September 27 2014, @01:21PM

                  by Squidious (4327) on Saturday September 27 2014, @01:21PM (#98894)

                  Terrific post, I feel your feels.

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