Hidden in the Housing bill

[psychoswooper 2]

I just heard that hidden in the recently passed Housing "Bail Out" Bill were two more ways that the govt. is eroding our personal liberties. One..that all mortage brokers will now be finger-printed; as if that had anything to do with the current housing crisis.
And much worse (at least to me since I'm not a mortage broker) ALL credit card transactions will now be reported to the IRS. WTF does that have to do with anything?

[skydiver30960 0]

One more reason to stop using the damn credit cards!

Elvisio "been credit debt free for a while, and lovin' it" Rodriguez

[kallend 1,635]

Quote

I just heard that hidden in the recently passed Housing "Bail Out" Bill were two more ways that the govt. is eroding our personal liberties. One..that all mortage brokers will now be finger-printed; as if that had anything to do with the current housing crisis.
And much worse (at least to me since I'm not a mortage broker) ALL credit card transactions will now be reported to the IRS. WTF does that have to do with anything?

Almost. Only gross amounts received, not individual transactions. They won't know about your visits to the whorehouse.

I guess the fingerprinting bit came about because so many brokers seem to have been crooks recently.

Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting. The proposal requires
information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions. Payment settlement
entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party
payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of
reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include
any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction. Participating payees include
persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from
a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions. A payment card means any card
issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for
settling the transactions. Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card
will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of
$10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement
organizations. The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31,
2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011. This
proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

I just heard that hidden in the recently passed Housing "Bail Out" Bill were two more ways that the govt. is eroding our personal liberties. One..that all mortage brokers will now be finger-printed; as if that had anything to do with the current housing crisis.

There is a significant element of fraud in the current housing crisis - people took out loans bigger than cost, ran, and left the house behind. In many cases the mortgage brokers participated in the fraud.

Finger printing has been an SEC requirement for investment firms for some time now. This is essentially an extension to an industry that was so corrupt it had to be bailed out. Hardly surprising.

[BIGUN 1,062]

Quote

A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations.

Yup, no difference than a check transaction for the same amount that's been in place for awhile.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.