Credit Card Reform
As chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I have focused on the unfair and abusive practices of the credit card industry, including a 2007 hearing in which consumers from Michigan and elsewhere outlined how deceptive practices had cost them thousands of dollars. The hearing helped bring an end to the practices of many card issuers, such as no-notice interest rate increases. And in 2009, President Obama signed the Credit CARD Act, which includes a number of provisions from legislation that I introduced in 2008. They include provisions to prohibit retroactive interest rate hikes; require banks to restore a lower interest rate for people who pay late but then make six months of on-time payments; prohibit interest charges for debt that is paid on time; and end abusive, duplicative penalties.
I continue to monitor the industry’s compliance with these new rules and the performance of federal regulators in enforcing them.
Senator Levin’s Record on Credit Card Reform
- Nov. 8, 2011 -- Levin cosponsors bill to strengthen credit card protections
Sen. Levin joins Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and six others to introduce legislation that would restore the ability of states to protect consumers from exorbitant interest rates.
- Dec. 8, 2009 - Sen. Levin fights for rules to end deceptive credit report ads
Sen. Levin sends a letter to the Federal Trade Commission in support of strong implementation of legislation he helped author that would rein in deceptive advertising by credit report issuers. The measure, part of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, is designed to make clear to consumers, so they are not misled, that commercial credit report services are separate from the free annual credit report consumers are entitled to by federal law.
- May 22, 2009 - New credit card law includes Levin provisions
President Obama signs the Credit CARD Act of 2009, offering many new protections for credit card consumers. The bill includes language from the Stop Unfair Practices in Credit Cards Act, which Sen. Levin wrote, and builds on findings from Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probes into abusive credit card practices.
- Dec. 4, 2007 - Hearing sheds light on credit card rates
Sen. Levin chairs a Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on unfair credit card interest rate increases.
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