New Standards for Credit-Card Decency
by Froma Harrop
By the time you read this, the Senate may have passed a bill to put a leash on the nastiest credit-card company tactics. Lenders warn that changing the rules would make it harder for people to get credit.
And a good thing that would be. Rest assured, we'll all adjust.
The House has already passed its own credit-card legislation, and it, too, will curb some of the most evil practices ever cooked up by financiers. At the top of the list is the ability of lenders to up the interest ...
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2 Comments | Post Comment
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Posted by: Paul M. Petkovsek
Comment: #1
Tue May 19, 2009 2:44 AM
I got the terms for my Sears card a couple of months ago and told them to take a flying leap. Normally, I would never have dealt with the worst of the provisions in the fine print. I only used the card for large purchases and paid off the debt within a couple of months. Still, when I read the credit agreement, I didn't want anything to do with Citibank or Sears again.
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Posted by: Edward Bierman
Comment: #2
Wed May 20, 2009 5:27 PM
I read the New Standards...colume in this morning's Paddock Publication, Daily Herald. Ms Harrop's analysis is excellent. I did not overbuy a house, or go into credit card debt. I saved to make a down payment on my first house over thirty years ago. My credit rating is excellent, primarily because I have been conservative in using credit, pay my bills monthly, and do without rather than go into debt. Oh, yeah, I never earned $100,000 a year. I did get a letter from one of my credit card companies, indicating that my interest rate was going up. So....I just got a new card from a competing bank, with a lower interest rate. The old card will just go into a drawer until the old bank wants it back. I do expect that the annual fees will come back for bank cards. Too bad Congress has to be the parent for so many people. Lousy role models.
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