PERLMUTTER JOINS MARKEY IN CALLING FOR CREDIT CARD COMPANIES TO HALT UNFAIR RATE HIKES

October 7, 2009

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), member of the House Financial Services Committee and a member of the New Democrat Coalition, signed on to a letter with Reps. Betsy Markey (CO-04), John Salazar (CO-03) and other Congressional leaders calling for credit card companies to pledge not to change the terms on consumer credit card accounts ahead of federal credit card reform legislation slated to go into effect early next year.

Perlmutter said, “In a time when many Americans are struggling to pay their mortgage, when healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and many are out of work, unfair credit card practices threaten many families. Americans deserve a fair shake. They deserve transparency, not smoke and mirrors. They deserve reliability, not chaos in their statements.”

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD Act) is a tough new consumer protection law that provides American consumers with increased protections against unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive credit card practices. The Credit CARD Act was signed into law by the President on May 22nd, 2009. It is slated to go into effect in February of 2010.

Click here to view the full text of the letter, which was also sent to the Chief Executive Officers of JPMorgan Chase & Co, American Express Co, Capital One Financial Corp, and Discover Financial Services: