Escape the credit card trap — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
By Nicole Paitsel | Newport News Daily Press
April 20, 2009When Nicole Busch of Suffolk, Va., was slapped with a higher interest rate on her credit card, she called to cancel. The bank negotiated a lower rate, but it was still higher than the original. She closed her account.
This story has been told and retold over the past few months. Banks are lowering credit lines, increasing yearly interest rates, and in some cases, closing accounts altogether.
Aware of the problem, Congress is circulating a “Cardholders Bill of Rights.” A version of this bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last year, and then expired in the Senate before being passed into law.
Introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the bill prohibits excessive fees, “universal default” clauses that allow card companies to penalize customers for bad behavior on unrelated accounts and interest rate hikes on cards held by responsible consumers.
Most consumer groups are in favor of the bill, which they say will give control back to the consumer. But even in the absence of such protections, there is a lot you can do to protect your credit score and your financial health.
Cardholders should know how to read the fine print in a credit card contract, how to maximize their credit score and which tools are secure and reliable.
read full article here… Escape the credit card trap — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.
