clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
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Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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Anyone watch the FRONTLINE episode about the evils of Credit Card Companies and banks?
I see a correlation from the Rat bastards from the late 1800's to early 1900's from JP Morgan(investor who corrupted the government) and the
Railroads to George W Bush(who is allowing corruption from gasoline and oil to Credit card companies) and Credit Cards raping the American people.
THIS IS FUCKING OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!
There is no limit on the amount a credit card company can charge a cardholder for being even an hour late with a payment.
In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted the existing restrictions on late penalty fees. Back then, fees ran to $5 or $10, and
usually did not exceed $15. After the Court's decision, fees soared, reaching upwards of $30. Since then, the amount of revenue the companies generate
from fees (including late charges, over-the-limit fees, and charges for returned checks) has doubled. Duncan MacDonald, one of the lawyers who worked
on the Smiley case, predicts penalty fees could rise to $50 in another year
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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There is no federal limit on the interest rate a credit card company can charge.
If you've ever looked at the return address on your statement, you may notice your credit card issuer is located in a state such as South Dakota or
Delaware. That's because these are the states that have either weak or no "usury laws" meaning there is no cap on the interest rate that is charged.
(View this map that shows the states where the top ten credit card issuers are located.) The federal government once had national usury laws that set
a cap on the amount of interest that could be charged on a loan. But after the Great Depression, it repealed them and some states put no new usury
laws in place. That's why Citibank, the issuer of Mastercard, moved to South Dakota, which has no cap on interest rates. (For more on the South Dakota
story and how the credit card industry took off in the 1980s, read The Ascendancy of the Credit Card Industry.)
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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? Even if you make your credit card payments on time, the credit card bank can raise your interest rate automatically if you're late on payments
elsewhere -- such as on another credit card or on a phone, car, or house payment -- or simply because the bank feels you have taken on too much debt.
This practice is called the "universal default" clause and increasingly is becoming a standard clause in credit card agreements. According to credit
card executives, the logic behind universal default is that the bank is not being unreasonable in raising rates when it has reason to believe that the
risk of being repaid by the customer has increased. [Note: Credit card banks can now easily track your everyday financial activities and monitor your
credit score -- see below.]
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