Obama can expect earful on credit cards

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - When President Obama comes to Albuquerque Thursday consumers he asks are likely to tell him they're fed up with credit card companies suddenly hiking interests rates and tacking on fees.

Obama, who has been pushing regulation of the companies' practices, is planning a town hall meeting although details have yet to be released.

The U.S. House last week passed a bill to curb predatory practices by credit card companies. The Senate is expected to take action on the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights later this week.

Michael Ramos with Credit Rescue Now told KRQE News 13 the companies' pricey practices are common.

"I see it all the time" Ramos told KRQE News 13.

He and his daughter Natalie work with residents drowning in credit card debt. However it was Natalie looking for help recently when her credit card company changed her rate.

"They were going to be increasing my interest rate from a 6.4 to a 14.9 percent," she said. "I had a balance on there. I couldn't afford to pay it off.

"If I closed the account with a balance that would have hurt my credit."

She is far from alone.

“I know my credit card company raised my rates just this year," Michael Buck said. "I don't think it's fair because I have always been a good borrower and always paid everything on time."

Those are the exact types of situations the president said he's going to stop.

His Albuquerque trip will focus on presenting his plan to keep companies from spiking interest rates and dropping credit limits.

Michael Ramos said it's time someone stuck up for borrowers, and he has some advice to the president on how to fix this mess.

”Number one, knock the interest rates back down," he said. "Number two, change the statute of limitations of how long something sits on your credit report to five years instead of seven, maybe even down to four.

"That would put the economy back on its feet quickly."