Refer to the excellent article at http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/17/news/companies/credit_card_rules/?hpt=P1 to learn about the new CARD laws coming into effect as well as potential traps.
Highlights:
1. Beware of new fees. Read your upcoming letters from your credit card issuers carefully so you understand the new fee structures.
2. Harder to get cards and higher limits. THis is not necessarily a bad thing since higher limits are what often can get people into trouble. Credit scores will become more important, so pay careful attention to yours! There are free sites like http://www.creditkarma.com that show you approximate scores and where you stand among other cardholders.
3. Rates likely to go higher. Good luck finding the 7.9% fixed rates. Virtually all cards are going to variable rates and average rates are pushing 12-13%.
This is a great time to become less dependent on your cards if possible. Small changes to your spending habits can lead to big saving over the long-run!
Pete Saiger
Debt Negotiation Services
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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