Credit Card Company Hiked My APR To 62%!

[amgunna]

In Feb 08 my rate was 28% (very high, I know), they raised it in March to $62%. Is this not unfair and deceptive practices, unlawful by the authority of the Federal Trade Commissions Act? I did not miss a payment, nor have I ever. My credit score did not go down. Is there any legal recourse?

Steaming!

Arizona

[Happy Trails]

Did you mean to have a dollar sign in front of the 62%?

Are you sure you are reading it right?

[jk]

as to the 62% rate; I have never seen a rate that high but I have seen 30+ percent which is ridiculous. Your is outrageous but I do not know if it is illegal.

as to them changing your rate; most offers I currently receive state the APR can be changed anytime at their discretion. Read your contract as to what the agreed requirements are to raise your
APR.

[4eyedbuzzard]

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/19980202.asp
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20020320a.asp

[usedbranflakes]

You may want to give their office a call. I don't know of any state where the usury laws allow this high of an APR. Pawn shops and Payday loan shops are an exception to this. It kills the soldiers and targets the poor and absolutely disgusts me that someone can have a 200% APR and is outside the usury laws.

Call the Credit Card company. Get the information from them regarding why it jumped. Talk to your state Attorney General's office and file a complaint, if necessary.

[Happy Trails]

On the chance this poster is getting ripped off and not reading it incorrectly.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/Pubs/shop/complaints.htm

[elorei]

Pawn shops and Payday loan shops are an exception to this. It kills the soldiers and targets the poor and absolutely disgusts me that someone can have a 200% APR and is outside the usury laws.

Actually, it targets the dumb. Many of those dumb people are poor, but not all poor people are dumb, and not all dumb people are poor.

The most money I made off of a single account was from a guy that was loaded. He was either EXTREMELY stupid, did not care about the rate he was paying, or was using me in some weird money laundering thing.


As for the 62% rate on your card, drop it to a zero balance, get ypourself a card tied directly to the prime rate, and as long as there is no annual fee on the 62% card, just stop using it, but do not cancel it. Shortening your credit history drops your FICO and Vantage scores.

[jk]

You may want to give their office a call. I don't know of any state where the usury laws allow this high of an APR. Pawn shops and Payday loan shops are an exception to this. It kills the soldiers and targets the poor and absolutely disgusts me that someone can have a 200% APR and is outside the usury laws.

Call the Credit Card company. Get the information from them regarding why it jumped. Talk to your state Attorney General's office and file a complaint, if necessary.

According to the American Bankers Association, 21 states and the District of Columbia have interest-rate caps for credit cards. The other 29 states do not.


Here are the states with their caps:

StateInterest-rate cap

Alaska

17%

Colorado

21%

District of Columbia

24%

Florida

18%

Hawaii

24%

Indiana

21%

Kansas

14.45% to 18%

Kentucky

21%

Louisiana

No limit for qualified in-state issuers. Limit for all other issuers is 18%.

Maryland

24%

Massachusetts

18%

Minnesota

18%

Mississippi

18% for cards with annual fees; 21% for cards without annual fees

Missouri

22%

North Carolina

18%

Ohio

18%

Oklahoma

21%

Tennessee

21%

Texas

14% to 22%

Washington

18%

West Virginia

18%

Wyoming

21%

Source: American Bankers Association

Typically payday loan and pawn shops escape any ususry limitations by not charging any interest. All the monies they recieve are considered fees and as such are exempt from any interest cap. There have been suits in some states to correct this, with some success, but not all states have acted as such.

So, to determine if there is a limit on the CC acount, we need to know under what states laws does the contract state are applicable. Often the state of incorporation is the determining factor but not always. Some states offer reater protections to the citizens of their state regardless where the creditor is incorporated.

If Arizona lawa pply, it seems there is no limit to the amount of interest they can charge. As I stated previously, many applications (and presumably subsequent contracts) state that the creditor can alter the interest rate for any reason at any time so there would essentially be nothing illegal about what has happened if this were the case.

I would still contact your states AG to at least find out their view of the subject. This also lets the state know what is happening with the consumers and hopefully causes them to enact corrective statutes (via the legislature of course)