December 17, 2008

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement concerning the expected release of new credit card regulations tomorrow. After a lengthy process, the Federal Reserve plans to publicly announce their finalized credit card regulations. By enhancing protections and eliminating unfair practices, it is expected the new Fed regulations ensure a complete overhaul of the way credit card issuers communicate with their customers.

“After strong congressional direction and thousands of stories logged by Americans during the public comment period, the Federal Reserve will announce final regulations changing the credit card industry. I am encouraged to see the Fed use its authority to take a strong regulatory stance during these tough economic times. Too many American families are having their credit card interest rates raised due for reasons unrelated to their actual account, such as being late on an auto payment. This practice called universal default will be eliminated with the new regulations. These credit card regulations are clearly needed to ensure consumers are treated fairly. However, in these tough economic times, it is clear our country must learn how to save more and use credit less. I look forward to reading through the final regulations when they are printed tomorrow.”