I got notice they are jacking my credit card rates to around 26%

[Postman]

And I have an excellent credit rating.

I'd like to thank the incompetent Democratic Party for this gift.

You assholes couldn't have mandated a cap immediately at existing rates?...When these companies are paying next to nothing from the Fed for their money?

Remind me again why I voted for these jokers? Oh yeah, He's not George W. Bush,,,,,,,,,yet.

[donco6]

1. Mine went to 29%!

And I don't even carry a balance. Guess they don't need my business - like I would EVER use that card again.

[Postman]

3. The Democrats like Chris Dodd were trying to "help" us...

Better a half-assed bill than a bill that actually helps the consumer - is their motto....

[icee2]

7. His father was also a corrupt Sinator n/t

[donco6]

14. I feel so helped.

Gosh, where have we heard that motto before - maybe in GD:P

[TicketyBoo]

25. If you don't carry a balance

why do you care what they jack up the interest rate to?

I never carry a balance. Let them put at 50%, and it's no skin off my teeth (except I feel sorry for those who do carry a balance).

[Gman]

2. If you pay your bill on time, if you pay down your credit cards, you're considered a deadbeat

because they can't charge you exorbitant fees. Of course now, they're going to gorge while the gorging is good before the credit card law takes effect.

[Postman]

5. What did these assholes in the Democratic Party think these companies were going to do...

by delaying the enforcement of the act? Lower their rates?

Stupid - fucking - morons.

[Gman]

13. The Democratic Party doesn't have a damn thing to do with it

Why did people allow Reagan to be elected?? Why did people allow Bush I to be elected? Why did people allow Bush II to be elected? And you blame the Democrats?? This shit didn't start January 21. Go fuggin' figure.

Let me guess here... you're another that hated Hillary in the primaries, right?

[brentspeak]

29. He's making a good point

The legislation allowed banks several months to jack-up their rates to their heart's content before the law would go into affect. A blind, deaf, and dumb child could have seen that the banks, being as congenitally sleazy as they are, would simply raise rates within the time gap. Bank-friendly Democrats like Barney Frank knew exactly what would happen; now Frank is acting all "outraged" at the banks' usury. The non-bank-friendly Democrats were elbowed-out of inserting rate-locks into the legislation by both Frank and the Republicans.

[Gman]

30. Yes, it's a good point and

Frank had threatened to make the rate freeze effective Dec 1, but for some reason didn't do it.

Nevertheless, the overall problem is not one of Democrats or Obama.

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. As I understand it

even after the new legislation becomes implemented, there are NO caps on rates. I believe that the rates cannot be jacked up immediately, but they can be raised over time to whatever the credit card company wishes. I could be wrong about this, but I think there are no rate caps in the new legislation.

[elocs]

15. Yes, "deadbeat" is the actual term they use for doing that. n/t

[Bryn]

4. We should charge banks 30% interest for that bailout money

*WE* the taxpayer gave them via our own government.

Mine went from 12% to 24.99%. Is the bill there yet for the Senate to limit interest rates by CC companies? How could the government allow them to rob us The People.

It sucks. I know how you feel.

[geckosfeet]

9. I use a debit card and an AMEX card. Cut the bastards off.

[sojourner]

8. MOST of the Congress is a subsidiary of (owned by ) the financial system. period.

And not to pick a fight, but having Obama as President is not the same as having a corrupt Congress. Thanks God that Bush is not still President, with evil Cheney pulling his strings. It COULD be worse, remember.

[Deja Q]

11. Agreed.

[eqfan592]

10. Was it a fixed rate card before hand?

If so, then you do NOT have to accept that. You have to call your credit card company and inform them that you do not agree to the new terms of their credit card. At that point, you'll lose your credit card with them and it'll turn into more of a loan, but at the original interest rate.

Raising the rate on a fixed rate is essentially a breach of contract, but not saying anything to them equates to acceptance of the new terms, so make sure to contact them ASAP if it was a fixed rate card.

[roamer65]

12. ...and the credit constriction continues unabated.

The banks are trying to preserve capital for future losses. They are driving rates sky high to prevent usage of credit.

[safeinOhio]

16. My Simmons card

jumped from 9.99% to 10.25%
Shop around.

[Blue For You]

17. Makes me wanna go out and buy something on a card...NOT!

Hell, I can't go out and buy something with cash either, as that has to go to the jacked up card costs on previous purchases. Bye, bye, merchants, it's been nice knowin' ya'!

[hayu_lol]

18. Two things that would help most of us...

make credit card interest deductible as it once was and tax heavily, the excess profits from the banker loansharks.

Interest rates like the ones today, were illegal when I was growing up.

[MindPilot]

27. A lot of people don't seem to know that.

Credit card interest was capped at 12% IIRC. All consumer interest was deductible. Reagan ended that.

[WhiteTara]

19. I requested a reduction and`

they ended at 21.9

[dkf]

20. Go find a credit union.

Its a no brainer really.

[GreenStormCloud]

21. I screwed the CC companies.

My wife and I, both senior citizens, had great jobs with a combined income of around $100K, in the Texas, rural area south of Dallas. Our CC interest rates were around 5%, and we had huge balances, around $30K -total, but were rapidly paying them off so we could enter retirment debt free. Suddenly, on the same day, we both lost our jobs. The company she worked for went bankrupt and my own business suffered badly due to the recession.

I was able to find some jobs, but at greatly reduced income. I started working two jobs, one full-time and one part-time, while she job hunted. She found an office manager job, but at poor pay, compared to before.

During that, we kept the payments up on all the cards. But our debt to income ratio was now rather bad. So we were now considered high-risk and the interest rates began to climb, hitting 29.99% on some cards. There was no way in Hell that we could pay that amount of interest when we weren't even making that much money annually. Then her job vanished as the small company she worked for was losing clients due to the recession.

We filed bankruptcy, chapter 7. The courts upheld it. The CC companies got nothing.

If they had kept the interest rates where they were, we could have continued making payments. But when they decided to treat us as high-risk, they pushed us into that very thing; they made us high risk.

[Scout]

23. "... they made us high risk."

yup, that's what they did to me ... they jack your rates so high that you literally cannot make the payments anymore ... then they start giving you late fees, than jack your rate again, then more late fees... then your other cards do the same thing because of card A...

i'm doing my best to go cold turkey and use cash and debit card only.

[GreenStormCloud]

24. We are now cash and debit card only. It is the best way to be.

Amazingly, we are getting offers for credid cards. They get put in the shredder. If we can't afford it now, we don't need it.

[DollyM]

32. I wish more people could here these kind of stories . . .

Small business owners have been hit hard in this economy, we depend upon credit to keep our businesses going. Most of us are responsible and pay our bills promptly. But we are getting hit with huge rate increases for that responsibility. I am cancelling the one cc we have left because I cannot and will not pay the rate increase. If Obama wanted to protect us from the cc companies doing this, why couldn't the law have been made immediate. Did anyone really think that the cc companies would wait around and not increase rates when there were laws in the future that would help protect the consumer from this very sort of thing. It's kind of like giving a two year old a knife and telling them to not run with it.

[Skittles]

22. oh they did this on purpose Postman

it's the compromise thing - hey, you guys need to change your ways but first we'll give you enough time to royally fuck the people - oh yeah, it's a pattern

[phasma ex machina]

26. Deleted.

[michreject]

28. Mine went to 11.99% from 7.99%

Without notice.

[DollyM]

33. Mine went from 10 percent to almost 19 percent . .. .

Great credit, never missed a payment, never late, never over and they still are going to raise it to nearly 19 percent. So I saw screw em, I am closing the last credit card account that I have and am going to have to try and figure out a way to order supplies for my business without using a credit card.

[michreject]

34. Debit card.

It works the same way.

[DollyM]

35. I can't use a debit card for my business orders . . .

I have a small business and most of my suppliers only take a credit card. Debit cards are wonderful things for the average person who is buying what they need but it doesn't work across the board. The debit card system has not caught up with the cc system in usuage yet so many of the companies I order from for supplies, will only take a credit card.

[guyton]

31. just got a new visa card w/my credit union ... 8.99%

suggest dumping the banks and finding the nearest credit union.

Also just got a rate increase from Target Visa -- now 20%. Closing that tomorrow.