E-MAIL
FREQUENTLY
SIGN UP
WALZ CALLS FOR CONSUMER JUSTICE; CO-SPONSORS CREDIT CARDHOLDER’S BILL OF RIGHTS
For Immediate Release
April 23, 2009
Contact: Meredith Salsbery
507-388-2149
WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced that he will co-sponsor H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights, which will provide increased protections against unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive credit card practices. The Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights passed the House Financial Services Committee today and expected to come to the floor of the House in the very near future.
“Americans are struggling to stay afloat and using their credit cards more and more to make ends meet,” said Walz. “Unfortunately, unfair and irresponsible credit card lending practices are a part of the reason our economy is in the state it is in. Consumer credit card debt is now approaching $1 trillion—double the amount held in 1996. This bill is the right thing to do for the American consumer – it will ban retroactive rate hikes on existing balances, increase advance notice of future rate increases, and give cardholders more control over their credit limits.”
“With more information about their cards and their finances, it is my hope that individual consumers will start to take more responsibility for controlling their debt level. We all got into this financial mess together and everyone needs to pay more attention to the inherent risks in their financial decisions in order for us to get out,” concluded Walz.
The Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights will prohibit penalty increases of interest rates on existing balances unless a customer is more than 30-days late, ban double cycle billing and require all payments to be posted to account balances in a fair and timely way.
The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights:
· Protects cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases
· Prevents cardholders who pay on time from being unfairly penalized
· Protects cardholders from due date gimmicks
· Shields cardholders from misleading terms
· Empowers cardholders to set limits on their credit
· Requires card companies to fairly credit and allocate payments
· Prohibits card companies from imposing excessive fees on cardholders
· Prevents card companies from giving subprime credit cards to people who can’t afford them
· Requires Congress to provide better oversight of the credit card industry
· Contains NO rate caps, fee setting, or price controls
Background:
In the 110th Congress, the CCBOR (HR 5244) passed the House 312-112 but died in the Senate. It would have banned many of the worst unfair, deceptive and anti-competitive practices of the credit card industry including so called “universal” default, double-cycle billing, and retroactive rate hikes. In December, the Federal Reserve released final regulations that would ban many of these practices, but the new rule does not take effect until July 2010. The CCBOR introduced in the current Congress would take effect 90 days after the President signs it. Senate action is expected to occur this year.
 |
