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Home >> Military Issues
About the SSCRA and Credit Card Interest Increases
I went on active duty in Ocober, 2005. Upon entering active duty, the military legal rep informed me of the SCRA and the 6% interest rate for my credit cards. He drafted a letter and faxed it along with the enlistment contract and current active duty orders. I had no change on my Capital One account. I resent this information three times in 2006, and each year that followed. When contacting them, I was told that they had no way of contacting the SCRA department. I asked for a phone number to ensure receipt of my information and status. They replied that there wwas no contact information, only a fax number. When I asked for advice on my account, they said to keep faxing the information until a change showed on my account. Then in March of 2008, my interest rate jumped from 14 to 24%. They stated that I had made a late payment (my due date went from the 20th to the 14th and I didn't realize until I logged into pay). I assumed this could be corrected when my SCRA finally went through. I refaxed the info. Still nothing, and its 2009. I just received notification that my interest rate was going up to 30% now. When I questioned why (no late payment)and mentioned the SCRA, I was told that with credit card laws and agreements, they were allowed to raise my interest when they needed to as long as they notified me in writing, which they had. They stated that I was at no fault, but that they must raise interest rates based on the rising interest rates around them and they would not be able to consider my request for the lower interest rate. Am I not doing something correctly? How should I be approaching this? I just came off active duty, but my husband is still on active duty.
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This will be a mess, but it is not too late. Your balance when you were called to active duty should have been reduced to 6%. Charges made after that are not subject to the 6% rate, so the credit card lender needs to go back to when you (and/or spouse) were activated. Protection will depend of who is on the account and when active duty/being activated occurred.
Ask them who their regulator is and contact them, placing a complaint with the ombudsman. You can also start here.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 1/19/10
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