Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lend

Written and directed by James Scurlock, the film and book use interviews with creditors, debtors, academics, and others to illustrate its story.[1] The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, USA, in 2006 where it claimed the Special Jury Prize. It went on to several film fests including Seattle, Full Frame Documentary, Maui, New Zealand, Milwaukee International, Woodstock, Bergen, Leeds International, Oxford and IDFA (Amsterdam) film festivals. It was released in movie theaters in select cities in the United States in March 2007 through Magnolia Pictures. The DVD was released nationally in June 7, 2007, in the joint effort Magnolia Pictures and Red Envelope Entertainment (a division of Netflix). The book Maxed Out is published by Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster. It was published in March 2007 in hardcover and in December 2007 in paperback.

Scurlock's purpose for the film and book was to raise awareness of how credit and lending issues are affecting society.[1] The main premises of the documentary and book are that banks and other creditors deliberately market to people who are more likely to have problems paying predatory lending and that the creditors benefit from connections to government, the debt collection industry, and from lawmaker apathy.[2]

The non-profit organization Americans for Fairness in Lending (AFFIL) has organized screenings of Maxed Out around the country as part of its work. AFFIL sustains a formal collaboration with the film.

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[mcjny007]

Its simple. debt is a prison. All you have to do is stop. Stop buying what you can't afford. You don't need much of the things you buy. Pay the cards you have off and get rid of them. replace them with an amex card. You must pay at the end of each month or they cut you off. Be smart.

[ElshamyWalid]

@mcjny007 Agree! thats exacly what i did and im living like a king.

[636roadrunner]

My personal finance teacher gave our class the courtesy of viewing this documentary. I really feel like my eyes have been opened to the facts of debt. I never quite realized that even by going to college I will be in debted. I am very thankful that I was shown this before the expenses began to pile up. I can begin planning.

[ElshamyWalid]

@636roadrunner i owned creadit cards for almost seven years until last year i decided to pay them all off and keep on one pre paid master card where i put my own money in and use what i have and not what the bank has

it works fine with ebay paypal and gas stations just like a credit card but its debit

you can search it up on google "pre paid credit card" and its easy to apply

since then and all the banks are non stop sending me crazy offers they want me back but huh over my dead body ;)

[MalchikBlue]

That Mr. Money knows his shit.

[dochokeana]

One of the problems, a lot of parents seem to never teach their kids about credit cards, debt etc... while the kids are too young to get them. Sure where are credit cards for minors but spending limit is low, parents/guardians need to co-sign etc.. If no one is where to teach the kids about things during that time and parents think that if you're not employed you won't get credit, no wonder my age group (18-twenties) is such a gold mine to all those credit sharks.

[7csilva]

At 54:30, what was the bill called?

[gtarules1]

That random "Ice Ice baby" intro when the screen turned on scared me! lol

[christo930]

@NYyankeeboi If nothing else, we should at least aspire to do that.

[NYyankeeboi]

@christo930 I agree, but something like educating the people so they're able to make wise decisions cuts into their profit margin. A program like one you suggest would actually fix the problem, and that is not the business the U.S. Government is in.

[gonads20]

I call BS all the military couple that had to file bankruptcy. If he was in Iraq and she was at home there is no reason why they shouldnt be able to pay their bills. You make good money when youre deployed plus the gov is giving him Basic Allowance for Housing. That couple is full of you know what.

[autobot69000]

woooo Louis CK!