Land of 10,000 Lies & Debtors Prison
“The Minnesota legal system has now turned into an official debt collection agency for the Banksters and Lawyers:”______
It is ironic that judges would throw debtors in prison, depriving them of their livelihood and ability to pay, while, at the same time, increasing the burden on the taxpayer to house and feed the prisoner. But, Satanic Psychopathic Bankers will be Satanic Psychopathic Bankers. Spreading as much stupidity and misery across the fruited plains as allowable. The debtor’s prison is making a comeback in these United States:
“As a sheriff’s deputy dumped the contents of Joy Uhlmeyer’s purse into a sealed bag, she begged to know why she had just been arrested while driving home to Richfield after an Easter visit with her elderly mother.
No one had an answer. Uhlmeyer spent a sleepless night in a frigid Anoka County holding cell, her hands tucked under her armpits for warmth. Then, handcuffed in a squad car, she was taken to downtown Minneapolis for booking. Finally, after 16 hours in limbo, jail officials fingerprinted Uhlmeyer and explained her offense — missing a court hearing over an unpaid debt. “They have no right to do this to me,” said the 57-year-old patient care advocate, her voice as soft as a whisper. “Not for a stupid credit card.” ‘(Source)
The Minnesota legal system has now turned into an official debt collection agency for the Banksters and Lawyers:
“It’s not a crime to owe money, and debtors’ prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century. But people are routinely being thrown in jail for failing to pay debts. In Minnesota, which has some of the most creditor-friendly laws in the country, the use of arrest warrants against debtors has jumped 60 percent over the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009, a Star Tribune analysis of state court data has found.
Not every warrant results in an arrest, but in Minnesota many debtors spend up to 48 hours in cells with criminals. Consumer attorneys say such arrests are increasing in many states, including Arkansas, Arizona and Washington, driven by a bad economy, high consumer debt and a growing industry that buys bad debts and employs every means available to collect.
So, how does a Creditor, dealing in “unsecured” debt like credit cards, get the Court to enforce collection of a loan that has no collateral or enforcement provisions?
- Credit Card companies sell bad debts for pennies on the dollar to law firms. Banks have insurance to cover these debts, and also benefit from the full write-off. They are, in essence, made whole.
- The legal firms do their best to get the consumer to validate the debt (admit that it is theirs) so that they can go to Court and obtain a Judgment. How a an unsecured debt, which has no enforceable payment provision, becomes a secure debt through a Court Order, remains one of life’s great mysteries.
- With Judgment in hand, lawyers are free to place a lien on homes, garnish wages and secure other assets, even though the creditor’s original agreement with the Credit Card company states very clearly that the debt was unsecured. Credit card companies offset their risk through higher interest rates on their products because they have no other way of guaranteeing payment! Unless, of course, they can prove fraud. Non-payment, by the way, is not fraud.
- The Legal firm will write off any debts at their full value (even though they only paid pennies on the dollar), thus making a profit on the write-off. They can also resell the debt to other law firms or collection agencies.
- By law, a credit card debt that goes unpaid should be removed from a person’s credit report after 7 years have passed since the last payment. Through reselling these debts and reporting as a new debtor, the collection agencies illegally take the original debt past the 7 year mark and can be sued by a consumer for damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I have done this, and won.
To throw an individual in prison for non-payment of an unsecured debt is one of the ultimate manifestations of criminal insanity. Especially since the original creditor has already been satisfied by insurance and write-offs, and the debt is “unsecured”. The result of this practice is ultimately forced labor camps and indentured servants, something that was done to the freed black slaves in the “Anti-Bellum” South and also in Medieval Europe:
“During Europe’s Middle Ages, debtors, both men and women, were locked up together in a single large cell, until their families paid their debt. Debt prisoners often died of disease contracted from other debt prisoners. Conditions included starvation and abuse from other prisoners. If the father of a family was imprisoned for debt, the family business often suffered while the mother and children fell into poverty. Unable to pay the debt, the father often remained in debtors’ prison for many years. Some debt prisoners were released to become serfs or indentured servants (debt bondage) until they paid off their debt in labor.”
Its ironic that corporations can repudiate billions of dollars in unpaid debts through bankruptcy and other proceedings without consequence, yet, there is no such hope for the poor sap that looses his job, income and ability to pay. One of the reasons that I promote debt repudiation services like FreetoProsper.com.
Harold
To Winnebago county court, Machesney Park police and their attorneys Barrick, Switzer, Long, Balsley % Evera, LLP Rockford, IL.
I’m writing this letter to inform you that my brother Danny Watkins has passed away. He has been pretty sick the last couple years and has not been able to work. He took letters to you written from his doctor, stating that he could not work. He was living in my Dads basement, because he could not work. He tried to get disability for the last 3 years, but we all know how hard they make it for someone who needs help. That case is still pending. The only help my brother got was $221.00 a month from link. $221.00 was his only income for a full month for over 2 years.
Yet he was harassed by the court, and Machesney Park police dept. attorneys for fines for a traffic violation. They sent him letters threatening to put him in jail if he didn’t pay his fine. He was even mailed a warrant card for his arrest because he missed court when he was in the hospital his last week of his life.
I would like to tell you, now you can take your $1500.00 fine and SHOVE IT up where the sun don’t shine. My brother was always concerned about paying his debts and he would have paid this one if he was well enough to work. Yet you idiots ignored his letters from the doctors and told him to give you $1500.00 or you are going to put him in jail. You people caused my brother who was dieing more stress and agony than you can imagine. (I know because he anguishly told me about your harrassment and how he wished he could pay you and showed me your letters of harrassment). You people should be in prison for stressing a man on his death bed over a measly $1500.00.
SHAME ON YOU!!!!
With the amount of people who do really bad things who are let go because of overcrowding and they are going to waste space on people who cant pay their debts? Arrest the companies raking people over the coals with their raised interest and outlandish fees that can be changed with out notice. And for the government to allow this to happen? Bail out big corporations who are in worse debt than the average American, but lets jail a dieing man over $1500.00. This makes my blood boil how incompetent our justice system is anymore.
When a law is no longer practiced its for good reason, Its not a crime to owe money, and debtors prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century for a reason. But now, more than ever our judges are putting people in jail for not being able to pay their debts?
Nice to know there is a working crack house down the street, but my dieing brother can be thrown in jail over a $1500.00 fine? This is idiotic! Corporations can be in debt and the U.S. government will bail them out, pat them on the head and say it’ll be ok. But a citizen of this country owes money and they get tossed in jail? What have we come to? What an abuse of power! And to jail someone until they come up with a minimum payment is the stupidest thing I ever heard of! How are they supposed to raise the payment when they are sitting in a jail cell??
Where is the compassion or simple common sense of this justice system? Have you all lost your minds?
Millions of Americans now face the prospect of their economic collapse. As the recession worsens, Americans increasingly can’t pay their credit cards, rent and mortgage payments. Despite these hardships, banks and other credit card issuers—keep jacking up interests, choking off needed consumer spending, drowning cardholders with high interests that is forcing millions of Americans into credit card default.
Meanwhile, banks and credit care issuers are creating through credit card lending and selling cardholder debt, the same problems that caused the sub-prime mortgage collapse and real estate crash. Except this time, U.S. banks aren’t selling packaged mortgaged-backed securities to investors; banks are selling “credit cardholder debt.” Under this operation, after the bank sells a card holder’s debt bearing a specific interest rate, the selling bank continues to raise the card holder’s interest rate on the sold debt—keeping part of the higher interests. This gives the bank little or no incentive to lower a credit card holder’s interest rate. At least investors that bought Sub-Prime mortgages had real estate to secure their mortgages. But investors buying credit card debt sold by banks” generally have only the debtor to look to for repayment. When a credit cardholder defaults, debt investors usually lose.
Congress should stop banks and credit card issuers raising interests on a credit cardholder debt after it is sold; that would reduce the incentive for credit card issuers to sell cardholder debt and to instead charge card holders more affordable interest rates causing less cardholders to default.