Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights Passes House

In case you haven’t heard, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new piece of credit card legislation last week. Dubbed the Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights, this bill would require card issuers to give cardholders 45 days notice of rate increases, prevent retroactive rate increases, and forbid other “unfair practices.” It’s now up to the Senate to move this bill forward, though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been quoted as saying that it’s unclear whether or not the bill will achieve a filibuster-proof 60 votes.

As a sidenote, many of the proposed regulations overlap with new rules put forth by the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, the Fed’s rules won’t kick in until July 2010, whereas the new legislation could be in place within a few months.