38.9% interest on Credit Card!

[fltoo]

It was a double edged sword.

It was the governors of those states whom eliminated usury laws to stimulate their economy. They opened up the door for cc companies to flock to their state. The cc companies brought tons of jobs.

I saw that PBS piece when it first aired. Thanks for the link, will watch it again when I get the time.

Only problem I had with it was that it was associated with the NY Times, the biggest rag paper in the nation. Text book study in yellow journalism.

[WhatMoney]

Only problem I had with it was that it was associated with the NY Times, the biggest rag paper in the nation. Text book study in yellow journalism

LOL - Oh give me a break. It hasn't been bought out yet by Rupert Murdoch has it? THEN you would be right. NYT has some of the best journalists in the world - it's the Mayo Clinic of newspapers. But the right wing and the Bushes hate it - so who cares?

I'm amazed that Chase is now charging up to $150 for a balance transfer check - wow - It was only $75 the last time I wrote one 3 years ago.

[No Gravy]

I have two citicards and one is maxed and the other has about $3-400 left on it. I had done a few balance transfers last month, and now recieved my current statement and my purchases are at 14%, first transfer at 4.9% and the second is a whopping 38.9%!!!

Has anyone had such a huge rate like that on a CURRENT w/out any late payments card?

Yes. When I called to question it, the rep apologized and said it was a company policy change affecting *all* consumers, not just me, that I hadn't done anything wrong, etc. I closed the account.

Long before I missed any payments and was current on it all, and while my FICO was still reasonably high, I saw dramatic jumps in the interest rates. There are several reasons I'm filing BK, this was but one contributing factor.

[tomato]

I had one card go from 7.9% interest to 23% interest even though I'd never made a late payment. When I called them to complain, they wouldn't tell me why they'd done it, but they said I had 30 days to write them a letter and ask them to "close the account under the initial terms." I had to write them a letter demanding that they close my account and let me pay off the balance at 7.9%. I'm not sure if this is something they're legally required to offer, but you might want to try asking about it.

[liz417]

At the begining of the year, I had a great credit score (although I had high limits on all my cards) and great interest rates on the cards. I noticed that Chase was the 1st to change their rate. Sure I had the *option* of paying the bill in full and closing the account, but I couldn't come up with $24,000. I notice soon after, ALL my creditors were increasing my interest rates! At that time, I had NEVER been late or gone over the limit! I called the cc to ask why and they said they had the *right* to annually review my credit! With the increased interest rates and the high minimum payments...I sunk fast!


*Has anyone seen the movie "Maxed Out" it's a Michael Moore-type movie (I can't remember who produced it) that's a documentry about the credit card industry (VERY shady stuff going on!!!) Anyway, check it out!

[fltoo]

Liz, you don't have to pay the bill in full.


They have to give you an "opt out" disclosure. You can cancel the account, pay it on time at the old interest rate or keep the account open and accept the new interest rate.

Of course,the opt out disclosure is in teeny, tiny print and comes in the junk mail envelopes that we all throw out.

[liz417]

Fltoo,

I didn't know that, when I called to talk to them, they didn't tell me that part! I still paid the minimum payments (although it went up a lot), but soon after all the credit cards raised their interest rates and I was drowning! Couldn't do it anymore.