Has anyone here thought about writing your congress person about protecting consumers with credit card debt? I'm NOT talking about getting away without paying what is due (you charges it, you need to pay for it)... BUT I am talking about making credit card companies have fixed due dates for payments - so your bill is always due on the same date each month - the first or the fifteenth or the 27th... not letting them shift due dates: the 20th one month, the 17th the next month, the 22nd the month after that...
How about keeping interest rates within a reasonable range - definitely less than 25% (usury anyone?).... Really, if someone is having trouble making payments at 9%, how the heck are they supposed to do it when their interest triples?
How about limiting the service fees that companies can charge for taking payments not on a written check: ie "we charget $10.95 for doing this transaction by phone automated, $15 for this transaction if you use a customer service representative, or $5 to do this transaction online." It dang well does not cost them anywhere near that much!
I understand that CC companies are in business to make money, but doesn't it end up costing them more when someone goes thru bankruptcy and has the cc debt wiped clean? What about being willing to work with people to get payments made - we'll take a partial payment, but your card won't work until you are current...
Yes, don't charge it if you can't pay for it. I get that... but what about all the people that are facing layoffs and downsizing as our economy slows? One month, they were working and knew they'd have enough to make payments. The next, out of work and
. What about those that were doing great at staying caught up until the increases in consumables (gas, food) bit them in the hiney?
I really see this as being another potential economic time-bomb. On par with Lehman Brothers and the mortgage crisis... Am I whistling in the wind, or is anyone else with me?
How about keeping interest rates within a reasonable range - definitely less than 25% (usury anyone?).... Really, if someone is having trouble making payments at 9%, how the heck are they supposed to do it when their interest triples?
How about limiting the service fees that companies can charge for taking payments not on a written check: ie "we charget $10.95 for doing this transaction by phone automated, $15 for this transaction if you use a customer service representative, or $5 to do this transaction online." It dang well does not cost them anywhere near that much!
I understand that CC companies are in business to make money, but doesn't it end up costing them more when someone goes thru bankruptcy and has the cc debt wiped clean? What about being willing to work with people to get payments made - we'll take a partial payment, but your card won't work until you are current...
Yes, don't charge it if you can't pay for it. I get that... but what about all the people that are facing layoffs and downsizing as our economy slows? One month, they were working and knew they'd have enough to make payments. The next, out of work and
. What about those that were doing great at staying caught up until the increases in consumables (gas, food) bit them in the hiney?I really see this as being another potential economic time-bomb. On par with Lehman Brothers and the mortgage crisis... Am I whistling in the wind, or is anyone else with me?
