Legal Rights With Credit Card Nonpayment
Credit card users who don't pay their bills have rights. Several laws regarding credit cards limit what creditors can do to collect the unpaid debts.
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Contact Times
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Creditors will often attempt to collect the late payment by making numerous phone calls. Though they are allowed to do this, they cannot call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Contact Limits
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Creditors, or any agents they hire on their behalf, must comply with a consumer's request to cease communications. Though creditors must stop communications as requested, they are entitled to file a lawsuit to recover the unpaid credit card debt.
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Collections
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Creditors have a limited time in which they can file a lawsuit to recover credit card debt. This time limit, referred to as the statute of limitations, varies by state, and is usually between two and 10 years.
Fee Increases
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Late payments can cause a rise in interest rates on credit cards, but only if certain conditions are met. The payment must be more than 60 days late, and the card issuer must notify the holder in writing at least 45 days before the increase takes place, according to the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.
Judgments
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If a creditor sues a card holder and wins a judgment in court, the creditor is limited by the statute of limitations on judgments. These also vary by state, with limits ranging from three to 20 years.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Jason Rogers
