Great News! House Approves Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights yesterday by a vote of 312 to 112. It’s the first time any legislation restricting abusive credit card lending practices has gotten through the House or Senate.

I big "Thank you!" to everyone who took the time to call or write their legislators over the last year in response to pleas from the team here on CreditBloggers.com. I’m 60-years-young today, and I can’t think of a better birthday present … or can I?

“Amidst the financial turmoil on Wall Street … the House took steps to help those on Main Street,” says U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, one of the bill’s co-sponsors in the House. “This historic legislation will help working families who face their own credit crunch as a result of what the Federal Reserve itself calls ‘unfair,’ ‘deceptive,’ and ‘anti-competitive’ credit card practices.”

It’s the Senate’s Turn
Maloney is urging Senators to recognize the strong grassroots support for reform, “as evidenced by the margin of victory for this bill today -- and by the 56,000 public comments filed to the credit card rules proposed by the Federal Reserve.”

Taking it one step further, Consumers Union is calling on the Senate to include the reforms as part of the Wall Street bailout package, pointing to the overwhelming vote in favor of the bill in the House. Sure sounds like a good idea to me! The least they can do is add some provisions to get rid of retroactive and "any-time, any reason" interest rate hikes as well as “gotcha” late fees – and to prevent issuers from applying payments only to the lowest interest rate balance.

“Millions of Americans are drowning in debt because of unfair and deceptive credit card lending practices,” says Pamela Banks of Consumers Union. “This bill restores some basic fairness to the market and will help ensure that consumers will be able to better manage their finances in these tough economic times. As Congress shapes a bailout of the financial sector, it should include these credit card protections so consumers won’t continue to be gouged by these unfair lending practices.”

I agree and am going to write my Senators right now, before I goof off for the rest of the day to celebrate my birthday. I ask each of you to please do likewise -- to write your legislators, that is! Consumers Union makes it so easy. All you have to do is click here. Just think, you’ll be performing an important civic duty and giving a terrific birthday present to this grandma of nine, who wants something positive to come out of the Wall Street bailout, not just another huge bill for future generations.

Nancy Castleman – Co-author of "Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life" and founder of Good Advice Press. Nancy has spent the last 24 years teaching people how to get out of debt, save money, and live better on less. She writes on all these subjects for CreditBloggers.com.