Credit-card debtors face dual hit

The Baltimore Sun reports:

Deborah Falsman ran up $25,000 in credit-card debt when interest rates were low, credit was easy and bankruptcy offered an escape hatch.

Now, the school health clerk is looking at monthly payments that could rise by hundreds of dollars, thanks to new regulations aimed at helping Americans tame soaring credit card bills. "You think you can pay $500 or $600 a month and get it over with," Falsman said of her credit-card debt, which financed a remodeling project for her home in Denton, Texas. "But it never seems to work out that way."

Consumer advocates are largely applauding changes that will force millions of credit-card holders to pay higher minimum monthly payments starting Jan. 1 or sooner. The federal requirements will save people money by trimming what they pay in interest over time.

Read the whole article.We will be writing more about this shortly.