Credit Card Law

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The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (or Credit CARD Act) of 2009 will be going into effect soon and it includes many changes in how credit cards are marketed, advertised and managed. At CreditElves.com we can help you make sense of the new credit card laws and we are here to help you understand how the new laws can benefit you and your credit report history.

At Credit Elves we can help you get your credit report and credit history back on track. Once you have used our proven methods and have restored your credit history, it is important to know that when you apply for additional credit cards or are simply using the credit cards you currently have, new laws have been put in place to protect you, the consumer. While there are many changes regarding credit card laws, listed below are some the most important for you to be aware of.

No More Universal Default
Most people have more than one credit card. Supposing you’ve managed to stay on top of every card except one that you just seem to end up paying late every month. Because you are late on this one credit card, ...
... the information is sent to the credit bureaus. The other four credit cards find this out and before the new law was passed they could raise your interest rate even if you were never late on their payments.

End to the Double-Cycle Billing
Let’s assume you have a credit card and that you have charged a $1,000 to it. Before the end of the month you have paid $900 to that credit card bill. You didn’t pay it off all in full, but you almost did. The next month you get the bill and all you owe is $100. But because of double-cycle billing the credit card company is still charging you interest on the entire $1000! This is also going to go away with the new credit card law.

End to Raising Interest Rates for No Reason
Every American consumer who has a credit card, no matter if it is a department card or a Visa or MasterCard, must be OVER 30 days late on your payment for the credit card company to raise your interest rate on that specific debt. With the new credit card laws no credit card company can raise your interest rates just because they feel like it.

Balance Transfers
Lots of Americans get offers in the mail to apply for another credit card that is offering a lower interest rate. Once approved and the balance transferred, the new card offered different interest rates, a lower rate for the balance you transferred and a higher rate for your new purchases. When you made a payment, your payment would be applied to the new purchases with the lower interest rate, while the higher rate of your balance would actually grow rather than decrease. Now with the new credit card laws in effect, your money that you send in will go to the higher balance first.