A suggestion for the new Ohio house of representatives

[MeDeMax]

to introduce & legislate that in Ohio :

Lenders cannot change interest rates except in lock step with changes to the prime,
when a variable rate applies to the loan.

eg. if you get a loan or a credit card with prime + 5% then it stays prime + 5%,
it cannot become prime + 15% simply because someone at the lender decided that
your credit score was such that no one would bail you out if they charged you
prime + 15%.

comments ?

[geiger]

1. Is this a federal issue perhaps?

[MeDeMax]

2. could be...watch the video at the link

I dont know this for sure, but i believe each state has some
jurisdiction on what lenders can and cannot do in the state.

but if the feds pass a law in the same area, they prevail.


"secret history of the credit card"

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/

[geiger]

3. The Ohio Supreme Court recently struck down Cleveland's anti-predatory loan laws,

now that I think of it.

The link you have posted contains a comment that is interesting to me: most bankruptcies are triggered by life-shattering events like health crisis, divorce, loss of job, etc. Despite the fact that most credit card holders could pay more on their credit cards every month, it's not the credit card spending that gets one in trouble; it's when you can't pay back (on time). But they want to brainwash people that they have been bad with their money or that the ridiculously high bills are somehow their fault (granted, we could all probably pay more attention to how we pay on them). No federal limit to the amount of interest that can be charged even if a payment is an hour late? Ridiculous. And the new bankruptcy laws are even more of a sham, being that they protect the creditors, not the consumers that are in need of (temporary) relief.

[MeDeMax]

4. thank you for engaging on the thread

I haven't charged a dime in over a year, but the payments continue
to climb month after month.

i have one card with a really low limit that i use for transacctions
that need a credit card. I clear that balance one or two times each
billing cycle.

Each month I see upto 5 notices about change in terms, I am no lawyer
so it is all gobligook to me.

Pisses me off that I have to keep sending decline notices to keep
the existing rates.