Debt stress? More than 8,000 consumers send comments to the Federal Reserve

A few months ago, I received a finance charge on a credit card that had been paid in full by, sadly, another credit card. I called CitiBank, they said the charges would be cleared. Two months later, after Citibank didn’t fix their error, I had accrued late fees for charges that should have never appeared in the first place, my interest rate skyrocketed, and my near-perfect credit score was tarnished. Apparently, I am not alone.

Now, more than 8,200 consumers have told their story of deceptive credit card practices to the Federal Reserve or commented on proposed new rule "Regulation AA-Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices." Among other proposals in the law, one would prohibit banks from increasing the interest rate on a pre-existing credit card balance.

The Fed is taking comments and personal tales about credit-card practices until August, 4. So far, there are more than 441 pages of letters, including one from Jeffrey Malakowsky in St. James, Minn. He says Bank Of American changed its mailing address three times in six months. And since Bank of America wasn’t taking online payments at the time, his bank would mail payments directly to Bank of America, only to have the payment returned and Malakowsky hit with late fees and higher interest rates. Malakowsky is among a large group of Minnesotans who share similar stories or have written in to the Federal Reserve to pledge their support for Regulation AA.

You can learn more about the new proposals and submit a comment here.