Latefee Avoidance

Websites and Website Pages of Interest

I found the following websites and website pages of interest in my search for information to include in this website:

• Center for Responsible Lending, a major resource for anyone looking into late-fee abuses.   The website states that credit card companies are engaged in the "marketing of cards that contain hidden transfer charges, exorbitant late fees and exploding interest rates. In effect, the credit card industry has identified its ideal customers as those who no longer pay off their balances, but instead grow increasingly indebted to their creditors by making inadequate minimum monthly payments."
• November, 2005 Consumer Reports Article entitled "Credit Cards - They Really Are Out to Get You"

  The article stated in part:

  Getting trapped in the jaws of credit-card debt has become alarmingly easy. Thanks to cozy relationships that have developed over the years among lawmakers, federal regulators, and credit-card issuers, few consumer protections are left. There have been no limits on interest rates for years, so a temptingly low 1.9 percent APR can morph into double-digit territory at the whim of the credit-card company. Or it can climb beyond 30 percent when a consumer does nothing worse than sign up for a new card, inquire about a car loan, or make a single late payment to any creditor.

  As for fees, anything goes. You can receive a $39 spanking for going over the limit, paying late, or paying less than the minimum, for balance transfers and cash advances, and foreign currency transactions. Credit cards have turned into “nothing less than wallet-sized predatory loans,” observed Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.,during a congressional hearing earlier this year.

  * * *

  In 2003 those deterrents, along with fees for cash advances, exceeded the after-tax profits of the entire credit-card industry just two years earlier. Card issuers have been experiencing record profits since 2000 and saw them top $30 billion in 2004. A wave of mergers has ensued, consolidating power in the hands of a few players who set take-it or leave-it terms for consumers. Prior to 1978 the top 50 issuers represented 50 percent of the credit-card market, but by mid-2005 only five companies, American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and MBNA, controlled 65 percent of the market.

• The New York Sun Article Entitled "Study: Stores' Credit Cards Charge Up to Twice Interest of Bank Cards". The article started off by saying:

  Credit cards issued by retail stores come with interest rates of up to twice as much as bank-issued cards, according to a study of 23 New York retailers. Senator Schumer, who released the study yesterday, said he would call upon the Federal Trade Commission to take action as soon as possible.

• 2/28/05 Motley Fool Article Entitled "$24 Billion to Card Companies....For What?.

• Useful 2001 Analysis of Credit Card Traps by State Public Interest Research Groups Entitled "A Roadmap to Avoiding Credit Card Hazards"

• Attorney Person's Town Attorney General Website . If your town or village had a "Town Attorney General", he/she would be interested in protecting you and the other town residents from being fleeced by these outrageous costs of obtaining credit.

• Attorney Person's Website for His 15 Campaign Issues for Mayoral/Council Election Campaigns in the Nation's 18,500 Towns and Villages. One of the issues concerns the fraudulent rebate practices of many of the nation's consumer-products manufacturers and many of the nation's major retailers.
  Prepared by attorney Carl E. Person. For his c.v. or resume, click on Carl E. Person C.V.

  If you have any questions, please call Carl Person at 212-307-4444, fax him at 212-307-0247, or email him at carlpers@ix.netcom.com

  Copyright © 2006 by Carl E. Person