Maloney Introduces Credit Card Bill Of Rights; Lending Institutions Smirk

Chris Walters — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:05:48 EST

The Credit Card Bill Of Rights Act, which was introduced on Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives, would limit interest rate hikes and late fee penalties that credit card companies use to unfairly squeeze profits from customers. The bill is sponsored by House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA).

Among the key provisions of the "Credit Card Bill of Rights Act" are prohibitions on:
Bait-and-switch interest rate and fee hikes for any or no reason at all during the life of the card;
Assessing hidden and unfair interest rate charges by charging interest on balances already paid off;
Unjustifiably maximizing interest charges by requiring consumers to pay off balances with lower interest rates before those with higher rates;
Charging late fees when consumers mail their payments seven days in advance of the due date; and
Applying certain unfair interest rate hikes retroactively to balances incurred under the old rate.

The bill has the support of several consumer advocacy groups, including Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, and the Center for Responsible Lending. The supporters point out, however, that the bill doesn't address some of the industry's worst practices like universal default or over-limit fees for transactions that are approved by the lender.

"Maloney Bill Targets Credit Card Abuses" [Consumer Federation of America]
"Credit card bill of rights?" [SeattlePI]
(Photo: Getty)

JetBlue Defines "Controllable Irregularity" In New "Bill of Rights"

Meg Marco — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:51:06 EST

ATTENTION: No JetBlue coupons for delays caused by labor unrest!

Mark Ashley, friend of the blog and travel expert extraordinaire, is not impressed with JetBlue's new "bill of rights." Here's why:

If problems could be blamed — even in part — on anything uncontrollable, such as the weather, they wouldn't owe you ANYTHING. That has now been codified: "Controllable Irregularity as used in Section 36, means a delay, cancellation or diversion that is not caused by a Force Majeure Event. For the sake of clarity, if in a chain of multiple events, the original irregularity is due to a Force Majeure Event, the cause of the subsequent event(s) reasonably related to the original irregularity shall be deemed an Uncontrollable Irregularity."
So by my reading of this, the passengers who were stuck on the taxiways at JFK for hours last month would have been eligible to receive... NOTHING.

Them's fightin' words, Mark. Here's a link to JetBlue's new Contract of Carriage (PDF) for all of you lawyers and wannabe lawyers to gnaw on for a while. —MEGHANN MARCO

Read the fine print [Upgrade Travel Better]

Consumerist: Bill of Rights

Maloney Introduces Credit Card Bill Of Rights; Lending Institutions Smirk

JetBlue Defines "Controllable Irregularity" In New "Bill of Rights"