California Consumer Finance Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : O'Rielly & Roche Law Firm : San Francisco, Oakland, Bay Area, Los Angeles

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The "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2008" (H.R. 5244), which would amend Truth in Lending Act to include new restrictions on billing and practices related to credit cards, has cleared the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and will move to the floor of the House. 

As detailed in the summary, the bill's provisions would make significant amendments to existing law, including:

• requiring card issuers to give consumers 45 days notice of any interest rate increases;
• prohibiting card issuers from charging interest on debt that is paid during a grace period (so-called "double cycle billing);
• prohibiting card issuers from increasing rates retroactively on existing balances unrelated to a consumer's card account (so-called "universal default rate increase");
• requiring card issuers to mail billing statements 25 days before the due date and to consider timely any payment received before 5:00 p.m. on the due date;
• restricting terms that may be used in advertisements;
• requiring certain allocations of consumer payments; and
• limiting "over-the-limit" fees card issuers can charge consumers.

These proposed changes follow the Fed's proposed rule changes for credit card and overdraft regulations.