A run for my money with Chase (Rate Jacked)

They are basically saying "Don't carry a balance on our card." So don't carry a balance on their card. Take your business elsewhere.

Was this a balance resulting from purchases, or from a balance transfer? Often, CC companies will raise rates on carried purchase balances, where the card agreement allows for arbitrary changes of terms, yet will honor offered terms associated with balance transfer offers such as "xx% fixed until paid", as long as other requirements of the offer are met (no defaults or lates on any accounts, etc), since not doing so could result in "truth in advertising" and "bait and switch" complaints with regulators.

Do you have a high debt to credit limit ratio overall, or just with Chase?

 

They are more likely thinking: If he defaults, I don't want him defaulting on me. The first one to get paid gets out all right, and the rest get stuck with the defaults. "Devil take the hindmost."

CC lenders are not "patient". If they didn't promise fixed terms til paid, they feel no obligation to take on risk they weren't intending to. Mortgage lenders can afford to be more patient, since the house isn't going anywhere.

 

Chase tried this with several of our cards. Out of nowhere, they wanted to jack us from 7-8-9 percent (regular purchase) rates (that we had had for years) to 29%. We have been Chase customers for the better part of 7 to 8 years with three Chase cards. Never ONCE had we missed a payment. All accounts were less than 50% utilized (debt to CL ratio), with the exception of one. ALL were carrying balances that were primarily due to BALANCE TRANSFERS to Chase for the lower rate.

You have the right to opt out of the changes, close the account, and pay off the balance at the term(s) in effect at the time you closed it.

I refused to accept the terms of the changes.
I closed the accounts.
I am paying them off at the rate the account was at when they sent the proposed changes (7.99%, 8.99%).

At this time, our only business is with Citibank and AT&T Universal, who have NOT tried to jack our rates.

Being that the majority of our balances were "fixed for life until paid in full" at rates of 1.99% to 4.99%, I am fully convinced that Chase did this JUST to get more $ out of us because they were LOSING money. NO OTHER REASON but GREED, because we carried most of our debt on lifetime/low interest rates.

Chase sucks. They will never get us back as a customer. NEVER.

 

This is something that happens often with Chase. We were on a hardship program with Chase and there was a one month discrepancy when we were to resume regular payments. They immediately jacked our 9% rate to 29 and then 31% if I remember correctly. Initially I was told I needed 12 months of on time payment to reverse. The I was suggested credit couseling program. I set it up with their recommended credit couseling, and Chase refused it!!! Each CSR told me different things and I just finally had it with them. I would have paid 1500 in interest alone before they would reversed their decision. I am ashamed to say I let the account go and they have been unsuccesful in collecting on it. I have not had charge offs with other companies and paid every penny owed, but there was no negotiating with Chase. I don't recommend this as it will tank your FICO score, but I have since established positive TLs and score are now decent. HTH

 

White,

You may try opening another account with a good balance transfer offer, scores permitting. If your scores are marginal; i.e., 600ish, you could try Union Plus. They have decent rates for those with just okay credit.

If you have good credit; i.e., 680ish, try the Blue or Clear products from AMEX.

 

"Being that the majority of our balances were "fixed for life until paid in full" at rates of 1.99% to 4.99%, I am fully convinced that Chase did this JUST to get more $ out of us because they were LOSING money. NO OTHER REASON but GREED, because we carried most of our debt on lifetime/low interest rates."

Were these terms with no balance transfer fee?
What was your total debt to available credit ratio?

If there were no negative changes to your reports to trigger the rate jacking, then this would indicate that Chase cannot be trusted to honor their offered terms. Ask them for an Adverse Action Notice, in which they must provide in writing the reason for their interest rate increase, including any CRA whose information was used in making that decision.

Find a more reliable lender. If you can, devevelop a relationship with Citi.

 

Yes. Absolutely ZERO balance transfer fee (we transferred these several YEARS ago) and anywhere from 1.99% to 4.99% for life.

Easily less than 50%. IIRC, two of the three were probably not even 35% or so. Remember, these were balance transfers, which by nature utilize a big chunk.

Absolutely NO negative changes.

Like I said - I'm convinced that they tried to do this because we took advantage of their "1.99% for LIFE" and "3.99% for LIFE" offers from a couple of years ago (when rates were lower), and they only make like $20 a month in interest on a $10K balance.

I closed the 3 accounts and am paying them back at the THEN rates (the "fixed for life" rates on the bulk of the balances, and the THEN low rates of 7.99% - 9.99% on the few purchases that were made to the cards (purchase rate).

Not necessary. Again, we have good scores and the majority of the balances on these accounts are locked at ultra-low rates, so it's my way of saying, "FU Chase!"

We have (and had) other cards with other lenders (see above). Citi and AT&T, while inching them up only so far as the Feds have inched up the rate, have NEVER pulled this crap on us.

Again, I'll never be a Chase customer again - they lost a good customer -- "FOR LIFE".

 

"Ask them for an Adverse Action Notice, in which they must provide in writing the reason for their interest rate increase, including any CRA whose information was used in making that decision.

Not necessary. "

None-the-less, you might as well.

You want in writing which report the pulled and their reason for rate jacking, in case there is something erroneously negative on that report that triggered the increase, and you have to litigate against some other DF and prove that your damages were a direct result of their error.

You also want them to go thru the motions of doing whatever the law requires, in this case providing notice, in writing, of their reason for raising your rates, as part of your own procedures for screening creditors for suitability. Good-faith legal compliance is a key requirement to any further business.

In addition, it gets you a free copy of that report, and you want to force the CRA to provide that free report as required by law.

 

Good points, ontrack.

Do you know if they will balk at my request for an Adverse Action Notice if it's been a long time since they tried to do this (and I closed the accounts)? I can't remember how long ago I did these, but it could be anywhere from 6-7 months to a a year or more.

 

If I remember correctly, if they take any adverse action based on information obtained from consumer credit reports, they must notify you as follows, and you have 60 days from when they notify you of taking an adverse action, to request your free report.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcradoc.pdf

"...
§ 615..Requirements on users of consumer reports [15 U.S.C.§ 1681m ]
(a)Duties of users taking adverse actions on the basis of information contained in consumer
reports .If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any consumer that is
based in whole or in part on any information contained in a consumer report,the
person shall
(1)provide oral,written,or electronic notice of the adverse action to the consumer;
(2)provide to the consumer orally,in writing,or electronically
(A)the name,address,and telephone number of the consumer reporting
agency (including a toll-free telephone number established by the agency
if the agency compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide
basis)that furnished the report to the person;and
(B)a statement that the consumer reporting agency did not make the decision
to take the adverse action and is unable to provide the consumer the
specific reasons why the adverse action was taken;and
(3)provide to the consumer an oral,written,or electronic notice of the consumer's
right
(A)to obtain,under section 612 [§ 1681j ],a free copy of a consumer report on
the consumer from the consumer reporting agency referred to in paragraph
(2),which notice shall include an indication of the 60-day period under
that section for obtaining such a copy;and
(B)to dispute,under section 611 [§ 1681i ],with a consumer reporting agency
the accuracy or completeness of any information in a consumer report
furnished by the agency.
..."


You are probably out of luck on a closed account where this was many months ago.

As indicated above, they should have notified you at the time they jacked your interest rate based on consumer report information. They may have put such notice on a credit card statement, but I have seen cases where that information was incomplete and generic, and didn't include specifically which credit report information led to the decision. It is in that case that you should specifically request it in writing. Their response letter would be usable in getting your free credit report.

 

I realize this is an old-ish thread, but I have similar concerns.

I just received notice from Chase that my rate is jumping from 12.99% to 27.xx% -- more than double! I'm furious and called Chase to try to protest. They wouldn't budge, I got a copy of the credit report they used and it appears to be accurate. I assume this move is based solely on my debt to available credit ratio, which is crazy high. I have no collections, late payments, delinquencies - nothing negative on my report. Just a TON of CC debt, a mortgage and a paid off car loan. I have stopped using my CCs and am trying to pay them down, but making little progress.

Anyway, I guess my question is - can/should I continue trying to fight Chase for a lower rate? Or should I close the card? I'm worried that if I refuse to accept the new terms and close the card it will further hurt my credit score - I'll have about $5,000 debt hanging out there with NO available credit - isn't that worse than keeping the card open?

I would transfer the balance to a new, low-rate card, but I don't get offers for those anymore. Any suggestions? I recently opened an AmEx Blue card for the sole purpose of a BT - any others for someone in my situation?

Thanks so much!

 

They jacked my rate a while back, screw em, now I just use it for the rewards so they are paying me 3% on nearly everything I charge and I refuse to carry a balance with their card.

 

When a credit card company does this it means you are a "risk" to them and they want you to take your business else where. If your scores are decent you should be able to get a lower apr on a balance transfer with a different company, but remember to read all the disclosures under the terms and conditions of these offers such as transfer fee's, and the duration of the terms of the balance transfer. And most importantly..... don't ever pay late or the low rate will be sure to increase. And also remember just because you pay them on time faithfully but you pay late on another credit card they may increase your apr on the card you were never late on because most credit card companies monitor your credit report and see that you've be late with another creditor.

 

response

Either

1) you are risk to them b/c of high balances on all cards. To C.C. companies this means you are "living outside your means" regardless of your payment history with them, because they cannot control the credit lines that are offered by their competitors.

or if you are this person: ["Being that the majority of our balances were "fixed for life until paid in full" at rates of 1.99% to 4.99%, I am fully convinced that Chase did this JUST to get more $ out of us because they were LOSING money. NO OTHER REASON but GREED"

2) your a "surfer" This means you only utilize promotional rates of 1-4% and they are losing money because the cost of funds of any bank will be around 4.5% to borrow and lend to you. This is not greed, it is idiocy to keep lending to you if they are SPENDING money for you to utilize theirs

If a company is losing money they cut their losses. This means if you aren't profitable, it's better not having you at all than losing money.

 

I'm not in the #2 situation.

I'm sure Chase considers me a risk because I am carrying a lot of CC debt. I understand that. What I don't understand is why they can more than double my interest rate. Doesn't this made me a bigger risk? My minimum payments will increase, I'll be paying less on principle and presumably would be at greater risk of defaulting.

Can someone offer advice on whether I should reject the changes and close the card? Like I said in my original post, I'm concerned that will further hurt my credit/credit score. Also, is it worth continuing to talk with people at Chase to try to "negotiate" less of a rate increase?

Thanks.

 

In the end Chase can do this based upon the usual Terms & Conditions of their standard account agreements but........

There is a tremendous upheaval in Congress right now over these "practices", and the CC industry is trying to head off investigations and legislation of the industry.

My recommendation, review your account agreement thoroughly, look for anything where Chase may have "erred" in this rate hike.

Then....I would contact your state's Attorney General Office, and start a complaint. You need to leverage what is a sensitive issue to the CC industry right now.

I would also keep pounding on Chase, and make sure I spoke to the "right person" who can do something about this situation. Often times these rate hikes are automatic, done by computer review. Speaking "person to person" often changes things.

Another question, what were your monthly payments like? Were they "minimums" or higher? Minimum payments are a trigger for these hikes as well.

 

For the most part, I made just the minimum payment. There were a few occassions when I made a second payment in the billing period - maybe 4-5 times. This card is only a few years old. I originally opened it to do a BT, rates were 0% on BT and purchases until about 6 months ago.

I can't find anything in T&C that looks like Chase isn't within its rights, so I don't have grounds to file a complaint with the AG, unless they just want to hear me b!tch about the situation.

Anyone please - what are the pros/cons of rejecting the change and closing the card?

Thanks.