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Higher rates! Bigger fees!
In recent weeks, you've heard plenty about the sleazy side of the subprime mortgage business. Rising numbers of borrowers are losing their homes after being lured into high-cost mortgages they couldn't afford. But there's another piece of the painful subprime story that hasn't hit the headlines yet: costly-sometimes abusive-subprime credit cards. They're bleeding millions of borrowers who didn't know what they were getting into.
Subprimes come in two types: Cards that are crazily costly to begin with and cards that look good but hide big traps. You know about traps if you've paid some bills late and are now being charged with interest at 30 percent. In general, here's how the business works:
The bottom-feeding cards-for people with damaged credit-offer you a decent interest rate on credit lines up to $3,000. When the card arrives, however, your line might be only $250. And then come the fees! Program fees. Account set-up fees. Participation fees. Annual fees. They're charged to your tiny credit line, leaving you almost nothing to spend.
Two better-known card issuers with a big subprime business are Capital One and HSBC's Orchard Bank. They charge lower upfront fees than other cards do. But if you fall behind, it's tough. Cap One's penalty rate is currently 28.15 percent. Orchard Bank doesnt disclose its penalty rate online and wouldn't tell me what it is (that didn't engender confidence!). Cap One has a reputation for issuing multiple cards to people who bump up against their credit limits. That gives them two cards, with two low limits, to overspend.
Lenders have figured out many ways of extracting fees. There's universal default, where a late payment on one card can trigger high penalty rates on every card you own. There's the endless late fee, where your payments never catch up with the new penalties you're charged. There's two-cycle billing-too complicated to explain here, but which amounts to charging interest on balances that you've already paid. And retroactive price hikes, where banks impose higher rates on old balances as well as new ones. What other business can get away with raising the price of something you already purchased? says Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation of America.
These practices startle consumers who think such high fees and interest rates must be against the law. But the Supreme Court effectively deregulated credit card rates 30 years ago, and 10 years ago it deregulated the size of the fees a bank could charge. Prior to fee deregulation, late fees hovered between $13 and $15, says Robert McKinley of CardWeb.com, which tracks the business. Now they run from $30 to $40. Its out of control, he says. Banks know theyve pushed this too far.
This year, however, the new Congress started holding hearings. Suddenly Citi dropped universal default and JPMorgan Chase ended two-cycle billing. But those are just gestures. Without fee caps or usury laws, we're in the bankers'hands.
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高利率，高收费！
近几周，很多媒体报道了次级按揭贷款业务的负面新闻。越来越多的借贷者卷入他们无法偿还的高价按揭贷款中，失去自己的房子。 但是还有关于次级消费的事情并未成为报纸头条：昂贵并且有时泛滥成灾的次级信用卡。他们正在从数百万不知道自己已经掉入陷阱的借贷者身上榨取钱财。
次级信用卡分为两类：一种卡一开始收费就极其昂贵，另一种卡看上去不错但隐藏着巨大陷阱。大家都了解有些陷阱，比如如果你推迟偿还帐单就会要付30% 的利息。一般来说，这项业务如下开展：
对于信誉不良的人来说，信用卡提供的利息率可以接受，其底线额度达到3000美元。 然而当卡拿到手中时，额度可能只有250美元，还要收费。项目费， 帐户开设费，参与费以及年费。收费几乎达到你小小的信贷额度，几乎没有留钱给你花。
两家比较著名的发卡银行第一资金和汇丰Orchard银行都拥有庞大的次级信用卡业务。他们比其他卡收取的预支费要低，但是如果你拖欠还款，那就日子艰难了。第一资金现在的罚款利率是28.15%。Orchard银行没有在网上公布其罚款利率，也不会告诉我是多少（这毫不让人产生信心！）。第一资金会发多张卡给借贷者，而这些人常常消费达到其信用限贷。借贷者拥有两张第一资金的卡，两张卡限贷都很低，使得他们很容易超支。
放贷人想了很多方法来提取费用。当你拖欠一卡的付费时引发对你每张卡的高额罚款利率，称之为普及违约。永无休止的拖欠费，因为你还的款总也赶不上对你追加的新罚款。虽然双计费周期难于解释清楚，但其所收取的银行结余利息你早就已经支付了。还有追溯涨价，银行对你的新旧帐户结余征收更高利率。美国消费者协会的特拉维斯•普朗凯特评论说：有什么业务能不提高你已经购买东西的价格就赚钱的呢？
这些做法令消费者震惊，他们认为这样高的收费和利息肯定违反了法律。但是最高法院在三十年前就撤销了对信用卡利率的有效管制，而十年前又撤销了对银行收费规模的管制。一直跟踪这项业务的来自CardWeb.com的罗伯特•麦肯利说在费用撤销前，拖欠还款收费在13到15美元间徘徊，而今收费已达30至40美元。麦肯利说：这已经失控了，银行知道他们已经做得过分了。
今年,新一届国会开始举行听证。花旗突然放弃普及违约收费，JP摩根大通银行结束双计费周期。但这些只是摆摆姿态。没有收费最高限额或针对放高利贷的相关法律保护，我们就只能任由银行家宰割了。
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