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Well, arguably a lot more financial services at least. It just can't happen yet because blockchains don't scale enough. A while back I read Matt Taibbi's book
by DennisP 6y ago
Well, arguably a lot more financial services at least. It just can't happen yet because blockchains don't scale enough.
A while back I read Matt Taibbi's book The Divide. Chapter 8 was about collection on delinquent credit card debt, and it was horrifying. According to Taibbi, "the bulk of the credit card collection business is conducted without any supporting documentation showing up or being seen by human eyes at any part of the process....in the overwhelmed modern court system, simply attesting to having the right documentation works just as well as really having it."
According to one judge, "On a regular basis this court encounters defendants being sued on the same debt by more than one creditor alleging it is the assignee of the original credit card obligation." It's also common for lenders to claim delinquency despite the loan actually being paid.
In theory, defendants can challenge all this but even if they could afford lawyers, they often don't even know they're getting sued. When they don't show up there's a default judgement against them and their wages get garnished.
If we had a really scalable blockchain to run all this, including the loan payments and loan sales, then courts could automatically check this stuff. We have the tech now to maintain sufficient privacy for borrowers.
Of course we wouldn't need a blockchain if courts were doing their job, but a pure software solution is likely cheaper than spending a lot more tax money to examine paper documents.
- est31 6y ago> they often don't even know they're getting sued. What do you mean by that? Do you not get a mail that you should show up in court? Or do you have to read the newspaper public announcements?
- DennisP 6y agoThe lender is required to make an effort to contact the borrower (as in "you've been served") but since it's in their interest to make a very cursory effort, that's what they do. Some people get the notice but a lot don't. Notices going to old addresses are common. Generally lenders pay a third party and iirc some of those were caught making no effort at all.