http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com Examining current credit card debt laws and proposed credit card reforms. Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:49:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The New York Times reported that credit card offers sent via the mail in the second quarter of 2008 are down about 14 percent over the second quarter of 2007.  Does this mean that we'll be free from their junk mail in our mailbox anytime soon?  That seems unlikely.  They ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/09/credit-card-offer-mailings-down/ Recently released data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court system showed that personal bankruptcy filings in the United States for the 12 month period ending June 30, 2008, were up 28 percent to 934,009. Tennessee had the highest bankruptcy filing rate per capita, Michigan had the highest per capita rate of ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/bankruptcy-filings-rocket-up-28-percent/ Forbes declared Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the city in the United States with the most delinquent credit cards in its recent article, The Debt Capitals of America.  The delinquency rate of 2.28 percent in Pine Bluff is nearly double the national average of credit card delinquencies of 1.19 percent. One of the ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/pine-bluff-arkansas-declared-credit-card-debt-capital/ Debt collectors in the United States are pretty annoying - but at least they are governed by a set of rules and regulations that put some restraint on their actions (and hopefully their conscience).  If you are in the unfortunate position of receiving phone calls from your creditors, things could ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/what-could-be-worse-than-a-debt-collector-on-the-phone/ The Democratic Convention is slated to begin this week in Denver and I'm already disappointed about Democratic Presidential Nominee Senator Barack Obama's choice for his Vice Presidential Candidate - Senator Joseph (Joe) Biden from Delaware. Delaware is the state of incorporation for most large corporations in the United States because of ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/debt-issue-suffers-setback-on-campaign-trail-with-biden/ I wrote a brief post a couple weeks back about how banks and credit card companies might begin declaring and exercising a right of offset, particularly on its business customers.  If you don't remember the post, it discusses how banks are increasingly seizing funds in the bank account of debtors ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/increased-debt-collection-efforts-and-bankruptcy/ Fair Isaac, the developer of the proprietary model used for the widely accepted FICO credit score, has announced that it has reversed its 2007 FICO 08 decision to remove the effect of an authorized user on a credit card account on the credit score of the authorized user. Its ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/authorized-users-and-credit-score-piggybacking/ MasterCard spent $1.1 million lobbying in the second quarter of 2008 on, among other issues, the new credit card rules proposed by Congress and the Federal Reserve, according to Forbes.  MasterCard's credit card lobbying efforts cost it $720,000 in the first quarter of 2008. http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/mastercard-second-quarter-2008-lobbying-spending/ The United States isn't the only country where consumers are having difficulty with credit card debt and rising expenses.  I previously discussed the problem with credit card debt in Great Britain.  And numerous news stories have focused on the growing problems with credit card debt in other countries in the ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/global-credit-card-debt-struggle-2/ Connecticut is suing three credit rating agencies alleging that the rating agencies gave artificially low rates to municipalities, causing them to pay higher interest rates on bonds.  Read more about it here. I wonder if consumers who believe that they have been unfairly denied access to lower interest rate credit cards ... http://www.creditcarddebtlaw.com/2008/08/lawsuits-against-credit-rating-agencies/