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| Tierney Acts to Further Protect Consumers |
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Tierney Acts to Further Protect Consumers
Congressman Seeks Swift Action on Credit Card Reforms
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) continued his work protecting consumers from unfair and abusive credit card company actions. Tierney voted in favor of the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009. This bill would move up the effective date for nearly all credit card reforms signed into law by President Obama this year from February to immediately following the President’s signing this bill into law. H.R. 3639 passed in the House by a vote of 331 to 92 and currently awaits action in the Senate.
“Since the reforms in this legislation were signed into law last May, I’ve heard from numerous constituents whose cards have seen interest rate increases of between 10 and 20 percent, as well as increases in the types of deceptive and unfair practices the law will prevent once effective,” said Tierney. “These increased rates and fees have little or nothing to do with increased company costs or the actions of borrowers and everything to do with squeezing more money from consumers!”
This past spring, Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, the CARD Reform for Consumers Act, H.R. 627, legislation Congressman Tierney long supported, which offered common-sense protections for consumers, by banning due-date gimmicks, misleading terms in contracts, unfair “subprime” penalty fees, and arbitrary interest rate increases. Since H.R. 627 was signed into law, instead of preparing to implement these key consumer protection provisions, many credit card companies have raised interest rates and increased minimum payments and fees in an effort to extract last-minute profits from consumers prior to the provisions taking effect. H.R. 3639 would move-up the effective date of these provisions, providing additional protections for consumers in advance of the holiday season.
Tierney continued, “While I support this legislation because reforms clearly need to be put in place as soon as possible, I harbor concerns that the exploitation will continue. Credit card companies will stop at nothing, and as doors to drain excessive fees from borrowers are closed, the industry will undoubtedly move toward other creative means to raise interest rates. That is why I will continue working to explore ways to cap interest rates for credit cards.”
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