Immoral Hazard

If only we all had the courage of Ben Pavone.

The Huffington Post reports Ben Pavone, California Lawyer, Refuses To Pay Bank Of America Credit Card, Threatens To Sue

Ben Pavone told Bank of America in a letter last week that he refuses to pay off his credit card debt until the bank lowers his interest rate. And, he added, if they try to ruin his credit, he’ll sue ‘em.

“They’ve got to have some kind of obligation to not totally extort the public,” said Pavone.

The San Diego, Calif. attorney is angry about two things: his interest rate, which has gone up to 27.99 percent, and his credit limit, which has gone down to just above his balance. “I’m sure I’m going to be hit with penalties,” he said.

Pavone said he got “squeezed for cash” and asked Bank of America to raise his credit limit in October. The bank responded with a two-page letter. The first page declined the request; the second told him his limit would be reduced from $32,100 to $30,400. Bank of America cited “economic trends” in both decisions.

“I consider your action an anticipatory repudiation of the contract and am treating you as in breach,” he wrote in a Dec. 31 letter to the bank. “I am therefore not paying the money that is currently due on January 3, 2010 out of protest.”

He adds:

“For the record, I have a perfect payment history and I have a nearly perfect payment record on my credit,” Pavone’s letter continued. “I have no doubt that you will mark my credit in light of this default, but if you do, I will sue you. I am eager to argue to a court that your interest rates are unfair within the meaning of various state and federal statutes, and anxious to point out that you ‘had’ to cut my credit limit from $32,000 down to $30,000 at the same time you were borrowing billions from the federal government and paid your executive bonuses in full.”

Let’s all join him. I’m in. Anyone else?