Credit Card Debt Guide

In July of 2010 there are going to be some adjustments in the legislation dealing with how interest rates are handled with credit cards. This legislation is supposed to help the American consumers; however after reviewing them closely it seems more like a public relations stunt than something to truly help out the American consumer.

These are some of the most profound legal changes that have been seen in decades and they come as a result of over 60,000 complaints to the Fed over the past couple of years. The complaints are over when people out of nowhere find themselves getting their interest rates greatly raised on their credit cards.

One of the largest changes is that people will no longer get their interest rates bumped up on existing balances when they go a day or two late. Instead the interest rate hike would be put on future purchases not the existing balance like the credit card companies do today. However if the late payment goes past thirty days then the interest rate increase will be applied to the existing balance as well. Credit card companies say in their defense that their reasoning for hiking up the rate is because these debtors are a higher risk of non payment.

Another change made is that the creditors must issue a forty five day notice to the fact that the interest rate is going to be increased; they can no longer just bump it up overnight without warning the consumer.

Honestly I think this is too little too late! How come we have to wait a year and a half for these laws to take effect? In addition if you still go over thirty days late than you would still see the high interest take affect on your previous balance. And many consumers fall behind way further than one month, especially with today’ economy and job market.

Furthermore these new laws will only take effect on the cards issued from July 2010 and forward. So anyone who has a card under a different sign up agreement will still fall prey to the creditor’s scummy tactics. People stuck with high credit card debts should seriously figure out how to get out of debt as soon as they can.

One of the best ways consumers have been accomplishing this is through debt settlement companies; a method in which the consumer will save a lot of cash and become debt free within a couple of years. Getting you the correct credit card debt relief should be a number one concern.

Share This