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Press Release Wednesday, February 2, 2000 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate today voted 83-14 for a bill aimed at changing
the bankruptcy system, a measure that Consumers Union says caters to credit card
companies while it harms American families in financial crisis.
"This is a one-sided bill that is unfairly slanted against consumers who make
honest efforts to repay their debts," said Frank Torres, legislative counsel for
Consumers Unions. "In bankruptcy matters, both the creditor and the debtor
should carry their fair share of responsibility. Credit card companies ought to
be held accountable for their aggressive marketing and lending practices. This
bill just gives them a green light to keep pushing their cards on people and
leaving them in the dark about what they really owe."
Torres said the Senate bill is a lost opportunity to tell consumers the truth
about how much their credit costs and provide them the tools they need to plan
for repaying their debts. Senators discussed adding a simple provision to the
bill to require credit card companies to tell consumers how long it would take
them to pay off their balance at the minimum rate and what their total costs in
interest and principle would be.
"But lobbyists for the credit industry pressured members to drop the
provision and adopt a generic disclosure statement that is largely meaningless
and won't help consumers," said Torres.
Torres said the bill also fails to address the problem of aggressive
marketing and lending to young people. Under this bill, companies can continue
to target young people who have little or no experience with credit
cards.
"Lawmakers have got to fix the problems in this bill, or families who are
trying to climb out of bankruptcy will have few places to turn," said Torres.
"Like the financial services bill that Congress passed last year, this is one
more sweetheart deal for the industry."
The House approved a similar bankruptcy bill last year. Lawmakers will start
working on a compromise version of the bill for Congress to consider this
year.
