The absolute absurdity of legalese documents that come with credit cards and insurance policies.

treeguy64

treeguy64

Hari Om, y'all!
Location
Austin, TX.
Does ANYONE ever take the two to four hours, it takes, to slog through those fine print documents, and understand them perfectly? It's maddening to know that all of the companies using them know, full well, that, in general, hardly anyone will go through that stuff, and understand everything, even if they do read it all.

I write contracts for a living, in part, and I can understand the above-referenced documents, but anyone other than a lawyer, paralegal, or contract writer is going to be hard-pressed to make a go of it, with full understanding. It's obfuscation, at its finest/worst!

The thing is, once you get full understanding of said documents, you realize how EVERYTHING is in the company's favor. If anything happens, you need to hope, above hope, that you're going to be on the right side of a conflict with the company, and, odds are, you will NOT be!

If you have a strong stomach, you can check out the South Park episode about failing to read those documents. It's disgusting as all get out, but then, what these companies get away with is much worse!

If I ruled the world (great song), I would permanently ban all such legalese garbage, as the above. I write my own leases, bills of sale, contracts for service, etc., and I put them, all, in plain English, very easy to understand. If only those companies did the same!
 

Yes. These contracts are getting more and more deceptive as people become more and more trusting and gullible. This is a nightmare. These contracts are where they throw in that the product is free for 30 days but if you don’t state that you don’t want it by a certain date you get charged x amount each month which will be taken from your account or credit card each month.
Its pathetic how many people are getting ripped off.
 
But...think of all the Lawyers that would be put out of business if everything were simplified. The U.S. has the most lawyers....per capita...of any other nation.
 

treeguy64 said:
If I ruled the world (great song), I would permanently ban all such legalese garbage, as the above. I write my own leases, bills of sale, contracts for service, etc., and I put them, all, in plain English, very easy to understand. If only those companies did the same!
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AmMyKEH.jpg



Actually, TG, I think this one would fly

Of course the petitions would need to be in common language, also




Can you imagine…..



a quite simple document, really


Welcome to Credit Thrust of America

We are going to ram the hidden fees so far up yer hind end, you’ll be tasting them

Please sign here
 
fmdog44 said:
Those documents are not formulated for anyone to read. That is not being sarcastic. It is true. A law professor taught me that decade ago.
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Yeah, I always pretend to read ‘em…take my sweet time

Then point to the middle of page 27 and say, ‘explain that’

Heh heh
 
I don't slog thru contracts, I do pay attention to warnings on labels.

One label I thought was worth reading and adhering to was on a lawnmower deck.

Do Not Place Feet Under Mower Deck When Blades Are Rotating.
 
treeguy64 said:
Make perfect sense: Big Finance has been in bed with The Feds since this country was founded.
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I'm not sure I get what you mean -- federal banking laws probably mandate that banks have that "terms and conditions" language in their contracts. Dunno if that equates to "being in bed" with them, but it mandates that the banks have to state their rates and other terms and conditions. It gets turned into gobbledygook by lawyers.
 
Butterfly said:
I'm not sure I get what you mean -- federal banking laws probably mandate that banks have that "terms and conditions" language in their contracts. Dunno if that equates to "being in bed" with them, but it mandates that the banks have to state their rates and other terms and conditions. It gets turned into gobbledygook by lawyers.
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Both entities help each other out by operating in ways that are a mystery to the average person. Big Finance has all of its mega-millionaire lobbyists in DC making sure that the Fed, embodied in our many politicians, keep any new legislation concerning banking, favorable to the bankers and their banks. Legalese is the stock in trade of the legal profession, and when its used for documents that the majority of people can't understand but must sign off on to get a credit card, open an account, etc., it makes things favorable to the entities using such documents. What the Fed should do is mandate Plain English documents for the aforementioned. I could condense all of the legalese contained in most of the voluminous mailings I receive with my credit cards into two sheets that would be clear and concise.
 


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