By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-08-18 20:26:11 | Word Count: 664
Corporate credit card laws have seen some change, thanks to Obama’s CARD act in 2009. These changes are mostly related to fees that credit card companies can charge, and how much notice must be given in order to make any changes to a credit card holder’s account. For many, this new act, which comes into effect this year, is offering consumers a great opportunity to clean up their credit with the help of services like Credit Elves.
Because your credit history plays a large role in your FICO score, these new corporate credit laws will help consumers maintain reasonable credit balances. Here are some examples of the new laws that are in effect now, or will be coming into play soon:
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* Credit card companies will no longer be able to raise interest rates or cut credit limits based on your payment history with someone else, like your water company.
* The new corporate credit card laws will limit how much credit can be offered to teens and young adults.
* Cardholders must have at least 21 days to pay monthly bills.
* Payments made to credit card companies must be applied to purchases with the highest balances first. This is important for cards that have changed interest rates.
* Card users can now opt out of over-limit fees. Instead of being charged for going over the limit, a card will simply be declined.
* Double cycle billing is no longer legal. Finance charges may only occur for the current month, and can’t be applied for older purchases.
These are only a few of the new corporate laws, but for credit consumers, these mean a way to take hold of credit card use, and improve FICO scores. A credit score is more important than simply credit use. Credit scores are determined by data given to the three main credit reporting agencies, Experion, TransUnion, and Equifax. Not all of this data is correct, because no system is foolproof. For people who want to clean up their credit, there is a way to dispute any data that is incorrect.
If you hope that the corporate credit laws will help you improve your credit score, then make sure you have a clean slate to begin with. Check your credit history for free online, and then get ready to dispute any inaccurate information. There are specific forms and letters that will be required in order to dispute an item on your credit history. By working with Credit Elves, you can have access to sample letters for free, or get letters customized for you that you can send to the credit reporting agencies.
The new corporate credit laws alone won’t get you a perfect credit score if there are inaccuracies on your credit report. Be sure to dispute any credit information that isn’t yours. If you keep at least a 30% debt to credit ratio, you’ll be in great shape, with a strong FICO score!
