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   As we come to the close of the year, I recommend to all my students and clients to get copies of their credit reports so that you can hit the ground running in January with their credit repair plan.

   The mailing addresses for the three major credit bureaus are:

   At last there is some good news coming from the Fed. The Federal Reserve is expected to finalize rules—as early as next week—that would prohibit banks from jacking up interest rates on existing credit card balances, except under limited circumstances.

   If the rule goes through, credit card issuing banks can no longer use the universal default clause and raise your interest rate. Just think – no more late payments that lead to interest rate penalties. If the proposed rules are finalized, issuers will have to give customers more time to pay their bills and eliminate other practices seen as unfair or deceptive. Issuers will also have to make big changes to the way they disclose your account terms.

   The fine print that’s often easy to miss—such as changes to your APR or late payment—will have to be highlighted in boxes in your statements. And if a bank does change your interest rate, you will be able to opt out of the changes and pay off your balances under the old rate.

   The banking industry has argued that the proposed rules will restrict their ability to manage risk and will ultimately force issuers to be stingier with credit and cut back on promotional offers. Consumers will likely see higher rates on new credit cards and potentially more cards with annual fees, as well as fewer perks, according to experts. All the more reason to improve your bad credit because the banks will only be extending high credit limits to those with the best credit scores!.

   One thing to watch out for in the final rules: the scope of the exceptions. Currently, the proposed rules say that issuers can’t raise your rate unless you’re more than 30 days late. (The other exceptions: when you have a variable-rate card or a promotional rate that’s set to expire.) The banking industry argues that those exceptions should be broadened to include other trigger events, such as being late twice in a year.

   The Fed is going to act in a way that will fundamentally rewrite a consumer’s relationship with his or her card company and dramatically increase the protections afforded consumers and how their card product works.

Score one for the consumer!

All I can say is “It’s About Time!