CreditFBi

Credit card issuers do not have to warn you that they are closing your account. If your credit card account’s been closed, here’s a few things you can do.

• Contact the credit card company. It might review your account and decide to keep you.
• Check your credit report regularly from the three major credit bureaus to make sure no incorrect information is posted that would cause a card issuer to drop you..
• Shop for a new card from one of the thousands of credit unions and small community banks..
• Carry cash or more than one credit card, in case your card is suddenly denied.

Lately some finance companies have been canceling credit card accounts without warning the cardholder. Such cancellations, being felt by consumers in Maryland and across the country, highlight a little-known gap in federal laws governing credit cards. Though Congress has toughened disclosure rules for credit card companies – by requiring 45 days’ notice for making significant changes in interest rates or other terms – canceling cards without warning is still allowed.

“Apparently, the closure of a card is not considered a material change in the terms,” said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at Credit.com. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this with a straight face.” Canceling cards and cutting credit limits without notice has been a practice of long standing. Card issuers say that if they warned consumers about a looming cancellation, customers would run up their balances before they lost credit and card issuers would be on the hook for even more money. Read the rest of this entry →