Credit Card Act of 2009

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, also known as the Credit CARD Act, was passed by Congress in May 2009. This Act is meant to protect consumers from falling into excessive debt. With the provisions set out under the Act, credit card companies must change the way they market and advertise their cards, as well as the way they bill their customers.

The provisions of the act will all be in effect by February 2010, although some went into effect in June 2009. These provisions:

• Increase oversight into the credit card industry from Congress. This includes more data collection on credit card companies and American spending, as well as the yearly presentation of this data to Congress.
• Set clear, fixed definitions of common terms in order to eliminate confusion and prevent deception.
• Fix due dates for payments, in addition to forcing companies to provide sufficient advance warning of any changes to the due date.
• Protect consumers against arbitrary interest rate increases.
• Limit excessive fees to three.
• Allow cardholders to fix their own credit limits to prevent overspending.
• Fairly allocate payments, requiring credit card companies to first apply payments to the debt with the highest interest rate.
• Require customers to pay the heavy fees of “subprime” credit cards up front.

All credit card users should become familiar with the new provisions in the Credit CARD Act in order to understand how it affects their own spending habits and card use.

Contact Us

Unfortunately, these steps by the federal government to protect consumers have come too late for some. If you are struggling with excessive debt, contact the Austin bankruptcy lawyers of Slater, Kennon & Pugh Ltd.LLP at 512-338-1100.