Cross Country Bank is fined $9 million for abusive credit cards

Cross Country Bank (now know as Applied Card Bank) was ordered by the courts to pay $9 million in penalties and restitutions for taking advantage of borrowers with poor credit. Cross Country Bank regularly marketed $2,500 limit credit cards directly to borrowers with credit problems. But when borrowers opened their accounts, their credit limits were only $400 and most of this limit was taken up with Cross Country Bank fees.

Cross Country's debt collector, Applied Card Systems, then tormented delinquent customers with abusive collection practices that included rude and sometimes obscene language, repeated and disruptive phone calls, and improper threats, Spitzer's office said.

In 2004, the bank was convicted of fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices by the New York Supreme Court. Other states, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Washington and Florida have also filed similar suits against the company. What does this mean to you? If you live in New York and had a Cross Country credit card, you could see some restitution money coming your way.  To the rest of us, this verdict is a signal that consumer complaints about deceptive credit card practices are being heard.