Credit Card Reform Act of 2008

A bill to protect consumers, and especially young consumers, from skyrocketing credit card debt, unfair credit card practices, and deceptive credit offers.

3/12/2008--Introduced.
Credit Card Reform Act of 2008 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to permit a consumer reporting agency to furnish a consumer report in connection with any credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer only if the report indicates that the consumer is age 21 or older. Allows 18-year olds to elect to have their name and address included in any agency list. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit a credit card issuer from changing the terms of a credit card under an open end consumer credit plan:
(1) before the scheduled contract expiration or renewal date; and
(2) until the issuer has published all contract changes in any mandatory disclosures. Establishes a cardholder right to repay all existing balances on a terminated or expired credit card account under the terms of the account in effect before the termination or expiration. Imposes limits upon increases of interest rates and finance charges on a credit card account before its scheduled renewal date. Permits an increase in the annual percentage rate (APR) as a penalty only for specific, material contract violations of a consumer directly related to the account that are specified in the contract as grounds for an increase. Bans retroactive rate increases.
Prohibits a credit card issuer from imposing adverse consequences for late payment if the cardholder's payment is postmarked or initiated by electronic funds transfer on or before the required postmark date. Requires a credit card issuer to verify, when the account is opened or the credit limit increased, that the consumer will be able to make the scheduled payments, based on a consideration of current and expected income, current obligations, and employment status. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to redefine "firm offer of credit or insurance" to require the offer to specify all material terms, including APR, fees, and the applicable amount of credit or credit limit.


... morehide bill summary

Sponsor

• Sen. Robert Menéndez [D, NJ]
• and 2 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
  • Sen. Jim Webb [D, VA]
  close

Committees

• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.2753

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget

	OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
March 12, 2008

Show All Actions (2 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Introduced on Mar 12, 2008.
• Mar 12, 2008: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

---

Related Issue Areas:

• Finance
• Business
• Children
• Consumer credit
• 7 more
• Consumer education
• Consumers
• Contracts
• Credit bureaus
• Credit cards
• Interest rates
• Youth

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking S.2753 (4) are also tracking:

Show More User Statistics... Hide User Statistics

In the News

We are not currently finding any news articles on this topic using our daily automated search of Google News. However, if you know of a relevant news article to display here, OpenCongress site editors have the ability to add it manually. Simply e-mail us the web address of this page and the web address of your suggested news article: We'll post relevant links as quickly as possible. Also, if this topic is important to you, you could write a letter to the editor -- if a news article refers this specific topic by name, a link to that news article is likely to appear here soon.

Information made available by:

Blog Coverage

December 30, 2008 S.2753 Credit Card Reform Act..good or bad for consumers ...

S. 2753–110th Congress (2008): Credit Card Reform Act of 2008, GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation) (accessed Dec 30, 2008). 03/12/2008–Introduced. ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Brittanyflowers Weblog

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

December 27, 2008 Ponder's News: Issue: Credit Card Reform

This is where you will find information on the Credit Card Reform Act (S. 2753): SEN. MENENDEZ URGES CREDIT CARD COMPANIES TO ADOPT NEW CREDIT CARD REGULATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE ================= ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Ponder's News

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

November 24, 2008 Credit Card Reform Stuck On Capitol Hill | Debt City

The bill has also been introduced in the Senate as S. 2753, the Credit Card Reform Act of 2008, by Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-NJ). So far, it’s been a no-go in the Senate but if not in the lame duck session, then expect the bill to be ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Debt City

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

9 more posts...
See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: