Comments on: My Credit Card Raised My Interest Rate! Here’s What to Do

By: Brian H

Brian H — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:42:31 +0000

Capital One raised my interest rate from 12.9% to 22.9% after 3 years and i didnt recive notice let me know before hand. if this happend to you my attorney is on it and we are forming a class action lawsuit send me an email with your contact info and i’ll have my attorney contact you by phone put capital one in the subject line my email is tentop34@aol.com

By: Janie S.

Janie S. — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:39:42 +0000

Can someone PLEASE clarify something, I’ve read two contradictory things about this and I’m very concerned…

I have been diligently paying down my credit card balances, and never missed a payment in all the years I’ve had credit, but some of my card balances are still uncomfortably high on VARIABLE interest rate cards.

I have asked my creditors if I could convert them to fixed rates, but they were unwilling to do this and implied that my EXISTING balances (I have not charged anything in two years now) will be subject to all prime rate increases. However, I have also read that the 2010 Credit Protection changes ensure that EXISTING balances can not incur an increase in APRs.

So which is correct?

And is OPTING OUT still an option to avoid paying higher rates on large balances.

Please list your sources via links so I can save this very important information.

Thanks very much!!

By: laura Cervantes

laura Cervantes — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:13:11 +0000

Linda, did you get an answer to your question, this also happened to me and had not choice but to stop paying and now I am in colections. Please forward me any response you gotten to your question.

Thanks!

Laura

By: Gerald

Gerald — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:28:57 +0000

Melissa, they’ll sue you.
But, don’t fret, as in the end you will save alot of money. If you value your credit score, disregard my post. My experience reduced my fico by 70 points so following me does have negative consequences.

If, and this is a big IF. If you dont need credit for the next 18 to 24 months, simply stop paying Citi.
They’ll call you repeatedly, they’ll harass you, but thats all they can do initially. Between 90 days and 120 days after refusing to pay, you’ll be a “chargeoff”, and debt sold or handled by a collection agency or low life bottom of the barrel washed up collection lawyer.

They’ll call you, and they’ll send threatening mail. DO NOT ignore the certified mail, answer it. Better yet, at that point, hire a lawyer to handle citi and/or the collection lawyer scumbag. ALWAYS remember, Citi received 45 billion in aid from the taxpayers, PLUS a stunning 5 years of time to get back on course. Their thanks to the country? Gouge us all with high interest!!!! THEY DESERVE this melissa, they are crooks, theives, looters.

Settle the debt with the collection lawyer. They’ll accept between 35% to 50% of the balance as a settlement. BE CAREFUL HERE. They will want that 35% to 50% to settle in one lump sum. If you feel that you cannot raise that cash before say 4 to 6 months from now, DO NOT do this Melissa.

Courts ALWAYS side with big banks, and, there is not anything REMOTELY close to fair in civil matters when you are fighting a bank. Banks OWN the system, dont be naive.

if you cannot raise enough money to settle at the reduced 35% to 50% of the balance, the collection scumbag lawyer and the scumbag court will make your life miserable. You lose, and the collector has almost unlimited power.

THe lawyer for citi will garnish your checking account or savings accounts, if that fails as in you dont keep money in a bank, they’ll garnish your wages.

Stakes are very high in a game loike this Melissa. YOU WIN easily if you can settle this for 35% of the balance, moneywise, its worth it. If you CANNOT settle with a lumpsum, your life becomes hell. Always understand; A collection lawyer is bitter, unsuccessful, and perpetually depressed their career led to one of the worst law fields in existence. A lawyer doesnt attend college to become a collection lawyer. They end up in collections because they failed. They can and do take out their failure in LIFE on people like you.

Dont bother negotiating a lower interest with Citi, Chase, or Bank of America. We the “people” bailed them out, and they raised interest rates as a “thank you”.

Character is defined by how one or how a business behaves in the bad times. I think everyone can agree, banks have NO CHARACTER.

At some point Melissa, the PEOPLE will get revenge. We need only to take our deposits to small banks or credit unions. We can ALL close these banks in less than a year if we would ALL just remove our deposits from tarp banks. No cursing, no violence, no anger, just professionally move our assets to small banks and leave our liabilities with the big banks. Its SO SIMPLE and effective.

My dream?
Jamie Dimon, Vikram Pandit, Moynihan, all CEO’s of the major banks behind bars for LOOTING. But, that wont happen so our only real solution is STOP depositing money in their proven corrupt/greedy firms.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren. Our country a BETTER place in the future without Chase, BAC, Citi, etc.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:16:26 +0000

Did you have a citi card? Is that how you know that they offer you the pay off of 41%? I have one and the interest is crazy high and I can’t keep paying but I’m scared that they will try to sue me or something

By: Savings Rates Best

Savings Rates Best — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:09:16 +0000

Keep your appliances clean and well maintained. Regular cleaning and maintenance keeps your appliances in top shape, hence, it will perform better and consumes lesser energy. Energy saved is money saved.

By: Linda Montgoemry

Linda Montgoemry — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:36:11 +0000

What can I do if I missed the notification (probably thrown out with junk mail). My rate went from 9.9 to 24.9%. I can’t make 400/mo payment with half of that being interest! I’m too old. I will die before I get it paid . I don’t have the option of transferring to another card either.

By: gerald

gerald — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:48:43 +0000

Citi is insane. Total chaos.
If you dont mind trashing your fico score for a year or so, stop paying citi or chase bank. after you go 62 days late, they’ll offer you a payoff of 41% of the balance. CHase a bit more greedy, Jamie Dimon (CEO of Chase and a HUGE LOYAL OBAMA FAN) is more strict at offering only 65% payoff of balance. One other downside to a trashed fico score is that they may or may not 1099 you for “earnings” on the balance reduction in next years tax season. But, if you charged home improvement goods, education, or moving expenses, you can equalize that. No moral hazard at this point, the taxpayers bailed them all out, banks themselves set a terrible example by saddling the govt with their bad debts. Many also walked away from multi million/billion dollar commitments. Not paying your citi or chase accounts at least gets you some of the bailout/stimulus money back into your families nest egg. You’re not stealing, you and your children are paying for the bailouts, stimulus over the next 30 years and then some. Higher taxes, inflation, trust the economists, you are all paying for the fraud committed by citi, fifth third bank, chase, bank of america. Most importantly, you the people are loaning banks money (via the Fed treasury) which belongs to you, at a current .75% rate. Some of you are happy with a 9% credit card rate, dont be. they are making 1000% margins on us all. How significant is bank greed? using your money, at their profit margins, if a Ford or a Chrysler for instance had that greed available to them, a Ford F150 pickup truck would cost 150k dollars, and thats not for the 4 X 4 model. 1000% profit margins are hidden by the banks as they pay their execs onerous salaries and conceal real margin activity. Ever notice how every employee at a bank is a VP title except for tellers? Granted, most are associate vp’s, or assistant vp’s, but they certainly diluted the value and perception of any industry sector well deserving employee who actually earned a VP title.
Good Luck with Citi, even Wall Street largely views Citi as a three ring circus. In my experience with Citi, they define incompetence, chaos, and demonstrate corporate bipolar disorder. One day Vikram Pandit (Citi CEO)boasts consumer foreclosure assistance, next day Citi stitches up American families with 29.9 % interest rates, then a moratoriam on debt, then back to 29.9% rates. A real zoo over there at Citi. Maybe Pfizer or Merck drugs will get FDA approval on a bank prescription pill that fixes greed, bipolar behavior, fraud, onerous fees, and while a huge stretch, maybe this same new pill will instill main street values once again into our now corrupt banking system. The good news? Jamie Dimon, Vikram Pandit, all the welfare banks we assist made billions and billions trading stocks, with our taxpayer dollars, thanks to the stock market run up last 12 months. Oh wait, I thought speculating caused the bailouts in the first place, whewwww, these crazy loco insane bankers just never learn. I wonder how Jamie Dimon, Vikram Pandit, Ken Lewis, I wonder if we could have a citizens vote to strip those crooks of their status as American citizens would fare? I vote to jail them, but they own our politicians for the moment so that wont happen. But, wouldnt it be nice if we could as a “people” label them as unamerican, as harmful to our society, as too risky to trust (similar to child sexual predators who are publicly labeled). Wow, if we could label them as who they actually are, the damage they actually caused, our children and grandchildren will truly have a shot at some reasonable future in the USA. Future bankers wouldnt risk committing the same atrocities as Dimon, Pandit, Fuld, etc if they knew we as a people would remove them of their citizenship. I can fantasize.

By: gerald

gerald — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:26:00 +0000

Mark, they’re not criminals, they’re brilliant self printing atm machines for themselves.
WE THE PEOPLE are idiots, we not only allow the behavior from banks, we BLESS them by depositing our payroll checks, savings, and that support for the banks makes them richer and richer. TARP welfare bailed out banks raised everyones interest rates, lowered credit limits, took huge bonuses in 2009 and we actually found a way to increased our deposit base with those same banks by an additional “on average” 20%. If all of us would leave our LOANS at the tarp banks, and MOVE our deposits and savings to a credit union or community bank, those TARP banks would panic and the FDIC couldnt save them this time around. But, this is the new “America”, we punish these big bad banks by saying meany weeny things on a benign forum or two. Ewwww, we’re so effective, that’ll teach those banks a thing or two. trust me, BANK CEO’s are LAUGHING OUT LOUD.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:12:07 +0000

Capital One CC holder for around 10 yrs. Never late, always good credit. Rate jumped from 8.9% “fixed” to 15.9% I can understand the min payment hikes, but not coupled with these huge interest rate hikes.
This is the thanks we get as tax payers for bailing them out – Meanwhile, absurd bonuses continue. Talk about stickin it to the little guy – Criminal!