First on my agenda is Credit Card interest rates [ENTER EVIL MUSIC].
They are ridiculous, scary, and somewhat uncontrollable. Yes, uncontrollable. I say that because your credit card company can raise your rate AT ANY TIME regardless of payment history, credit history, your good name or your state's Usury laws.
This is perfectly LEGAL (as much as it pains me to say it).
How? Well that came from the Supreme Court ruling in the 1978 case Marquette Nat. Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp.
In summary, the Supreme Court ruled that a national bank could charge the highest interest rate allowed in their home state to customers living anywhere in the United States, including states with restrictive interest caps.
So for example, I am a cardholder and my state of Illinois has a restrictive cap of 15% but my lender is located in Utah which has a cap of 24.9%...well this means that my lender will probably charge me the 24.9%.
When it comes to credit card interest rates, the law in a lender's home state rules. It doesn't matter what kind of rate cap exists in a customer's state.
This is what is knows as an Usury Law. In the United States, usury laws are state laws that specify the maximum legal interest rate at which loans can be made. Congress has opted not to regulate interest rates on purely private transactions, although it arguably has the power to do so under the interstate commerce clause of Article I of the Constitution.
So keep in mind that each state has its own statute which dictates how much interest can be charged before it is considered usurious or unlawful.
Understand that there is a glimmer of hope and that glimmer is YOU. You are in control of your credit history. Keep it clean by paying on time and paying off the balance every month (although this is one of many techniques to keep your credit clean) and your interest rate will be in your favor.
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