Sherrod Brown signs on to bill to freeze credit-card interest rates

[Ardent15]

Sen. Sherrod Brown has signed on to a bill unveiled last week in his Senate Banking Committee that would freeze credit-card interest rates and other fees until a credit-reform law goes into effect next year.

The Ohio Democrat is one of a number of lawmakers complaining that many credit-card companies have been hiking rates ahead of the credit-card overhaul law taking effect. Some provisions of the law, such as a 45-day notification of rate increases, already are in effect, but credit-card companies have until February before new limits are placed on rate and fee hikes on existing customers in good standing.

"Ohioans have had enough of the abusive and predatory practices used by credit-card companies," Brown said in a statement. "Credit-card companies are doing all they can to raise interest rates and squeeze consumers in the final months before they have to play by a new set of rules. This bill will prevent these last-ditch efforts and ensure consumers receive the protection they deserve."

Similar measures are being looked at in the House, where Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus, a member of the House Financial Services panel, and other lawmakers have been urging credit-card companies not to raise rates. The House committee has passed a bill, which awaits action in the full House, moving the effective date on limiting rate hikes to Dec. 1.

<http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2009/11/01/copy/dcbrown.html?adsec=politics&sid=101>

[DJ13]

1. Barn door, horse. gone

[Robb]

2. Yup. nt

[Orrex]

3. +1,000,000

The time to do this would have been before passing the largely irrelevant if not impotent legislation that's soon to take effect.

[ProSense]

4. Nothing will ever work. Everything is bad. We're doomed.

:rofl:

[Orrex]

9. In my admittedly brief twenty years of political awareness...

I've seen little to contradict your subject line, in the grand scheme.

[jimlup]

12. Yup...

well said.

[Greybnk48]

5. No one in Washington seems to know what's going on in this country. WTF?

Do they really not know that it's way too late for this. Do none of these people have a fucking credit card? This is vulgarly condescending at this late date, I'm sorry.

[jimlup]

6. Too late unless it is retroactive

I've been hit hard but I've fought back by borrowing from my retirement. At least I have that option.

[dickthegrouch]

7. Can we please have a provision to return the rate to what it was?

Just freezing is no good.
They must be allowed to go down and capped at a reasonable rate.
I think reasonable is what the CC companies are prepared to pay as interest if the holder happens to be in credit with them, as opposed to in debt to them :evilgrin:

[safeinOhio]

8. If BOA and Chase

get government $ at zero interest, there needs to be strings attached.

[xchrom]

10. freeze them at exorbitantly, extortion style rates?!?!

:rofl:

thank ya jay-zus for them Lib-rul Politicians lookin out for me!

[SoCalDem]

11. Wow.. such a deal.. freeze them at 30+ per cent..

:rofl:

they should be no more than 15% EVER...

What's needed is limited/reduced credit limits, and only ONE PER CUSTOMER, of any "flavor"..One Visa, One MC, one Discover....and no "checks" or cash advances or balance transfers to other cards..

Banks can borrow at 0% or near zero, and then they charge mafia on steroirs interest rates..shameful.. and it needs to be illegal..

[Taitertots]

13. Any credit card debt should be frozen at the rate when it was incurred

We need to put a stop to this insanity of allowing credit card companies to change rates to fleece debt holders. Raise the rate on new debts if there is a problem with lending to them. The current system is about as predatory as I can imagine.

It amounts to they will lend to you all the way until you can't pay it off, then raise your rates because you are not going to be taking on new debt so it doesn't matter how high your rates are. They need to keep the rates low on people who they haven't suckered in yet.

"Hey borrow money from me I'll lend at 7%, no wait 30%+."