Even worse, is how credit card companies are using "universal default" to jack up interest rates on existing debt balances to over 30 percent! (Chase is notorious for this - one of the worst.) They periodically check your credit, and even if you have never made a late payment, if there is a traffic ticket or a late payment on some other unrelated account, they jack up your interest to usurious rates. They got the green light to do that after Congress tightened up the bankruptcy laws recently. And, it's completely legal.Not owning a credit card is also completely legal. If you don't like the terms, then take your business someplace else, or better yet, pay cash or use a debit card.
If you don't like the terms, then take your business someplace else, or better yet, pay cash or use a debit card. The problem is, I did like the terms. 7.99 percent interest. But then afterwards, they applied the "universal default" rate to the outstanding balance (which was not part of their original offer/terms). It's changing the terms of a contract after the other side has already acted in reliance on your previous bargain. This has brought many people to the brink of bankruptcy.