20 Reasons It Really Sucks To Be Poor Right Now

8. Your Debts Are On A Database

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It sounds like a gimmick from a TV cop show: Licence Plate Readers, mounted on the hood of police vehicles, that capture plate images and check the number against law enforcement databases. According to the FBI, this technology helped locate 818 Wanted Persons in 2011, but it mostly leads to the apprehension of those living on the breadline.

Among the databases searched are debt collectors and insurance companies, meaning that if you had to choose between paying automobile insurance and paying your utilities,  you could expect to be pulled over by the boys in blue if you chose to skip the former. 

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Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'