Mike
Radford,#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, June 06, 2005
The bit about disputing the charges isn't something that credit card companies include out of the goodness of their hearts, it is required by federal law. However it is intended for situations such as when someone steals your card, or a merchant charges you and doesn't deliver the goods or services as promised. What you want to do is "reject the change in terms." This means that they lower the APR and allow you to pay off the balance at the old rate, however the account will be closed and you can't make any new charges. (In some states, you can continue making charges up until the expire date printed on the card). But they are only required by law to honor your rejection within a short time after the increase. If you try it now you are basically asking them for a big favor, and they probably won't comply. I recommend that you NOT quit paying in protest. First of course that will make Chase unwilling to do any favors. Also that will give them a reason to put negative reports in your credit files, which will make it impossible for you to obtain decent new credit from other companies. Also when other companies that you already have accounts with see the negative report, they will use this as a reason to raise your rates, lower credit limits, or even close accounts. The only real way out now is to pay them off; try to get a new account with a different company and transfer the balance. That will buy you a few months, however the other company will likely eventually do the same thing to you. It is an industry standard practice.