There have been those who say Congressional efforts to curtail the predatory practices of American credit card companies have the right idea, but that new legislation has is not being implemented quickly enough. A powerful new set of credit card industry reforms was signed into law by President Obama at the beginning of the summer, but is not scheduled to take effect until February. In the meantime, consumer advocates have discovered, credit card companies are taking full advantage of the grace period they have left to drive customers crazy: raising interest rates, slashing credit limits, and increasing eligibility criteria to unrealistic levels.
Two House members have jointly introduced a bill that would bump up the planned date of effectiveness for what is colloquially called The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights and get consumers covered more expediently. The bill is currently set to take effect on February 1, 2010. As put forward by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the effectiveness date would be pushed forward to December 1, 2009.
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act is set to completely revolutionize the American card industry with a set of comprehensive reforms designed to change the long-standing practices of card companies. As of the measure’s effectiveness date, they will no longer be allowed to arbitrarily change interest rates, veil important card details in fine print and impenetrable legalese, or to aggressively market their products to college students still dependent on their parents’ money. The reform was born of years of consumer complaints that credit card companies’ business practices preyed on American families and encouraged dependence on plastic.
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