By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com
May 14, 2009
President Obama, in essence, preached to the choir Thursday as he told
a town hall packed with consumers that the credit card industry is in
bad need of an overhaul. The President has told Congress he wants to
see credit card legislation on his desk by Memorial Day.
At a town hall meeting in New Mexico the President said he wants a new law that would restrict lenders' ability to hike interest rates or tack on late fees. He also said he wants to reduce the fine print and excessive legalese in credit card agreements. These issues are the subject of complaints ConsumerAffairs.com has been receiving for years.
Delisa, of Bellingham, Washington, said she had been a Washington Mutual cardholder since 2006, with an interest rate of 14 percent.
"I kept my account in excellent standing, constantly paying off my account," she told ConsumerAffairs.com. "When Chase bought out Washington Mutual, I received a letter stating my interest rate would go up to 31.9 percent. This is ridiculous and should not be legal."
It probably wouldn't be, under the "Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights," currently making its way through Congress.
"We have been complicit in these problems," Obama told the town hall. "But these practices, they have only grown worse in this recession, when hardworking Americans could afford them least."
Credit car debt has increased by 25 percent over the past decade, reaching $963 billion in January, according to Federal Reserve. The banking industry opposes the Obama-backed bill, saying it would result in less credit for consumers.
