How To Fight Credit Card Rate Increases.
Posted: November 3rd, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Credit | Tags: CNN, Credit Cards, Credit Debt | 2 Comments »They got their credit card company to back off and slash their payments by taking their plight to CNN:
Chuck and Jeanne Lane got some good news earlier this week: After more than doubling the Lanes’ monthly minimum payment, their credit card company is now slashing their payment.
The Ohio couple was featured in a CNN story about credit card companies jacking up rates in advance of a law going into effect that would prevent them from doing that. Because of the story, the couple says their bank agreed to give them relief
Unfortunately, this is not an option for most people.
The problem is that the credit card regulations recently passed by Congress don’t go into effect until February of 2010, and credit card companies are in a race to rack up fees and interest payments while they still can.
Some members of Congress are taking action once again. For example, Rep. Betty Sutton introduced a bill Thursday that would ban fees on people who don’t carry debt. This is a direct response to some credit card companies imposing fees on responsible customers who pay off their balance every month.
Another Representative, Betsy Markey, has introduced a Credit Card Rate Freeze Act to eliminate the ability of credit card companies to increases the interest rates before new regulations go into effect.
Ultimately the only way you can really be sure to fight a credit card rate hike or imposition of new fees is to pay off your balance every month, and have the financial freedom to be able to take you business elsewhere if the credit card company doesn’t want to work with you.
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