According to reports from Washington, a house panel is considering capping the interest rates that credit card companies could charge at sixteen percent. The bill, which will be under debate in the Rules Panel as quickly as possible, stems to control unreasonable fees and high interest rates that put many Americans further into debt. In addition to capping credit card interest rates, the new bill would also look to cap late fees and over-the-limit fees at $15.
While U.S. consumers are trying to manage debt, which was $842.6 billion as of Nov. 18, down 1.7 percent from a year ago, there are still obstacles that most can’t get past. Delinquencies on loans at least 30 days overdue, considered a sign of future defaults, rose to 6.12 percent in October from 5.97 percent in September, Moody’s Investors Service said in a Nov. 20 report, the highest level since April.
When the Senate debated credit card rules and regulations back in May, it blocked a national rate cap of 15% proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent. Sanders hopes to get a vote on another bill limiting rates, spokesman Michael Briggs said.
In the Senate, Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, supported legislation to freeze credit card interest rates until the next phase of the law is implemented in February. Dodd’s attempt to pass the bill by unanimous consent was blocked by Senator Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican, Nov. 18.
No date has been scheduled yet for the debate on the new bill, but it appears to be moving on a fast track and there could be some updates about this bill soon. Having a cap on credit card interest rates would be helpful to lots of Americans who are currently paying higher interest than the purposed 16% on their credit card debt.
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Tags: Credit Card Debt, Credit Help, Debt Help, Debt Relief, Laws, Personal Finance
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 12:44 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the Post RSS Feed.
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