My boyfriend has a card with Providian but he got a judgment against him in September 2002 for a auto loan but he's in the process of fighting it. Providian raised his interest rate from 19.8 to 40.99!! I guess they must have checked his reports and found out about the judgment. He has tried to re-negotiate his rates for the past 6 months because he has never in the entire time of having their card paid late but Providian won't budge. He started out with a $500 credit limit and now its $9090. He carries a balance of about $6500. What options does my boyfriend have?
Before trying to get another card, make sure you check each of his reports to see if the judgement is reporting to all of the bureaus or only one. If a prime creditor sees that judgement on his reports, he will be denied no questions asked. Hopefully the judgement is reporting to only one of the bureaus and then you can apply for a card that pulls only his "clean" credit bureau report. Good luck!
Try looking for a credit card that will allow you to BT that amount over to it. With a judgement it will be hard but anything is better then 40%!!! YIKES I just got rid of my providian paypal card due to their high rates...mine was at 23.99%! I applied for a citibank card, got approved and transfered my balance over at 0% for 6 months. Plus after 6 months it's only 9%! I try not to carry balances on my credit cards so rates don't matter but 23.99% was too much compared to the other cards I have at 10% or lower. See if one credit report is possibly not reporting the judgement and find a credit card lender that only pulls that report. That is if the only bad thing was the judgement, right?
Unfortunately, the judgment is reported on all of his credit reports. Are there any credit card companies that will will take a BT with a judgment on the applicant's CR?
Against the law? I didn't know that it used to be. What happened to change the laws? Also, would him putting the 100-word statement on his reports help with switching cards?
Both Providian and Chase did similar things to me. Although I had no judgements at all....I had credit established with both of them. I have one 30 day late in the past 4 years... BUT...my overall utilization got very high....96% or so. Basically I USED the credit they all gave me... BOTH, (at different times) sent me letters summarily jacking my rates. Chase from something like 7% to 24% and Providian to 29.99%. While I understand that creditors should be able to repull your credit when granting you things, I personally thing it should be illegal for them to do this on balances YOU ALREADY HAVE. Essentially, it's an interest rate bait and switch. You purchase large items (in our case furniture or appliances) on cards that you THINK will only be charging you 8%. Only recourse is to get new cards and BT....but applying for more credit further lowers yoru score. A vicious circle... aiki
Re: Re: Credit Cards and Balance Transfers Best advice I ever received was Always Always have somewhere else to go or cash on hand to payoff
Re: Re: Credit Cards and Balance Transfers They should have given you the opportunity to close the account and pay it off at your current rate. If they did not they broke the law. Sometimes they bury this statement about your rates in with the marketing crap so you don't see it. But they are required to print on your statement that 'important information concerning your credit terms are enclosed'. Get copies of the past statements and see if he was properly notified of the rate increase.
Pay off the card. Get more income, i.e. second job, and cut expenses to pay off the card ASAP. The judgment probably will kill any chance of getting a balance transfer. Maybe he can go to his local bank and see if they can give him a loan. As george says 40.99% is way too much. Pay the card off as fast as you can!
If your boyfriend live in New York state, then anything over 25% APR is illegal, and he's not obligated to pay.
Are you serious?? I didn't know that. I've been on the NYS banking site but must have overlooking that info. Can you tell me exactly where on the site I can find that information?
Are you serious?? I didn't know that. I've been on the NYS banking site but must have overlooking that info. Can you tell me exactly where on the site I can find that information?
"Generally, the rate that may be charged is the rate permitted in the bank's home state. This is determined by either the State Banking Department which has chartered the bank, or it is specified in that state's statutory code. A New York State-chartered bank may charge whatever interest rate the bank and the customer agree to; as a practical matter, however, the maximum interest rate is 25%, the criminal usury rate." From http://www.banking.state.ny.us/faq.htm
So you could rely on New York State regulations which are not specific, or you could rely on New Hampshire "Providian National Bank" chartered here in Tilton, NH , or Utah "Providian Bank" chartered here in Salt Lake City, UT. So read your agreement for the card, and if it states that you agree to anything in there and you use the card, you have agreed to superseed the maximum allowable interest rate by state.
I'm not sure where to find the information online, but this is what I had to deal with when I ran my finance company. Even though my company was not in NY, we could not charge above 25% rate according to the lawyers, even in default, period.
