Fed Launches Credit Card Education Campaign
As part of an effort to encourage consumer awareness about selecting and using credit card products, the Federal Reserve Board is engaging in a public information campaign designed to educate consumers about the appropriate use of credit cards. The Fed has launched a series of public service announcements, aimed at consumers, to be aired at movie theaters during the 2009 holiday season. The Fed has also launched a website with “Resources and Tools” to assist consumers to choose and to manage credit card accounts, and to inform consumers about the importance of credit ratings.
The Fed’s materials also include a credit card repayment calculator and a Consumer Handbook for Credit Protection Laws, summarizing the credit application process, consumer credit ratings, and consumer rights related to credit card products.
Fed Approves Mortgage Sale Disclosure Rule
On November 16, 2009, the Federal Reserve Board approved an interim final rule amending Regulation Z, 12 CFR 226, establishing a new requirement for notifying consumers of the sale or transfer of their mortgage loans. Specifically, the rule amends Section 131(g) of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), to implement Section 404(a) of the 2009 Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, and requires a purchaser or assignee that acquires a mortgage loan to provide the required disclosures to the consumer in writing no later than 30 days after the date on which the loan is sold or otherwise transferred or assigned. The new disclosure requirements apply whether the acquisition occurs as a result of a purchase or other transfer or assignment, but a person is covered by the rule only if the person acquires legal title to the debt obligation.
Continue Reading...House Approves Accleration of CARD Act Effective Date
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted 331-92 to pass H.R. 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009, which would accelerate the effective date of the Credit CARD Act of 2009.
The provisions of the Credit CARD Act become effective in three stages: the first provisions took effect in August 2009; the remaining provisions take effect in February 2010 and August 2010. The Expedited CARD Act would make all provisions effective immediately on enactment, with the exception of small card issuers with fewer than 2 million cards and gift cards, which would be subject to the February 2010 effective date. The Expedited CARD Act also permits card issuers that adopt a moratorium on interest rate increases on current balances and new balances incurred before February 22, 2010, to be exempt from the earlier effective date for a provision that requires an issuer to apply customer payments to the highest rate balance.
