A few months ago, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney introduced the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008 (H.R. 5244). The proposed legislation calls for comprehensive credit card reform.
It's about time.

    The bill is aimed at preventing major credit industry abuses while fostering fair competition between card issuers. If you ever have been hit with an unfair late fee, been whacked with a double-digit interest rate increase, or suffered another abuse at the hands of your credit card issuer, I'll bet that's you I hear cheering in the background.

Rep. Maloney's bill establishes the following rights for credit card holders:

-- Cardholders will not be subjected to arbitrary interest rate increases.

-- Cardholders who pay on time will not be penalized unfairly.

-- Cardholders will not be subjected to due date gimmicks.

-- Cardholders will be shielded from misleading terms.

-- Cardholders may set their own limits on their credit.

-- Card companies will credit and allocate payments fairly.

-- Card companies will not impose excessive fees on cardholders.

-- Card companies will not issue subprime credit cards to people who cannot afford them.

Basically, that's it. Can you see anything in that list of measures that would upset you if you were a credit card issuer? Well, guess what? MasterCard and Visa are not happy about this. You can be sure there's some heavy-duty lobbying going on, as well.

In a statement issued March 13, MasterCard Worldwide said: "Americans benefit significantly from a highly competitive payment system that offers incredible choice and financial opportunity for consumers.

However, the wide array of payment options American consumers currently enjoy would be undermined by H.R. 5244, which would reduce choice, decrease the availability of credit, and raise interest rates and fees to many consumers."

Excuse me while I laugh myself silly.

Are we supposed to believe that the current horrific terms and conditions under which cardholders are required to operate are in some way good for us? Paying 29.9 percent interest is healthy? Or getting tricked into paying a $39 late fee for being five minutes late with a payment gives us all kinds of choices?

While I am personally hopeful that this bill will be approved by both the House and the Senate and go on to be signed into law, I am not holding my breath. We may have a kind of David and Goliath showdown here between Congress and the powerful banking and credit lobby in this country. The odds are not good. But then again, neither were David's odds!

The way I see it, all Maloney and her fellow representatives need are five smooth stones. And millions of ordinary people contacting their representatives and senators with strong encouragement to support the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights right through to its passage and the signing of it into law.

The aforementioned bill is posted in its entirety on Mary's Web Desk at DebtProofLiving.com.

Mary Hunt is the founder of DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living." You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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