Consumer credit laws are being created in many states that will force debt collection agencies to prove that the debt they purchased for pennies on the dollar exists and the consumer legitimately owes the money.
With people facing foreclosures, credit card delinquencies and utility shutoffs, the last thing they need is debt collectors harassing them day and night.
Minneapolis-based NAF has mediated the vast majority of these claims. But both NAF and another arbitrator have stopped hearing arbitrations of consumer-debt cases, and major banks are dropping arbitration requirements.
Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.
The woman is basically saying I am going to penalize you, Bank of America for raising my interest rate again. But is she really making things more difficult for Bank of America, or for herself in the long term?
