The new credit card rules have been enforced with the aim to relieve consumers from the stress of dealing with sudden rise in interest rates, penalty charges and unscrupulous billing practices of credit card issuers. The reformed rules will help the consumers to manage their credit card bills comfortably and avoid going into default on their accounts. Some of them have already come into effect and close to providing desired results.

Credit card rules that have been implemented

The Federal Reserve Board, the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of Thrift Supervision have voted on the Credit Reform Bill. President Obama has signed the Bill transforming it into Credit Card Act and some of its provisions have already come into effect since 20th of August. There are various reformative measures incorporated in the Credit Card Act which will take effect at different times in 2009. Portions of the Credit Card Act, which was slated for a February 2010 implementation, might get implemented in December, 2009. The Members of the House of Financial Services Committee proposed these to be implemented faster since the major credit card companies are increasing the APR.

• Arbitrary increase in interest rate is stopped

From now on credit card companies have to follow certain restrictions on arbitrary increase in interest rates on the existing balances of the card holders. The banks have to wait for 60 days from the date of last payment before they can charge any kind of late penalty, in case the debtor is unable to pay the debt on time. The late penalty in the form of increased rate of interest could only be charged after the completion of 60 days. Hence, this increases the time period for the debtors to arrange for the minimum payment to be made on a credit card debt.

• 45 days notice before changing contract terms

The credit card (cc) companies have to give the card holders a notice 45 days ahead of making any kind of changes to the existing contract. The cc companies must also mail the bills 21 days prior to the due date of payment. Previously, the creditors were required to send a notice of alteration to the debtors 30 days ahead of making the changes and mail the bills 14 days prior to the due date. But after the implementation of the new law, this time period has increased making it beneficial to the card holders.

• Consumers have the right to accept or reject changes

The consumers will have the right to accept or reject the changes in the contract made by the creditor. However, if they reject it, they must pay the debt amount with the same rate of interest within 5 years and the minimum payment might increase. So, on one hand the debtors have the right to take decisions on how to repay the debt, while on the other hand this might end up in increasing the minimum payment for them. Moreover, the new rule states that the minimum balance cannot be increased more than 50%. Now if the time frame is not sufficient for the debtor to repay the amount, then it will depend on the creditor to increase the time frame. Hence, before canceling any changes you should keep in mind this condition associated to the rule.

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Have you got flooded with unwanted credit cards? Have you found listings in your credit report about which you are not aware of? Are you finding your bank accounts being accessed by someone else other than you? Then it is high time you must realize that, there is a thief around stealing your identity and using it to his benefits. The term ‘identity theft’ actually refers to fraud. It means that a person is assuming someone else’s identity to derive monetary and other benefits. It is considered a criminal offence all around the world.

How do you know that your id has been stolen?

There are different instances which indicate towards id theft. They are:

• Listing debts which you do not owe - You have pulled out a credit report and you find that there are debt listings made against your name. The listings are of those debts, which you have never owed. This is a typical instance of identity theft.

• Receive bills for purchases not made- You may receive bills for purchases you have never made. In such an event you know that your identity has been stolen.

• New accounts in your name- It has been found many times that the identity thief has opened a new account using your personal information.

• Loan denied or call received from CA- You may also be denied a loan, or you might receive a call from a collection agency asking to repay the debt. Whenever you find such things happening with you, you know that you are a victim of identity theft.

It is not difficult to take out loans, open new bank accounts, access existing bank accounts, purchase cars, get insurance and perform many other activities with your social security number, date of birth and your name. Hence, you must be extremely careful while handling things which might contain all these personal information. Your creditworthiness depends on your credit report and score, which get badly affected by such instances. So be aware of each and every activity related to your finance.

What to do after you become a victim of identity theft?

Whenever you find out that you have become a victim of identity theft, you must take certain measures as soon as possible. The measures are:

Put a fraud alert

The first thing you need to do after you realize your identity has been stolen, is to place a fraud alert on your credit report. Placing a fraud alert on your credit report will stop further activities on the part of the thief. You need to call any one of the credit reporting agencies on their toll free fraud number (TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289) and ask them to put a fraud alert.

After putting a fraud alert on your report, you are entitled to get free credit reports from the bureaus. Check all the information in it to find out any kind of inaccurate details. As soon as you find any discrepancy report it to the bureau. You must remember to use an identity theft report along with a letter explaining the reason of dispute.
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Do you have a number of delinquent debt accounts? Are you bothered by the phone calls of the collections agencies day-in and day-out? Then debt consolidation is the just the remedy to all your problems. Consolidation can save you from being trapped into debt cycle (relative pronoun). Debt consolidation can help you to be debt free faster than any other means.

What is debt consolidation?

A debt consolidation program or a bill consolidation program can help you when you have several debt accounts. It allows you to consolidate your debts into a single one so that you can make a single monthly payment realizing your dream of leading a debt free life quickly. With the help of debt consolidation programs you can not only reduce your interest rates, but also eliminate any extra charges or late fees pertaining to your credit account.

What happens in a consolidation program?

When you opt for bill consolidation, you will have to undergo debt counseling. A debt counselor will evaluate your financial situation and guide you through the entire process. He will calculate your expenditure and income and prepare a repayment plan for you. Once, you enroll in a debt consolidation program, the counselor will negotiate with your creditors on your behalf. After the consultant strikes a deal with the creditors, you will have to pay a fixed amount to the company every month. The company will communicate with all the creditors and you do not have to worry about dealing with them. In the meantime, if there are any changes in your financial situation, you have to inform it to the consultant so that he can inform it to the creditor and work out a convenient payment plan for you. For instance, has increased, the monthly payment amount will be calculated based on that new figure. In such a case your monthly payments will increase helping you to pay off your debts faster.
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