House passes credit card bill that helps consumers

Riding a crest of populist anger, the House on Thursday approved a bill to restrict credit card practices and eliminate sudden increases in interest rates and late fees that have entangled millions of consumers. (snip) The measure would prohibit so-called double-cycle billing and retroactive rate hikes and would prevent companies from giving credit cards to anyone under 18.

Source

I have mixed opinions on this. On one hand, I agree that sudden and/or retroactive rate increases shouldn't be allowed. Consumers should have enough warning that they have time to cancel their card. On the other hand, I don't understand why the Fed should concern itself with how the rates are calculated (i.e. double-cycle billing). It should be up to the consumer to understand how they are being billed, and if they don't like the math then they should go elsewhere. And I don't agree with the age limit of 18; the government is not our children's parents, we are.

Overall, to me this looks like 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Your thoughts?

Agreed. At most, Congress should have required specific disclosures not in size 2 font about such practices as well as require notice to be given rather than outright prohibiting it. Other than that, it's more red tape. But Credit Cards are notorious for making it exceptionally hard to find frankly any relevant information. I recall a study where something like 20 Harvard MBA students were asked to find the APR, fees, and other specific information in credit card applications and it took them half an hour working together. Granted, this may have been a while, but you get the point. Companies really shouldn't be allowed to deliberately hide relevant information necessary to making decisions.

It's about f'ing time Congress stepped in here! CC companies have been taking advantage of people for years. "Read the contract"? Who the hell can understand it? They need to make it much clearer what the rules are. Then people can make an informed decision.

ADK_Forever said:

It's about f'ing time Congress stepped in here! CC companies have been taking advantage of people for years. "Read the contract"? Who the hell can understand it? They need to make it much clearer what the rules are. Then people can make an informed decision.

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You could just, I dunno, not get a credit card...

Ethereal said:

You could just, I dunno, not get a credit card...

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That flippant attitude doesn't reflect reality. And I suspect you not only know that but, agree with me.

When my cards started their games I tried to negotiate with them, telling them if they didn't lower their rates to where they were previously I was going to pay them off. They didn't and I did. I now have none.

This industry has been screaming for regulation and now it seems they're about to get it. :applaud

ADK_Forever said:

That flippant attitude doesn't reflect reality. And I suspect you not only know that but, agree with me.

When my cards started their games I tried to negotiate with them, telling them if they didn't lower their rates to where they were previously I was going to pay them off. They didn't and I did. I now have none.

This industry has been screaming for regulation and now it seems they're about to get it. :applaud

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What you did was just fine, what need was there for regulation?

Let us not forget that you are borrowing someone else's money. It's not yours. Never was.

Harry Guerrilla said:

What you did was just fine, what need was there for regulation?

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Well, is there a need for reporting and disclosure regulation for public companies?

While people should be free to make the decisions like he did, firms and industries should be prohibited from deliberately obscuring or hiding relevant information that customers need to make intelligent decisions. This legislation at least partially addresses that with credit cards.

obvious Child said:

Well, is there a need for reporting and disclosure regulation for public companies?

While people should be free to make the decisions like he did, firms and industries should be prohibited from deliberately obscuring or hiding relevant information that customers need to make intelligent decisions. This legislation at least partially addresses that with credit cards.

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Yea but they include that information in your bills and just about every other time you get correspondence from them.

Its really an old wives tale that all the legaleze is hard to understand, its spelled out pretty clearly.

Harry Guerrilla said:

Yea but they include that information in your bills and just about every other time you get correspondence from them.

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Just because it's in there doesn't mean it's readable or understandable. A simple policies written in readable font and plain English would help. WorldCom's numbers were all there. They just were aggregated and disaggregated in a way that one can't figure out the actual economic reality.

obvious Child said:

Just because it's in there doesn't mean it's readable or understandable. A simple policies written in readable font and plain English would help. WorldCom's numbers were all there. They just were aggregated and disaggregated in a way that one can't figure out the actual economic reality.

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As far as credit cards go when you activate the card its like your signing a contract.

If you fail to read it or if you like have a lawyer interpret it for you, there is no one else to blame than yourself.

That flippant attitude doesn't reflect reality. And I suspect you not only know that but, agree with me.

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No, I definitely do not agree with you. No one needs a credit card. More importantly, if you enter into a contract that you do not fully comprehend it is your own fault. If I asked you to sign a contract where the wording was ambiguous and complicated, would you sign it? If not, then why is it any different for a credit card company? Oh, because you "need" a credit card?

When my cards started their games I tried to negotiate with them, telling them if they didn't lower their rates to where they were previously I was going to pay them off. They didn't and I did. I now have none.

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Sounds like your problem is solved. Voting with your wallet is the most effective way to change undesirable business practices.

This industry has been screaming for regulation and now it seems they're about to get it. :applaud

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This attitude of entitlement is like a cancerous tumor on the anus of America. Just because you have a personal vendetta against credit card companies and their business practices does not mean the government needs to involve itself on your behalf. Act like an adult and take responsibility for your actions. Don’t understand the contract? Don’t sign the damn thing. Signed it anyway? Then accept the consequences which accompany poor decision making.

Ethereal said:

This attitude of entitlement is like a cancerous tumor on the anus of America. Just because you have a personal vendetta against credit card companies and their business practices does not mean the government needs to involve itself on your behalf. Act like an adult and take responsibility for your actions. Don’t understand the contract? Don’t sign the damn thing. Signed it anyway? Then accept the consequences which accompany poor decision making.

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Entitlement? Huh? CC companies have been pushing the edge for a long time. They change rules, change due dates to trick people into late fees, raise rates for no reason. Sure all of this is probably in the "contract" somewhere but, try to find it and then try to make sense of it. They either play by the rules or get regulated. Guess what? They're getting regulated!

Most people don't read their mortgage agreement. Even fewer read the entire CC contract. Wake up and lose your righteous attitude. This is the real world I'm talking about. America is not a country of contract readers. :wow:

ADK_Forever said:

Entitlement? Huh? CC companies have been pushing the edge for a long time. They change rules, change due dates to trick people into late fees, raise rates for no reason. Sure all of this is probably in the "contract" somewhere but, try to find it and then try to make sense of it. They either play by the rules or get regulated. Guess what? They're getting regulated!

Most people don't read their mortgage agreement. Even fewer read the entire CC contract. Wake up and lose your righteous attitude. This is the real world I'm talking about. America is not a country of contract readers. :wow:

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Then they're idiots. Nothing "righteous" about it. It's simply a fact. If you sign something you don't read, it's on no one but you. Get it? No one.

Entitlement? Huh?

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Yes, the false belief that you are somehow authorized to manage the affairs of others simply because you don't not like what they are doing. No one forced you to sign the contract. It was a choice you made, hence it is your responsibility - not the government's - to deal with the consequences.

CC companies have been pushing the edge for a long time. They change rules, change due dates to trick people into late fees, raise rates for no reason. Sure all of this is probably in the "contract" somewhere

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Then you have no one to blame but yourself. If you cannot comprehend a contract then you should not sign it, period.

but...

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Yes, there's always a "but", isn't there?

try to find it and then try to make sense of it.

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Solution: DO NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT.

They either play by the rules or get regulated.

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What rules? The arbitrary guidelines you have set forth here, or some actual legal guidelines which you can cite specifically?

Guess what? They're getting regulated!

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Of course. That's your solution to everything.

Most people don't read their mortgage agreement.

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Right on! I mean, who has time to sit down and read something that's effectively worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? That would be asking far too much.

Even fewer read the entire CC contract.

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How is laziness a valid excuse for anything?

Wake up and lose your righteous attitude.

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Righteous? You mean mature and responsible?

This is the real world I'm talking about.

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Sounds more like bizzaro world to me. A magical land in which no one must assume responsibility for their own actions. They simply act on impulse and let a benevolent bureaucracy fix things for them when something goes awry.

America is not a country of contract readers. :wow:

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Then America needs to grow up. I'm sick and tired of a responsible minority of citizens being forced to bear the burden of the majority's collective stupidity.

Most people realize that the Government regulation of the CC industry is to appeal to those people that signed up for "easy money" and now are screaming that they are being held to the contract they signed.

I won't argue that many companies have some craptastic rules. However, when I DID have cards, I personally only signed up for cards from companies that were not practicing such, and there were a few.

The government shouldn't save people from themselves, but I guess in this day and age, it's no shock that so many people rely on Uncle Sam instead of themselves...

Binary_Digit said:

Riding a crest of populist anger, the House on Thursday approved a bill to restrict credit card practices and eliminate sudden increases in interest rates and late fees that have entangled millions of consumers. (snip) The measure would prohibit so-called double-cycle billing and retroactive rate hikes and would prevent companies from giving credit cards to anyone under 18.

Source

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Under 18... ok, the remainder is going to hurt the small guy, as usual.

Government is telling private business how they can assess their risk, and many will be seen as too risky. It will be interesting to see what the lwayers come up with at these companies?

Liberty sometimes means having to learn the hard way... not for government to come in and clean up messes created by people's own bad choices.

Think this is the end of their play in this market?
No chance.

When people at the low end are being rejected for cards, Mommy Dearest will tell banks to give cards to people that can't pay them (a new right... plastic), and we'll have a new Freddie and Fannie Social program forced on the banks.


.

Ethereal said:

Then America needs to grow up. I'm sick and tired of a responsible minority of citizens being forced to bear the burden of the majority's collective stupidity.

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Boo! Hoo! Hoo! :boohoo:

The reality is that these banks change their rules at will to suck more $$ out of people. Your argument holds water in the classroom but, not in the real world. Banks, and businesses, have to play fair and inform their customers. They don't! So, now they get regulated. And I'd bet the farm that the vast majority of you holier than thou "they should read the contract and grow up" folks haven't read all your CC contracts! :2wave:

ADK_Forever said:

Boo! Hoo! Hoo! :boohoo:

The reality is that these banks change their rules at will to suck more $$ out of people. Your argument holds water in the classroom but, not in the real world. Banks, and businesses, have to play fair and inform their customers. They don't! So, now they get regulated. And I'd bet the farm that the vast majority of you holier than thou "they should read the contract and grow up" folks haven't read all your CC contracts! :2wave:

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The reality is that the banks had contracts most people were too stupid or too arrogant to read.

MrVicchio said:

The reality is that the banks had contracts most people were too stupid or too arrogant to read.

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Being stupid is not a crime. Taking advantage of that is, or should be! But, I wouldn't expect you to understand that. :roll:

ADK_Forever said:

Being stupid is not a crime. Taking advantage of that is, or should be! But, I wouldn't expect you to understand that. :roll:

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Do you know anything about contract law?