View source for Finance:Credit CARD Act of 2009

{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| name = Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009
| fullname = An Act to amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes.
| nicknames = Credit CARD Act of 2009
| enacted by = 111th
| effective date = February 22, 2010
| public law url = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-123/pdf/STATUTE-123-Pg1734.pdf
| cite public law = 111-24
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|123|1734}} through 123 Stat. 1766
| acts amended= Truth in Lending Act<br/>[[Finance:Fair Credit Reporting Act|Fair Credit Reporting Act]]<br/>Electronic Fund Transfer Act<br/>Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009
| title amended= 5, 11, 15, 20, and 31
| sections created= 
| sections amended=
| leghisturl = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00627:@@@S
| introducedin = House of Representatives
| introducedbill = {{USBill|111|HR|627}}
| introducedby = Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney D-NY-14
| introduceddate = January 22, 2009
| committees = House Committee on Financial Services, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
| passedbody1 = House of Representatives
| passeddate1 = April 30, 2009
| passedvote1 = [http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2009&rollnumber=228 357-70]
| passedbody2 = Senate
| passeddate2 = May 19, 2009
| passedvote2 = [https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00194 90-5]
| agreedbody3 = House of Representatives
| agreeddate3 = May 20, 2009
| agreedvote3 = [http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2009&rollnumber=277 279-147]
| signedpresident= [[Biography:Barack Obama|Barack Obama]]
| signeddate = May 22, 2009
| amendments = 
}}
The '''Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009''' is a federal statute passed by the United States Congress and signed by U.S. President [[Biography:Barack Obama|Barack Obama]] on May 22, 2009. It is comprehensive credit card reform legislation that aims "...to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr627/text|title=Text of H.R. 627 (111th)|publisher=Govtrack.us|accessdate=March 28, 2012}}</ref> The bill was passed with bipartisan support by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

==Introduction and votes==
The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights was introduced in the 110th Congress as {{USBill|110|H.R.|5244}} in the House of Representatives by Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York and the chair of the House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. The bill had passed 312 to 112 but was never given a vote in the Senate.

In the 111th United States Congress, the bill was reintroduced as {{USBill|111|H.R.|627}} and on April 30, 2009, the House passed 357 yes votes to 70 no votes. The Senate followed suit and passed an amended version on May 19 with 90 yes votes and 5 no votes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2009-194 |title=H.R. 627 (111th): Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (On Passage of the Bill) |publisher=GovTrack.us |date=May 19, 2009 |accessdate=August 11, 2014}}</ref><!-- Should note that one of the amendments was an unrelated measure to allow guns in National Parks (see section below).--> The House passed the amended bill the next day by a vote of 279 to 147 and it was signed into law by President [[Biography:Barack Obama|Barack Obama]] on May 22, 2009.

The bill went into effect on February 22, 2010, nine months after it was enacted.

==Provisions==
The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights includes several provisions aimed at limiting how credit card companies can charge consumers but does not include price controls, rate caps, or fee settings.<ref>[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00627:@@@D&summ2=m& Public Law Summary by Congressional Research Service], THOMAS, Library of Congress</ref>

Key provisions include:
* '''Giving consumers enough time to pay their bills.''' Credit card companies have to give consumers at least 21 days to pay from the time the bill is mailed. Credit card companies can not "trap" consumers by setting payment deadlines on the weekend or in the middle of the day, or changing their payment deadlines each month. Creditors may not charge late fees if debtor shows proof of payment by close of business on the due date. If the established due date falls upon a Saturday, Sunday, or legal banking holiday, the due date is pushed back to the next business day.
* '''No retroactive rate increases.''' Credit card companies must give consumers at least 45 days notice if their rates are about to go up, and can not change any terms of the contract within a year.  Low introductory rates must last at least six months.
* '''Easier to pay down debt.''' Credit card companies must apply payments to a consumer's highest interest rate balances first. Statements must show consumers how long it would take to pay off their existing balance if the consumer made only the minimum payment, and must show the payment amount and total interest cost to pay off the entire balance in 36 months.
* '''Eliminates "fee harvester cards."''' The act restricts fees on low-balance cards sold to cardholders with bad credit. For many of these cards, the up-front fees charged exceeded the remaining credit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/march-2009/money/scams/a-credit-card-for-anyone/scams-a-credit-card-for-anyone.htm|title=Consumer Reports Magazine|website=www.consumerreports.org|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}</ref> The act also restricts the fees that can be charged for gift cards and other prepaid cards. 
* '''Eliminates excessive marketing to young people.''' Consumers under the age of 21 must prove that they have an independent income or get a co-signer before applying for a credit card.  The Act also prevents credit card companies from mailing offers to consumers under 21 unless they "opt in," and prohibits companies from wooing students with T-shirts, free pizza and other free gifts at university-sponsored events.<ref>https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/fact-sheet-reforms-protect-american-credit-card-holders</ref>

===Amendment on guns in national parks===
Gun rights advocates in the Senate, led by [[Biography:Tom Coburn|Tom Coburn]] (R-Okla) added an unrelated rider to the bill to prevent the Secretary of the Interior from enforcing any regulation that would prohibit an individual from possessing a firearm in any unit of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-627&version=enr&nid=t0:enr:582|title=Text of H.R. 627 (111th): Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Passed Congress version) - GovTrack.us|website=GovTrack.us|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SP01067:|title=Amendment SA 1067 proposed by Senator Coburn to Amendment SA 1058 of HR 627|publisher=|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}</ref> The Senate passed the amendment 67-29.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://washingtonindependent.com/42641/senate-approves-coburn-gun-amendment |title=Senate Approves Coburn Gun Amendment…in Credit Card Bill |last=Lillis |first=Mike |date=May 12, 2009 |work=The Washington Independent |accessdate=June 13, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621182431/http://washingtonindependent.com/42641/senate-approves-coburn-gun-amendment |archivedate=June 21, 2009 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="NYTguns">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/us/politics/21cards.html|title=Bill Changing Credit Card Rules Is Sent to Obama With Gun Measure Included|first=Carl|last=Hulse|date=May 20, 2009|publisher=|accessdate=April 8, 2018|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

This amendment overturns a Reagan-era policy prohibiting firearms from being carried in national parks. The George W. Bush administration had attempted to implement a similar policy through the rulemaking process just before leaving office, but the change was struck down by a federal judge. The provision has been heavily criticized by some environmentalists and [[Engineering:Gun control|gun control]] advocates, but it was heavily applauded by gun rights groups.<ref name="NYTguns"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/C3C0BD3CE784C5E3862576D000099E0D?OpenDocument | deadurl=yes | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100224061605/http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/C3C0BD3CE784C5E3862576D000099E0D?OpenDocument | title=Law change allows guns at U.S. parks, wildlife areas | archivedate=February 24, 2010 |last=McGuire|first=Kim|date=February 20, 2010|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|accessdate=August 11, 2014}}</ref>

==Effects==
[[File:Elizabeth Warren keynote speech Feb 22 2011 on CARD Act.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Elizabeth Warren delivers the keynote speech entitled "The CARD Act: One Year Later" at an evaluation symposium held February 22, 2011]]
The act was not expected to affect existing credit card contracts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/krwg/news/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1504604&sectionID=1|title=Bingaman backs Credit Card Reform|date=May 11, 2009|publisher=KRWG|accessdate=October 19, 2009}}</ref> However, the act that was passed applies to contracts made in the past by setting an effective date of February 22, 2010, which gave banks time to prepare and notify their customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in its October 2013 report on the CARD Act found that between  the first quarter of 2009 and December 2013,  credit card interest rates increased on average from 16.2%  to 18.5%,  while the “total cost of credit,” that is, the total of all fees and interest paid by all consumers as a percentage of the average cycle-ending balance, decreased by two hundred basis points (2.00%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-act-report.pdf|title=CARD Act Report|date=October 1, 2013|accessdate=April 30, 2014}}</ref> The CFPB made no judgment on the extent to which the CARD Act contributed to these increases and decreases. However, interest rates on other types of consumer credit increased. The CFPB in its study also found that consumers paid less in late payment and over-the-limit fees since passage of the CARD Act. In contrast, studies by CardHub.com<ref name="Card Act Study">{{cite web|url=http://education.cardhub.com/interest-rate-study-q1-2011/|title=Study: The CARD Act's Impact on Rising Interest Rates|publisher=CardHub.com|accessdate=June 23, 2011}}</ref> and the Center for Responsible Lending<ref name="Responsible Lending">{{cite web|url=http://www.responsiblelending.org/credit-cards/research-analysis/FinalCRL-CARD-Clarity-Report2-16-11.pdf|title=Credit Card Clarity: CARD Act Reform Works|publisher=Center for Responsible Lending|accessdate=June 1, 2011}}</ref> argued that interest rate trends were the result of economic pressures typical of a recession and not the law.  According to these studies, historical economic data shows that the interest rate increase and decline in available credit seen during the Great Recession should have been worse considering the widespread unemployment, credit card delinquency and credit card charge-offs.<ref name="Card Act Study" /><ref name="Responsible Lending" />

Section 502(a) of the CARD Act requires a review of the consumer credit card market to be undertaken every two years. In February 2013 letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of the review, the [[Organization:American Bankers Association|American Bankers Association]] wrote that "the CARD Act has provided clear and significant benefits to consumers" but "there have also been significant tradeoffs, specifically, higher costs and less availability for credit card credit."<ref name="BankersLetter">{{cite web|url=http://www.aba.com/Advocacy/commentletters/Documents/clCardAct2013Feb.pdf|title=ABA Letter to CFPB re: Notice and request for information regarding the credit card market|date=February 19, 2013|accessdate=April 30, 2014}}</ref> The American Bankers Association, in its letter responding to the CFPB's request for information on the impact of the act, argued that following the implementation of the CARD Act and associated regulations, "average credit card interest rates have increased and credit card credit is less available, especially to subprime borrowers" and "credit card debt has decreased at a higher rate than other consumer debt and has decreased as a percent of disposable income as non‐revolving debt as a percent of disposable income has increased."<ref name="BankersLetter"/>

A study published in the ''[[Finance:Quarterly Journal of Economics|Quarterly Journal of Economics]]'' in 2014 (by Neale Mahoney of the [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]], Sumit Agarwal of the National University of Singapore, Souphala Chomsisengphet of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Johannes Stroebel of the New York University Stern School of Business) found that the law was saving American consumers $11.9 billion a year, and particularly decreased costs for borrowers with poor credit.  The researchers further found "no evidence of an increase in interest charges or a reduction to access to credit."<ref>Floyd Norris, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/business/economy/a-credit-card-rule-that-worked-for-consumers.html Card Act Cleared Up Credit Cards' Hidden Costs], ''New York Times'' (November 7, 2013).</ref><ref>Sumit Agarwal, Souphala Chomsisengphet, Neale Mahoney & Johannes Stroebel, [http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/24/qje.qju037 Regulating Consumer Financial Products: Evidence from Credit Cards], ''Quarterly Journal of Economics'' (first published online November 25, 2014), doi: 10.1093/qje/qju037.</ref>

In a speech on the one-year anniversary of the CARD Act, then-CFPB Special Adviser Elizabeth Warren said that "much of the [credit card] industry has gone further than the law requires in curbing re-pricing and overlimit fees."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1074.aspx |work=Remarks by Elizabeth Warren on The CARD Act |title=The CARD Act: One Year Later |publisher=U.S. Department of the Treasury |last=Warren |first=Elizabeth |date=February 22, 2011 |accessdate=October 27, 2011}}</ref> However, she said there was still much work to be done, that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's "next challenges will be about further clarifying price and risks and making it easier for consumers to make direct product comparisons."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/02/warren-praises-credit-card-industry-for-transparency-efforts-for-borrowers/ |title=Warren Praises Credit Card Industry for Transparency Efforts for Borrowers |last=Saenz |first=Arlette |date=February 22, 2011 |work=ABC News |accessdate=October 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/22/financial-regulation-cards-idUSN2229340420110222 |title=Credit cards still in US watchdog Warren's sights |work=Reuters |date=February 22, 2011 |last1=Clarke |first1=Dave |last2=Aspan |first2=Maria |accessdate=October 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/18/elizabeth-warren-shortcom_n_467295.html |title=Elizabeth Warren: Shortcomings Of Credit Card Reform Show Need For CFPA |last=Delaney |first=Arthur |work=Huffington Post |date=February 18, 2011 |accessdate=October 27, 2011}}</ref>

In 2012, many stay-at-home spouses complained that because they have no individual income, the act prevented them from acquiring credit cards without their husbands' permission.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/16/pf/credit-cards-stay-at-home-moms/ |title=Stay-at-home mom fights new credit card rule |last=Ellis|first=Blake |work=CNN Money |date=May 16, 2012 |accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref> On April 29, 2013, the CFPB amended regulations to allow credit card issuers to consider third-party income for applicants who are 21 or older, if the applicant has a reasonable expectation of access to it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/the-cfpb-amends-card-act-rule-to-make-it-easier-for-stay-at-home-spouses-and-partners-to-get-credit-cards/|title=The CFPB Amends Card Act Rule to Make it Easier for Stay-at-Home Spouses and Partners to Get Credit Cards|date=April 29, 2013|accessdate=August 17, 2015}}</ref>

==Sponsors and cosponsors==
The bill was cosponsored by House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank and Representatives Maxine Waters, Luis Gutiérrez, Stephen Lynch, Keith Ellison, Steve Cohen, Chaka Fattah, Maurice Hinchey, Jim Langevin, Jerrold Nadler, Carol Shea-Porter, Hilda Solis, Peter Welch, Albert Wynn, Peter DeFazio, Charles Gonzalez, Gene Taylor, David Obey, Mazie Hirono, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nancy Boyda, John Dingell, Corrine Brown, Bennie Thompson, Alcee Hastings, Yvette Clark, Jesse Jackson, Danny Davis, Kirsten Gillibrand, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Diane Watson, Michael Arcuri, Eliot Engel, John Tierney, Chris Van Hollen, George Miller, Jim Moran, Anthony Weiner, Neil Abercrombie, and Jan Schakowsky.

==References==
{{reflist | 30em}}

==External links==
*[http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1569&Itemid=61 Press Release]
*[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr627enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr627enr.pdf Text of bill]
*[https://archive.is/20130415135808/http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h627/actions_votes CARD Act - Actions & Votes]


[[Category:Credit cards]]

{{Sourceattribution|Credit CARD Act of 2009|1}}