It’s not all fun and games with credit cards…
Many of you are familiar with the new credit card laws. As we are lead to understand it, laws were enacted to
Credit cards can be explosive. You might want to consider a car title loan instead...
primarily protect consumers against abusive practices. But credit card companies have good lawyers and people working for them who target ways to get around laws. And there are loopsholes to the newly enacted laws. Getting a credit card or using your old credit card can come at a major cost. The big thing is that companies are raising interest rates and lowering credit limits (doesn’t sound any different than the issues we had with the companies in the first place does it?). Here is some more info from an article addressing the changes:
“If you make all your monthly payments on time, that 15.99% rate on your existing balance is safe. But for that giant flat-screen TV you’re thinking about buying, watch out: The rate on future balances can skyrocket — hello 29.99% — as long as your credit card company warns you 45 days ahead of time, and you’ve had the card for more than a year. That’s for fixed-rate cards. With variable versions, you can face higher rates in two ways. First, your card is likely tied to an interest-rate benchmark, say, a few points above the prime rate. If the benchmark goes up, so will your card’s rate. Second, the card company can raise the margin above that benchmark, as long as it tells you 45 days in advance.Don’t be surprised if you’re suddenly switched from a fixed- to a variable-rate card — that’s happening more and more, and it’s legit as long as you get a heads-up. “One of the biggest misconceptions people have about the Card Act is that issuers can’t raise interest rates anymore,” said Beverly Harzog, contributing editor at CardRating.com. “But they actually can do what they want on new balances, as long as they give 45 days notice.”"
You know, auto title loans tend to get a bad reputation. Critics often times argue that the high interest rates make it difficult. But it you look at credit card companies, their interest rates are rising and rising and the collectors are getting nastier and nastier. Things can get really complicated and because of that it seems like, more and more, credit card companies can blind side you. They have to give warnings of what they are going to do, but they can still do it! And what’s more, they might send you a letter, but have you seen the size of those letters? I had rates raised on my credit card recently, but I had no idea because they sent me a letter and I through it out because it looked like a marketing scam. At least with car title loans you know what you are getting into. You can sit and talk with an agent. Things are broken down for you and shouldn’t be surprised…
-DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a direct relationship with a brand, topic, or product that is mentioned herein and may have received compensation, either directly or indirectly, for the opinions expressed.
