Posted on 02/17/2005 8:24:12 PM PST by freedom44
While turning the age of 18 qualifies one as an adult, it doesn't make an individual eligible to legally buy alcohol or gamble.
Now, getting a credit card without parental information may make that pair into a trio.
A new amendment, state Assembly Bill No. 3454, reported out of the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee last month, will make it unlawful for a credit card to be issued to an individual under 21 years of age who is claimed as a dependant by a parent or legal guardian, if passed through legislation.
Since then, the bill, sponsored by Asm. Neil Cohen, D-20, has been referred to the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.
The Consumer Affairs Committee's support for the bill stems from the idea that it would remove the parent/guardian's joint liability for debts acquired by the applicant with the account before the individual has turned 21.
But some students feel that if a credit card cannot be issued at all and if people between the ages of 18-20 can't handle finances on their own, they may not be prepared to handle it once they turn 21.
"Once you're an adult, you need to learn about finances for yourself," Douglass College sophomore Nicole Harencak said.
And even more so, what if parents don't want to sign for their children?
Rutgers College first-year student Amin Gillespie said any adult should have the right to a credit card. Gillespie said for those who do not have close relations with their parents, it would severely hinder their chances of getting a credit card, especially for those who do not attend college or live on their own.
"A credit card is a good way for a young adult to build their credit," Gillespie said.
Stephanie Sella, loan processor of Magyar Bank in New Brunswick, offers other options. She said that if this amendment does pass legislation, and parents do not want their children having credit cards, there is an option of a debit card or secured credit cards.
I find it baffling that the government will let you go die for the country once you are 18 yet they dont believ you are mature enough to make decisions for yourself in your personal life (i.e. drinking, gambling)
Why can't the child go before a judge to be allowed to have a credit card? It's her financial future - her life. Why should her parents' attitudes prevail?
yikes...it's bed time...
save=safe
and that last sentence should read something "then they can leave them alone" they being the gov, and them being the kids.
This is more of goverment's incremental program to extend childhood and make everyone wards of the state. After all, the peasentry is just too stupid to anything without big brother's loving assistence.
As the parent of a 19 year old, let me say THANK YOU!
I thought our "Citizenship by Installment" system was BS 30 years ago, and I think it more so today.
It seems that much of America and and most politicians have forgotten the revolutionary motto, "Don't Tread on Me".
I meant to compare the democrat sponsor's attitude to the helplessness of the youth in the financial realm, to his likely support for virtual emancipation regarding her sexual freedom - particularly respecting abortion.
Because they are still dependent on their parents. Many parents have been surprised to find out that their kid has run up thousands of dollars on a credit card they thought the kid couldn't get till he was 21.
I made the mistake of credit cards..Will NEVER own another card again..ever. In 12 months, I will be free from any credit card debt (so easy to get, so hard to pay off). I will be solely tied to the mortgage and a school loan. Those loans are fully manageable.
Had 22 lines of credit. Down to 4. Gone in '06.
Quasi-Freedom in '06 (still got that mortgage and school loan; but, that school loan has big mean red cross hairs on it in '06).
When my daughter was in college, a large bank sent us a bill for a mastercard account in my daughter's name. She did not have an account with them, she did not have a card from them, she had never heard from them before. The bill was $49 for opening the account and another $49 for some other silly charge. They were not billing for any merchandise purchased, because none had been purchased.
I called them because my daughter was away at school. They would not talk to me because "the account was in my daughter's name", not mine. The next time my daughter was home, I had her try to call them and cancel the account. They first asked her for her Social Security number, "just to make sure it was her". I was listening in and told her not to give it to them. That's all they would have needed to complete the account and "prove" that she had opened it.
I wrote a letter to a government official in the state in which the bank was headquartered, and he forwarded it to the appropriate person. I soon got a letter of apology from the bank and assurances that the account would be deleted and we would not owe them any money. For months, I continued to get bills from them. They finally stopped.
They were trying to bully my daughter into giving them personal information and paying them almost a hundred dollars for the privilege of having a credit card from them. Young people do need protection from these sharks.
And this was a well-known national bank. You see their ads all of the time on television.
Why not do everyone here a favor and post a scan of it. Make sure to white out anything that pertains to your daughter and her personal information, but be sure the name of the bank is clear. Then we can all know the culprits, and it's better than you just naming the bank.
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