January 27,2009
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More Stories: Deception Exposed, Pt.3
– 'Change of terms' and ‘Opting out'."Change in terms" clauses have become a hot issue between credit card lenders, consumers and the government. With all the economic upheaval, our former system of doing things is now being ‘stress tested'. Expect to see a lot more of this activity as the credit card industry is becoming restricted and channeled by the employment meltdown causing unprecedented charge-offs and new government regulations. The credit card industry now must devise new ways to become profitable again or else, face doom. Responder, ‘oldsklinvestor' is very upset about a new $10 per month ‘guaranteed low rate' fee being assessed in his statements every month. The greatest frustration here, seems to the lack of notification. Everyone knows that changes have to take place now and then but, in fairness, those impacted, should be given ‘reasonable notification' in order to plan for a method of response. This disclosure issue will soon be tested, as new credit card regulations take effect and these practices are prohibited by new federal consumer protections.
Ending the ‘Change of terms' topic and this series, ‘Opting Out' is something everyone should know about. ‘AhappyMan' writes in with some excellent advice on the matter. With minor exceptions, there tend to be some generalities. These are that, credit card holders almost always have the right to reject any new changes to their account. By doing so, however, the credit card lender can (and usually will) take some further action. Typically, the card holder will be denied any further use of the card. The account may be closed immediately but usually it remains open until the card's ‘Expiration Date'. Until then, some lenders allow normal usage of the card, free from any of the terms changes that were refused by opting out. Normal payments will be required using the old rules until the account is paid in full.
Other lenders include a clause that, if any new charges are placed on that credit card, this action will constitute acceptance of the earlier ‘change in terms'. So, be careful. A person ‘opting out' must submit this intent in writing (sometimes the notice provides the instrument that only needs to be signed and returned to the lender. Remember, in some cases, using the card again negates the ‘opt-out' instrument.) Always read all of the fine print in these matters.