Consumer Law

Congress Sends Credit Card Bill to President

By Jeff Sovern

The Times has the story here.

I'm sure that in the days to come we'll see blog coverage of the bill, and of course there's already been quite a bit of news and blog coverage.  Here's one thought: one apparent goal of the bill is to make credit card contracts more accessible. To that end, the bill requires credit card companies to post their contracts on the web.  That may prove to be a treasure trove for academics but I wonder how helpful it will be to consumers; will consumers read through competing credit card contracts looking for the best terms?  I'm skeptical but would love to be proved wrong.  I've seen accounts in the press about how the bill will require plain English for contracts (e.g., see the editorial in today's Times here), but all I can see in the bill that serves that purpose is the usual requirement that disclosures be "clear and conspicuous," which has been in the Truth in Lending Act for decades.  Am I missing something?

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).