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- JohnnyDIGGme, on 05/22/2009, -4/+59What the Credit Cardholders Bill Of Rights Means to Me
Written By: JohnnyDiggme.
The Credit Cardholders Bill Of Rights Means very little to me. Mostly because I use my credit card to collect reward miles, and never carry a balance.
I learnt at a very young age, that spending money you don't have is foolish. - TruckStuff, on 05/22/2009, -0/+34While I believe that CC debt generally falls under the heading "personal responsibility" (you charged it, you are responsible for it), none of these new rules seem that outrageous to me. People can still be stupid with plastic, and CC companies can still make lots money off of that. Just now they can't make money off of the really slimy, taking-advantage-of-fools practices.
- zerotrace, on 05/22/2009, -0/+30The article doesn't mention that none of these new regulations take effect until June 2010.
- JohnnyDIGGme, on 05/22/2009, -0/+21No need for a round of applause, but I don't see how people get so in debt with credit cards. It's essentially borrowing money.
Don't borrow it if you can't pay it back. - AlKo, on 05/22/2009, -0/+21You forgot slimy practices in general like sending out the bill a few days before it's due and then charging late fees that also retroactively calculate interest. Those practices SHOULD be illegal... now they finally are.
- Sharkky, on 05/22/2009, -1/+19I just want to go ahead and say: ***** credit card companies. ***** credit. If you have credit card debt, start paying off your lowest balanced card first. Once that's paid off, take what you were paying on that one then pay off another one until you have no credit card debt. Then focus paying off your next biggest debts. Save your money and live cheaply for a couple years and watch your bank roll snowball. Once you have 6 months of savings in your bank (for emergencies) then you can start buying everything in cash. Then just start paying back what you "borrowed". Why should we give them a dime? If you can't afford it, you don't need it.
- inactive, on 05/23/2009, -1/+16learn how to cut back and save your damn money gt35r.
- JCEEZ, on 05/23/2009, -2/+17don't live paycheck to paycheck then.
- Aadain, on 05/22/2009, -0/+13I agree. All these new rules seem to do is prevent abuse of idiots. Under 18? Nope, can't get a credit card as the primary holder since statically you would just dig a hole too big to climb out of for many, many, many years. In college? You can no longer sign up for 10 different credit cards and max them out in under a month, saddling you with debt and bad credit rating that will haunt you till your 40.
- atlasdugged, on 05/22/2009, -0/+13dugg for the mint...love that site
- s73v3r, on 05/23/2009, -2/+15But they will take effect at some time. Which is better than the credit card industry's timetable for instituting reforms.
- N0DIGGITY, on 05/23/2009, -2/+14a budget
make one - vassoom, on 05/22/2009, -6/+18Uhhh...I feel funny. I don't really know what this feeling is.
It's like...it's like I'm proud of my Congress, or something.
I think I better go lie down... - undervalued, on 05/22/2009, -2/+13Just buy a whole lot of insubstantial things, so when they come to collect, there is nothing in your hobo box for them to take. No rules needed.
- blapierre, on 05/22/2009, -1/+12You should pay off the highest APR first, not the lowest balance.
- s73v3r, on 05/23/2009, -0/+10The part about ending the credit card company's ability to play fast and loose with interest rate changes and mandating that bills be sent 21 days before the due date will definitely help a lot of people.
- blapierre, on 05/22/2009, -3/+12Yeah, my Amex Blue Cash with up to 5% cash back and no annual fee is probably going byebye.
- s73v3r, on 05/23/2009, -1/+9The entire industry has been bitching and moaning about all the crap they're gonna pull if this were signed into law. There might be some people who get ***** in their temper tantrum, but in the long run everyone will be better off for it.
- inactive, on 05/23/2009, -1/+9What does it mean? If you pay your balance off every month, you're going to be hit with annual fees. Rewards programs will go away.
Basically, people who pay on time and are good borrowers get hurt. What a surprise. - alais, on 05/23/2009, -0/+7One day, when you kids grow up you'll realize that a company can only bear the burden of so many deadbeats before they have to move on to greener pastures.
- deema1, on 05/23/2009, -1/+8What does it mean for us?
Well, for customers it means more fees, smaller credit lines, and a massive reduction in the number of credit cards. For businesses it means higher card transaction fees and therefore higher prices on goods and services and fewer locations accepting cards. The economy doesn't work in a vacuum. When you change one thing, something else dominoes. When credit card companies have their rates capped and can't offset the risk they come up with other ways of doing so. That means, good luck getting or keeping a credit card if you've missed payments or have shoddy credit.
On the surface, to the average person, it's a victory. But in reality it's not. You can put a rock in a stream but it won't change the path -- the water will only go around it. Either politicians aren't smart enough to know cause and effect, or they did this for political purposes. - enantiodromia, on 05/23/2009, -0/+7If you are interested in how the Credit Card industry became what it is today, I highly recommend the Frontline episode "The Secret History of the Credit Card"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cred ...
http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/3350557/Frontline ... - GThrift, on 05/23/2009, -0/+7It means I can take my guns into the national parks!
I wonder if this applies to the White House since it's a national park? - chickenloco, on 05/23/2009, -5/+12It means the government is getting involved in private business... Even though the credit card companies are not breaking any laws, and everything they have done is explicitly allowed in the binding contract you sign when you get a credit card.
- johnomaz, on 05/23/2009, -0/+6Since when are you a minor until age 21?
"For consumers under 21 years old, the signature of a parent or another responsible adult who will take responsibility for the debt is required, or proof must be found that the under-21 consumer can repay the credit." - BottledViolence, on 05/23/2009, -0/+6Great news, all you folks who are not complete morons again get nothing, while the idiots who can't understand the concept of living within their means get help. All I know is I hope this doesn't screw up things for people who use credit cards responsibly.
- Nerys, on 05/23/2009, -1/+7That easy to say JohnnyDIGGme
in fact its even easy for me to say today at 33 years old.
when I was 17 years old starting college where the hell were you?
The balances I have today are years old. Eventually you have no choice but to USE them and keep the balances high. You see I am trying to do the right thing.
the easy way would be to simply stop paying them. then my money problems go away. but I want to make good on them. I did spend it after all. To me dishonoring a debt is tantamount to theft.
but what happens when the lendor abuses the debt to KEEP you in debt?
I quickly learned you never overpay on a credit card. Ever. you pay a few dollars over the minimum due (because that is a good thing for your credit score) but beyond that you NEVER over pay.
I have a decent score. since I started paying online I have never had a late payment. (7+ years)
Every time I tried to start paying MORE than was due on a card they would INCREASE the interest rate so the extra money I was paying no longer took away the principle but was now eaten up by interest. How is that fair or even legal?
When I would ask why there answers amounted to "because we can"
I would wager I don't "actually" owe any money to these people. I would wager I have paid back almost all my purchases and then some by now. its all interest.
These people are criminals. Plain and simple. - bobbi21, on 05/23/2009, -1/+7most of these rules are just rules to not be a dick. I could see ppl having lawsuits over stuff like this, it's just that the ppl most effected by these practices are too much in debt to pay for a lawyer :P
While I believe it is their right to practice however they want, I don't think it's too big a deal for the government to put in some "anti-dick" rules. Kinda like all those rules for employees having to get however long breaks and stuff. - inactive, on 05/23/2009, -0/+6GM and Chrysler are about to do it
- Shawn4168, on 05/23/2009, -0/+5While it mathematically makes sense to pay off the highest APR first, financial experts (like Dave Ramsey) recommend the snowball effect instead, due to the psychological impact that it can have on a person. Watching your individual debts disappear quickly, even if it's the little ones, can have a very motivating impact on a person.
- robertisaar, on 05/22/2009, -5/+10dugg due to this soon becoming reality...
- nullcodes, on 05/23/2009, -0/+5What it means is that you can't get bipartisanship support for anything without sneaking in something entirely unrelated from the wishlist of the other guys.
- ModernGeek, on 05/23/2009, -1/+6I think the biggest thing is not being charged for paying by phone or online. I used to have to pay $9 every time I paid online with my old card company.
- cliffzdude, on 05/23/2009, -0/+5Nowhere in the bill does it say you can now get out of your due debt.
- Elliuotatar, on 05/23/2009, -0/+5Actually, FIRST you should see if you can get a personal loan or a new card with a lower APR and transfer the balance if possible.
Of course that assumes you have enough self control not to just spend the new credit. - N0DIGGITY, on 05/23/2009, -1/+6It's nice to use it like a debit card, mine gives 1% cash back on all purchases after $1000 for the year, and 5% back on certain things. As long as I don't carry a balance, I'm not spending money I don't have.
- s73v3r, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4So instead of Draft Dodgers running to Canada, we'll have Debt Dodgers.
- ralphodog, on 05/23/2009, -1/+5I'm surprised it took so long for anyone to point this out. This is pure *****; I would be pissed as hell if I were still under 21.
This is basically just a further move to take away rights and redefine what a minor is. - Elliuotatar, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4I don't think they can do that. The law says they have to go back to the ORIGINAL rate you had when you put the balance on there.
- enantiodromia, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4I'm sure you realize that when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the credit card companies so favorably back in the 80s, giving them the tools the banks needed to become such a gigantic and powerful industry, that was "the government getting involved in private business", right?
- AWBoy666, on 05/23/2009, -1/+5Hello Dave Ramsey :)
- Bloodwine, on 05/23/2009, -1/+5Right before the new rules kick in, credit card providers are going to jack up their rates so that they freeze at the higher rates.
- bobbi21, on 05/23/2009, -1/+5and if you have more than 1 credit card with debt on it, odds are you can't :P
- Nerys, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4yet you can still get blown up in iraq for good old uncle sam at 18
- MikaStar, on 05/23/2009, -1/+522 yrs old and never had a credit card, with the exception of a debit card with a Visa logo. It just never made sense to me to spend money I didn't have. It's not like I don't have to pay it back, so why not wait till I do have the money and avoid all the BS? It's called saving and managing and it's really not that hard.
- enantiodromia, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4That's almost right. There are still Usury Laws, but the Supreme Court ruled that the state in which the Bank resided, not the borrower, determined which laws to use.
That's when all the banks moved to Sioux Falls, to take advantage of S.Dakota's weak Usury Laws.
I'm sure they assumed that an enormous industry who only answers to stock holders would "regulate themselves", and as usual, they did not. - JCEEZ, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4show me someone who lost their job , and reduced their spending habits, and needs a little extra cash... and I'll show you 100 people who wanted that pair of shoes they cant afford.
- mrswirl, on 05/23/2009, -1/+5@JohnnyDIGGme -
Just wait until you've experienced an unexpected job loss or serious illness that your insurance doesn't cover then you will see exactly how quickly you get in debt with credit cards.
Even responsible people can have bad luck. - EvilDeadAsh, on 05/23/2009, -0/+4This make me want to watch Fight Club.
- BrutePhysics, on 05/23/2009, -3/+7wow chill the ***** out people. sometimes the ***** hits the fan, you gotta pay those bills, and simply put... you have to put it on a card (knowing that you will pay off that card on your next paycheck).
The three of you are so high and mighty behind your computer but in the real world good people sometimes get ***** over... not to mention that if you are doing the right thing with your credit, this bill doesn't affect you what-so-ever. In short, STFU and learn to empathize. -
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