As of today, August 20, 2009 the first provisions of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (“CARD”) go into effect. CARD is designed to protect consumers against credit card abuses, including high fees, penalties and provide additional notice procedures. There are two primary changes going into effect today, discussed below.
Change #1. Under the pre-existing credit card practices, banks were required to mail out billing statements at least 14 days prior to the due date. Under CARD, banks must mail out billing statements at least 21 days before their due dates, giving consumers an extra week’s notice. On the flip side, this change may provide card holder’s a false sense of security and wait, possibly too long to pay the credit card bill. Further, despite receiving the bill a week earlier, the due date will remain the same and therefore late fees and penalties will accrue in the same fashion as before the CARD law.
Change #2. If and when interest rates are changed on a credit card account, the card issuer shall be given 45 days of notice, rather than the pre-existing 15 days. This is a positive step for card holders, in that they will have an additional 30 days to shop around for a lower rate if applicable, or consult with a Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer at Sadek Law Offices, LLC if available credit is dwindling or existing credit not likely to be paid back.
If there are any general questions or topics you would like to read about relating to bankruptcy law, you may contact Sadek Law Offices, LLC at 215-545-0008 or email brad@sadeklaw.com. Thank you.