April 1st, 2009 by Reed Allmand 
According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, Senator Christopher Dodd has introduced a bill that would severely restrict credit card company changes of terms
The article said:
Dodd’s proposal, approved by the panel 12-11 on Tuesday, would bar so-called double-cycle billing, when a card issuer computes interest charges on outstanding balances from more than one billing cycle. It also would ban “universal default,” the practice of raising a cardholder’s interest rates when that consumer has problems paying other creditors. And it would prevent card issuers from changing the terms of a contract as long as the card holder pays on time. </em
Currently credit card companies use a wide range of tactics to quickly change credit card terms, even raising interest rates and fees for those who pay on time. Senator Dodd’s legislation aims to close the loopholes used by credit card companies to circumvent existing disclosures laws. If this legislation is passed it could be a powerful tool for credit card debtors who have recently suffered a job loss and are experiencing trouble paying some creditors. Often credit card companies will drastically increase a debtor’s interest rates if he/she is delinquent or in default with another creditor this bill would ban that practice. The Senate bill is S. 414. The House version is H.R. 627.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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