To find the right credit card that will meet all your requirements is not an easy matter. When you have finally managed to find a suitable offer and have signed for credit, you may think that now your credit card company has control over the situation and you can do nothing but obey the creditor’s rules. Yes, it is true. But remember, you have some rights too.
Your rights as a credit card holder are protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act. This act was created to help credit card owners to solve major credit card problems.
Take for instance billing disputes that take place all the time. For instance, you paid for the item that you had never received or that you had received with a defect. What would you do? Let’s apply to the Fair Credit Billing Act.
The act sets that in such a case you should take the following steps:
• Contact in writing your bank or credit card company within 60 days starting from the day you received the bill for the disputed item. Make sure that you have mentioned all your personal data such as your name and account number in the letter. Besides, don’t forget to point out all the details about the disputed item and what actions you think your creditor should take.
• Before you sent the letter, make copies of the letter and other supporting documentation in order to have your personal record and feel more confident. If you are afraid that your letter can be lost in a mail office, use the mailing method that requires the proof of delivery. You will get the confirmation as soon as the creditor receives your letter.
• Your credit card issuers must contact you within 30 days after the day they receive your letter and inform you about the actions they are going to take. During the time of the investigation you will be not charged for the dispute item. In case you win the dispute, you will not have to pay for the item, but if you fail you will be charged according to your credit card agreement.
Unauthorized charges on credit cards make another big problem for credit card holders. The Fair Credit Billing Act sets that in case of an authorized payment on one’s credit card, cardholder’s responsibility is limited to $50. Be sure, the charge in $50 is not a big sum of money in case of fraudulent actions on your credit cards, as fraudsters can charge thousand dollars.
There is also an act that is aimed to settle all disputes in case you fail to pay off your debt. Many credit cardholders faced different threatens from debt collectors in the past years. Today, according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors can’t just call debtors and threaten them. It doesn’t mean that you are free from paying off your debt now. The Act just sets that you cannot be threaten anymore and should be treated in a fair way.
If you have more questions about your rights or just want to know more about the Fair Acts, you can contact credit card specialists and they will answer your questions.