Help! Chase raised my rate to 29.99%!

[kathi29]

I've heard that too but don't know exactly why? Can you (or someone) explain further?

If for some reason you had to file bankruptcy, the secured debt would still be there. You would be able to relieve yourself of the credit card debt (generally unsecured). The HEL is secured against your home - you would have to keep paying that or the lender could take action against you.

 

[LadyShiva]

I've heard that too but don't know exactly why? Can you (or someone) explain further?

With secured debt, the bank (or the place that has your debt) gets the house (or property) you "secured" the debt with if you don't pay. An auto loan is a "secured" debt; there is actual property to repossess, if needed.

The tax benefits of changing over $20K worth of credit card debt into a lien on a home aren't enough to persuade me to do that, but YMMV.

Brandie

 

[LadyyRedd]

I think the real problem is not the 29.99% vs. 9.99% interest rate but the nearly $20,000 the OP is carrying on the Chase credit card.

Am I the only person here who would not be able to sleep at night while carrying that debt load on a credit card?

While I never plan to ever carry that much debt in one time in my life (short of my mortgage or car loans), I don't know what might come along in my life that may come up that I would have to.....so I don't judge others without knowing what occured for them to have this debt.

Kimya

 

[nuke]

I think the real problem is not the 29.99% vs. 9.99% interest rate but the nearly $20,000 the OP is carrying on the Chase credit card.

Am I the only person here who would not be able to sleep at night while carrying that debt load on a credit card?

No you're probably not but your lack of sleep doesn't help the OP at all.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I think the real problem is not the 29.99% vs. 9.99% interest rate but the nearly $20,000 the OP is carrying on the Chase credit card.

Am I the only person here who would not be able to sleep at night while carrying that debt load on a credit card?

You have no idea.

 

[Handbag Lady]

While I never plan to ever carry that much debt in one time in my life (short of my mortgage or car loans), I don't know what might come along in my life that may come up that I would have to.....so I don't judge others without knowing what occured for them to have this debt.

Kimya

Thank you for that.

 

[kimnkel]

I hate Chase. It seems they have quite the habit of playing 'now ya see 'em, now you don't' with interest rates. Ooops--made a payment under a full moon in a month with an "r" in it? Sorry--Chase is doubling your interest rate!

We fell for that Chase Disney Visa reward scamarama, and it has become something of a chore for my DH to keep Chase on the up and up WRT the interest rate--and we have never missed a payment, and always made substatial payments. He finally got so disgusted with Chase's shenanigans that we took money out of our savings and just paid it off. I know this isn't an option for everyone, however. Have you looked into transferring the Chase balance to a card with a lower interest rate? (Many 0% offers out there, just check the terms carefully.) It's tough, but tighten your belts and get that sucker paid off--don't default if you can possibly avoid doing so.

No, RC, you are not the only one that would be up all night if you had that kind of debt on a CC. My husband would be right there with you, sitting at his desk going over the bank statements and bills until 4 am. And he isn't shy about speaking up about cost cutting measures. It's not always fun to say the least, but it is neccessary. Since I have a very laissez-faire attitude about finances, one of us needs to be vigilant.

Good luck, OP, and I hope you can get the issue resolved succesfully.

 

[tlbwriter]

I usually pay my Chase card about 10 times a month. Every time I use it, I pay it. Now my DH has a card he overused and they tried to raise his rate to 24.99% for having a high balance. I disputed it in writing, but cannot use the card, and it'll be closed as soon as the balance is paid (which is dandy, he doesn't want to use them).

You don't have to wait until the balance is paid to close the account. In fact, I've heard that a creditor who raises your rate might be more willing to lower it if you agree to close the account. A closed account doesn't have to be paid in full upon closure. It just means you can't use it.

 

[caitty13]

I closed a card once that had a balance and the APR was raised to the default rate. I would always ask first.

 

[rockin_rep]

While I never plan to ever carry that much debt in one time in my life (short of my mortgage or car loans), I don't know what might come along in my life that may come up that I would have to.....so I don't judge others without knowing what occured for them to have this debt.

Kimya

Well said and i totally agree. Who's to say what life will bring?

We may not have that issue right now, but life can be expensive, especially with kids. And especially when you try to put more than one through college at the same time, despite the BEST financial planning!

 

[1Pooh&1piglet]

I opened my statement from Chase and saw that my interest had been raised to 22%. After I cooled down I called to ask about it. I was told that I had received a notice in the mail that told me they were going to raise it, this I did not receive! As I told them "If I had received it don't you think I would have called before now?". I asked them if they take into account that - I have never been late with a payment, always pay much more then the minimum payment and have great credit. I was told that I could have the rate lowered to 12% if I closed the account. Of course I told them to have at it. Before now I thought Chase was easy and having a Disney card (Charter member) was great - NOT NOW!!
But my question is this..does Disney care/ or know that the credit card company they have representing them is doing this?!

 

[tacomaranch]

Ok, I got scared and logged into my chase online. I see that they closed about 4 cards that I haven't used in years. Amazon, United, ebay. I still have about 25K open to buy and only $770 on my Disney card. I scheduled a payment for today just to be sure they get paid.

I am only going to use the Disney card and watch carefully that I don't go over any limits. I was planning on paying my DVC maintenance fees with this card in January but it is about 1K.

Should I call them and ask the new rules? I have shopped carefully to get new CC's with 6.9 permanent interest rate. That is as much I will now pay for any rate. I am just working hard to pay down the Disney card and then I won't use it either except for Disney purchases that allow 0% for 6 months.

With all the reading, I did call other cards to get balances and am shocked to see that I am in debt again, 5K! I have to stop this Disney habit. Is there a support group?

 

[jodifla]

I opened my statement from Chase and saw that my interest had been raised to 22%. After I cooled down I called to ask about it. I was told that I had received a notice in the mail that told me they were going to raise it, this I did not receive! As I told them "If I had received it don't you think I would have called before now?". I asked them if they take into account that - I have never been late with a payment, always pay much more then the minimum payment and have great credit. I was told that I could have the rate lowered to 12% if I closed the account. Of course I told them to have at it. Before now I thought Chase was easy and having a Disney card (Charter member) was great - NOT NOW!!
But my question is this..does Disney care/ or know that the credit card company they have representing them is doing this?!

They might. I got a pretty lengthy survey call about the Chase Disney Rewards Credit Card about 10 days ago.

I hammered them on interest rates and bait and switch in the survey.

Anyone else get this call?

 

[wvjules]

You don't have to wait until the balance is paid to close the account. In fact, I've heard that a creditor who raises your rate might be more willing to lower it if you agree to close the account. A closed account doesn't have to be paid in full upon closure. It just means you can't use it.

Do not close the card until its paid off and even then keep it open to keep your utilization down. If you close the card now it will kill your utilization.

Go to www.creditboards.com They are very helpful. They might even have suggestions on how to get Chase to lower your rate.

 

[gary4jenn]

Be sure to ask for your Disney Reward Dollars before closing your account. Then wait a few days and then call and cancel your acct. If you close it then you don't get any dollars you've earned.

 

[Madformickey]

just called chase today, not a disney card, but we made 2 payments last monthand the secound one was on the 4th(our payment is due the 1st, so we thought we were good for our september payment, and low and behold, our cycle date is the 6th, so since we made it 2 Dys EARLY,it didnt count and they charged us a late fee, we complained, the rmoved the late fee and then i took money from my savings and paid off the card. We are done with chase and all there b/s, im sticking with my cap 1 card from now on,i have no need to be toyed with ,maybe disney should consider cutting there ties with such a bad company and look for another company to sponser there credit card, hell, maybe disney can start there own bank, its about all they arent involved in now.

 

[Stein]

I always thought "Chase" was a perfect name for a credit card company. We had similar issues and am glad to have them out of our life. They weren't as bad as MBNA, but close.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Yikes. I use our Chase card for EVERYTHING because of the 5% cash back on gas, groceries & drugstore / 1% on everything else. I cash in to get $100 back about every other month.

It gets a large balance every month. And because of that, I pay it in full ONLINE every 2 weeks when DH is paid. Its even paid in full before we receive the bill in the mail most times. (I also sort the charges out into the categories of our budget to make sure we aren't over spending.)

Even with that I find that rate they've assigned to us higher than any other card we've ever had. I don't care because I don't ever plan on having a balance with them where I will pay interest. If that's ever the case, I'll pay them off with our home equity line.

Haven't paid interest on a credit card in over 3 years I think. Not planning on starting now if that's the rates they want to charge. WOW!

 

[disneyfreakk]

Yikes. I use our Chase card for EVERYTHING because of the 5% cash back on gas, groceries & drugstore / 1% on everything else. I cash in to get $100 back about every other month.

It gets a large balance every month. And because of that, I pay it in full ONLINE every 2 weeks when DH is paid. Its even paid in full before we receive the bill in the mail most times. (I also sort the charges out into the categories of our budget to make sure we aren't over spending.)

Even with that I find that rate they've assigned to us higher than any other card we've ever had. I don't care because I don't ever plan on having a balance with them where I will pay interest. If that's ever the case, I'll pay them off with our home equity line.

Haven't paid interest on a credit card in over 3 years I think. Not planning on starting now if that's the rates they want to charge. WOW!

what chase card do you have that gives you 5% cash back on gas, groceries & drugstore / 1% on everything else?? I have a Citi credit card with these perks..... are you maybe thinking of Citibank? If not, PLEASE let me know what chase card you have, I NEED one.. lol.


OP, did you get anything worked out?

 

[starwood]

I am only going to use the Disney card and watch carefully that I don't go over any limits. I was planning on paying my DVC maintenance fees with this card in January but it is about 1K.

You don't need to pay your entire maintenance with the reward dollars. I used all of mine in January and it only paid about 1/2. I put the rest on the DV to get more points for this coming January.