2004 Credit Suit

Two new Supreme Court decisions on bankruptcy

Consumers win Supreme Court bankruptcy rulings

"Justices sided with a former Tennessee student who claimed she could not afford payments on $4,000 in state-backed education loans.

The state argued that it could not be taken to federal bankruptcy court against its wishes. Justices agreed 7-2, though, to let Pamela Hood pursue her case."

and

"Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for himself and three colleagues, said that judges should decide an appropriate interest rate for someone to pay — "a rate high enough to compensate the creditor for its risk but not so high as to doom the plan."

"If the court determines that the likelihood of default is so high as to necessitate an 'eye-popping' interest rate, the plan probably should not be confirmed," he wrote.

Justice Clarence Thomas added a fifth vote to reverse a judgment against the Indiana couple.

Justice Antonin Scalia, in a dissent joined by Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy, said that Lee and Amy Till agreed to pay 21 percent interest when they bought the truck, and that was a fair amount for a bankruptcy judge to require. The case is Till v. SCS Credit Corp., 02-1016."

I wonder what the hell is wrong with people who pay 21% for a TRUCK in the first place. Then again, there are hundreds of reasons why people need a truck, but their credit sucks and they haven't found my forums and/or they're just busy making ends meet.