Thursday, December 7, 2017

What Does the Law Require?

I cannot believe it has been more than 8 years since I originally penned this article. Still apropos especially given the current administration gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and appointing a new Director who feels the CFPB is unnecessary and burdensome to Wall Street.
Many questions to attorneys ask, "What is required by Law" in a given situation.
Sometimes the Law requires less than our own Morality might believe is due. Other times, the Law may require significantly More than we truly believe is due and oweing.

One example can be found in Credit Card Interest Rates. We borrow money and expect to pay interest until the debt is extinguished. What we do not expect is that our creditor, be it Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress or Discover, will work to collect every dollar possible under the contract.

We all know and expect we will owe interest, perhaps even cash advance fees on credit cards. What we do not expect is for a Credit Card Company to lower the "Available Credit" to a point below our current "Outstanding Balance." When Overlimit fees apply, Minimum Payments go Up! If the Minimum Payment is not made we expect to pay a penalty; however, when the Lowered Available Credit causes an Overbalance condition with additional fees, and the Required Minimum Payment is increased by the Total Amount Over Limit, what was once a $150 or $250 payment is suddenly and UNEXPECTEDLY a Minimum Payment Due of $765 or worse. Additionally, the $39 overlimit fees along with the increased Interest Rate due to being Overlimit (usually a jump in interest of 10% to 25%) make the Credit Card Company a SIGNIFICANT REVENUE SOURCE. Why do you think the credit companies extend credit and solicit new credit even when people are making minimum payments?

All this as an example of What Does the Law Require. A new law gives consumers significantly more protection from the "legal" overreaching by credit companies. You can get more information at the following websites:
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/obama-signs-credit-card-law-1282.php
 
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/20/new-credit-card-laws/

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-act-takes-effect-1282.php

The 8 Major Benefits of the new Law can be found here: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/8-major-benefits-of-new-credit-card-law-1.aspx

The real key is to Know What the Law Requires, and don't allow Fear or Intimidation to force you to do what the Law does not or cannot require.
 
To answer your questions, contact an attorney at our website: aubreylaw.com or FloridaGuardianAttorney.com

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