Will Credit Card Act in Feb. have any effect on filing?

[nickifan]

Saw a local TV show about the Credit Card Act that becomes effective in Feb. 2010 (I believe on the 1st.)

The panelists did talk about things like not defaulting on cards while you have money in that corporate entity's bank (they specifically mentiond Chase as notorious for this.)

I don't think that the CCA will affect that particular situation, but I'm wondering if there is any practical application to waiting to file Ch. 7 until after the CCA goes into effect? Any lawyers here who see any good effects for filers? Or a total non-issue regarding BK?

In general, the one good thing the CCA will stop is that hideous "universal default" rate hike by CC companies. (i.e. you are late on one card; all your other cards increase your rate even though you have paid the rest of them on time.)
However...seems to me, from my own letters in the mail, that the damage has already been done by the CC companies before the Feb. deadline, increasing rates, adding fees and dropping credit limits drastically.

[HHM]

First, realize, there are no lawyers on this site in any official capacity.

The coming Credit Card Act is a NON ISSUE in bankruptcy. It merely regulates certain practices of the CC industry.

Regarding taking money out of a deposit account; that is only an issue in the run up to BK. Many people need to stop paying credit cards well in advance of their ability to file BK, thus, if you have a credit card at a bank where you also have a checking or savings account, the bank "might" have the right to raid those deposit accounts once you stop paying. However, once you file bankruptcy, the automatic stay and eventually the discharge, prevent such action.

[JimKutkowski]

The coming Credit Card Act is a NON ISSUE in bankruptcy. It merely regulates certain practices of the CC industry.

This is actually going to push a lot of people into bankruptcy because their credit card limits are going to drop and interest rates will be put at the artificial max set by congress.

The only people this act of Congress will benefit is the irresponsible and maybe the guys who sell payday loans, but that is usually the case as they try to buy votes.

[jribe]

the laws are not stopping the rising interest rates retroactively. So, if you've already had your rates raised (for whatever reason) it doesn't matter. The things happening in FEB will affect those that are not yet late, and haven't filed. It will be a good thing for those people because there will be less fees added to their defauliting balances. I know between the time my rates were jacked up and filing- it added thousands in fees to my case. That's bad if you're close to the 100k threshold.


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