CNN wrote:
Now, a growing contingent within the greater movement is refocusing on Occupy's original victims, the hundreds of thousands of people burdened with all sorts of debt. Many of the debtors owe many times the original amounts they charged up on their credit cards, medical bills or student loans.
Such debt is bought and sold on a debt market for pennies on the dollar by debt collection agencies and others capable of pressuring the debtors most effectively. (The reason debt is sold for such a small fraction of its acute value is that most collectors will not be able to recoup the money. They might buy $10,000 of credit card company from a bank or reseller, but most likely only be able to collect a tiny portion of it from the debtors, who either go bankrupt or simply broke.)
In the belief that much of this debt is comprised of unjustified fees, inappropriate credit products or even outright fraud, an offshoot of Occupy called Strike Debt is working to erase it all...by purchasing it, and then forgiving it. Yes, seems it's that easy: Buy debt for a tiny fraction of its face value in the same way that credit agencies buy debt. But then, instead of attempting to collect that money, simply erase it. Families struggling to pay for the compound interest on their 1990s medical bills, for example, simply find out that it's been relieved.
The whole debt-rolling operation, known as Rolling Jubilee, begins on November 15, with a variety show and telethon in New York City entitled The People's Bailout. Occupy-friendly celebrities from comedian Janeane Garofalo and Daily Show writer Lizz Winstead to music legends such as Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Fugazi's Guy Picciotto will perform for a live and -- of course -- streaming audience while the website accepts donations. According to their estimates, every $25 will abolish an estimated $500 worth of debt. According to David Rees, one of the founders of Strike Debt and a leading voice in the Rolling Jubillee, "As a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt. We then ERASED THAT DEBT."
Such debt is bought and sold on a debt market for pennies on the dollar by debt collection agencies and others capable of pressuring the debtors most effectively. (The reason debt is sold for such a small fraction of its acute value is that most collectors will not be able to recoup the money. They might buy $10,000 of credit card company from a bank or reseller, but most likely only be able to collect a tiny portion of it from the debtors, who either go bankrupt or simply broke.)
In the belief that much of this debt is comprised of unjustified fees, inappropriate credit products or even outright fraud, an offshoot of Occupy called Strike Debt is working to erase it all...by purchasing it, and then forgiving it. Yes, seems it's that easy: Buy debt for a tiny fraction of its face value in the same way that credit agencies buy debt. But then, instead of attempting to collect that money, simply erase it. Families struggling to pay for the compound interest on their 1990s medical bills, for example, simply find out that it's been relieved.
The whole debt-rolling operation, known as Rolling Jubilee, begins on November 15, with a variety show and telethon in New York City entitled The People's Bailout. Occupy-friendly celebrities from comedian Janeane Garofalo and Daily Show writer Lizz Winstead to music legends such as Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Fugazi's Guy Picciotto will perform for a live and -- of course -- streaming audience while the website accepts donations. According to their estimates, every $25 will abolish an estimated $500 worth of debt. According to David Rees, one of the founders of Strike Debt and a leading voice in the Rolling Jubillee, "As a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt. We then ERASED THAT DEBT."
TL;DR -- Folks from Occupy Wall Street are using charitable donations to purchase consumer debt via the same market as debt collectors. Rather than using that debt ownership to call you up and threaten you, they then just forgive it.
Hey, more to them, says I. It's not as though debt collectors are doing what they do because of a sense of great cosmic justice, they're doing it to turn a profit. If someone else wants to buy the same product (debt) and toss it in the trash, why not?
On the other hand, I'm not sure it'll be vastly useful. I'm not sure how much they can buy as a single entity. It's also impossible to really target the impact; you might luck out and have your one sole debt get bought before it goes to a real collection agency or else you might have one debt out of ten get bought and you're still realistically as boned as you were before (and OWS is out the money they spent to buy that debt). So it doesn't seem especially fruitful but more power to 'em.
