New Hampshire Credit Card Laws

By: EconomyWatch Content Team   Date: 3 February 2010

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More and more states are having laws passed to protect consumers and business owners pertaining to credit cards.  These state laws in addition to federal laws are making it much safer for credit card companies, banks, and credit unions in addition to consumers to make purchases or payments with a credit card but without being sucked into fraud.  The Attorney General of New Hampshire is also doing things to educate people about certain things for a New Hampshire credit card.

For one thing, people with a New Hampshire credit card account are being provided a guidebook that consists of various consumer laws.  Within this guidebook is a section dedicated to laws for this particular state.  Some of the specific topics covered include minimum payments, late payments, account default, credit card disclosure, and much more.  This type of handbook was initially provided to consumers in Delaware when the New Hampshire Attorney General saw the tremendous benefit.

With this, provisions for a New Hampshire credit card contract have been put into law, as well as eliminating caps on credit card interest rates.  Even though new federal laws are going into effect in February 2010, every person with a New Hampshire credit card needs to know their legal rights but also obligations to the issuing company and for managing the card.

People will find that two specific federal laws affect people with a New Hampshire credit card.  The first was been around for quite some time known as the 1968 Truth in Lending Act and the other that was established in 2009 but will not go into effect until February 22, 2010 is called the 2009 Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act, otherwise known as CARD.  However, along with these federal laws, people with a New Hampshire credit card account must also follow state laws.

One thing covered in the new consumer guide is that the grace period offered by credit card companies for late payments has been reduced.  In addition, anyone looking at securing a card should understand what fees are being charged, as well as the associated percentage for each fee.  Unfortunately, laws do not protect people with a New Hampshire credit card on grace period or fees.

Minimum payments are also covered in the guide so consumers understand that by state law, of the minimum payment made on a credit card balance, a minimum of 1% must apply toward the principal of the account, as well as finance charges and fees.  That way, the balance would be reduced each month although when making a minimum payment, it would not be by much.

Then, both disclosure and default are addressed in the guide.  The older of the two federal laws, all issuing companies are required to provide specific information to consumers.  Because of that, if the required information is not provided, consumers have a right to sue.  Then for default, anyone with a New Hampshire credit card should look for words “universal default”.  This means if a single payment is missed or one payment is late, the consumer is no longer protected from default!


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