January 22,2009
-
It's Just Not Fair!, Pt.2
– Hey, you can't do that...So, how do you substantiate if your credit card case is unfair? Here are the guidelines as determined by the FDIC. ‘Unfair' treatment is when three of these conditions apply:
1) Does or will this action likely cause the credit card holder substantial monetary harm or injury? ‘Substantial' is the key word here. Although the direct injury to you may not justify court action, there is safety in numbers. So, even if an action doesn't cause ‘substantial' harm to a single credit card holder, if a large group is affected (class action) there will be a much greater incentive for the courts to get involved.
2) Is there an easy and ‘reasonabe' way for credit card consumers to avoid this injury? ‘Things just happen', as the saying goes. However, there are times when they happen more frequently and severely because of increased risk. If we become reckless, it's usually our own fault. But if someone else's recklessness causes our risk to increase, the fault may be lodged against that other party, say, a credit card lender lowering our credit limit without giving sufficient warning to us.
3) Was the injury fairly compensated for in some other way? A fair question is "Did you get what you paid for?" Say you're paying a 17.9% APR on a $10,000 loan that you won't be able to pay off for a year. So, you roll it over into a new credit card account that offers 0% interest for one full year. Even though the 3% Balance Transfer fee is printed in bold, right under to you nose, you don't bother to read it. Next statement rolls around and you're aghast at the new charge of $333 for the fee and are upset because you didn't want to pay anything but didn't bother to ask.Were you to have lost overall, you might have a case but, because you did appreciate the escape from the 17.9% APR, you still came out ahead. If you feel you were also deceived...well, that's the topic covered in the next article.