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| Hare Praises Credit Card Act Signed Into Law |
A local congressmen says a new bill was put in place in order to create fairness to consumers and protect credit cardholders.
17th District Congressman Phil Hare Saturday discussed the highlights of a law that cracks down on abusive and deceptive practices by credit card companies.
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act, signed by President Barack Obama last month, will apply what Hare calls "common sense regulations" on credit companies that ban unfair rate increases and forbid abusive fees and penalties. Hare says both young people and seniors have been getting caught up in what he calls the credit card nightmare, and he tells WGIL one of the stipulations in the law may change how companies mail their bills.
"(Credit card companies must) mail billing statement 21 calendar days before the due date, up from the current 14 days" Hare said. "One of the reasons for only giving 14 days -- by the time they mail it to you, by the time you receive it, by the time some people depending on when they get paid and they get it back to the company, they're late and, boom, they get caught up in this trap. So what we're trying to do with the due date, is for them to give the consumer 21 days notice. That means they have to send it out a week early."
Other changes in the credit industry will prohibiting "exorbitant and unnecessary fees" while protecting the rights of financially responsible credit users and prohibiting interest charges on debt paid on time also known as double cycle billing.
Hare said credit card companies must now consider a consumer's ability to pay when issuing credit cards or increasing limits, which would protect the young and old. He says credit companies now have congressional accountability so they cannot just prey on consumers.
(Congressman Phil Hare speaks at his district office in Galesburg Saturday. WGIL News Story and Photo by Dominic Fortini.) |
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| 06 08 09 by Newsroom |
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