April 22, 2009

Today, U.S. Rep Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, voted to pass HR 627, the Credit Card Holder Bill of Rights, out of committee and to the full House of Representatives.

Perlmutter stated, “Week after week at my Government in the Grocery meetings I hear stories from my constituents about the hidden fees, double billing, and unpredictable interest rates they experience with their credit cards. These are very real problems facing not just high risk or low income credit card users, but all credit card users. They are issues I face in my own family. This bill addresses the excesses and bad practices that adversely impact users and will provide increased protections against unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive credit card practices.”

“In December, federal regulators proposed sweeping new changes to the credit card industry to protect consumers from rate increases on existing account balances. However, the credit card companies have until July 1, 2010 to implement these new rules. I urge the credit card companies to not delay and act now to provide these important protections to their consumers.”

The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights:
· Protects cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases
· Prevents cardholders who pay on time from being unfairly penalized
· Protects cardholders from due date gimmicks
· Shields cardholders from misleading terms
· Empowers cardholders to set limits on their credit
· Requires card companies to fairly credit and allocate payments
· Prohibits card companies from imposing excessive fees on cardholders
· Prevents card companies from giving subprime credit cards to people who can’t afford them
· Requires Congress to provide better oversight of the credit card industry
· Contains NO rate caps, fee setting, or price controls

The bill will now go before the full House of Representatives for a vote.

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