--- title: New credit card legislation passes the House description: The House of Representatives passed the HR 627, also known as the Credit Cardholders' Bill or Rights, on Thursday with an overwhelming 357 to 70… authors: - name: timestaff url: https://money.com/author/timestaff/ articles: 459 covers: - Credit Cards - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true published: '2009-05-01T20:21:48.000Z' modified: '2009-05-01T20:21:48.000Z' section: Credit Cards word_count: 282 canonical: https://money.com/new-credit-card-legislation-passes-the-house/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![New credit card legislation passes the House](https://money.com/img/logo-social.png) The House of Representatives passed the [HR 627](http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-627), also known as the Credit Cardholders' Bill or Rights, on Thursday with an overwhelming 357 to 70 vote. Introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (we dubbed her the ["best friend a credit card user ever had"](http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/15/magazines/moneymag/rosato_credit_card.moneymag/) in the May issue of *Money*), the bill aims to protect consumers from sudden interest rate hikes, unannounced late fees, double-cycle billing and other abusive practices. A similar measure is expected to go to the Senate as early as next week, and President Obama supports the legislation. AP [outlines](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuH60WRkW6leKNctMHB6qosuf8xQD97T3L1G0) some of the key measures in the bill: - Requires that customers receive 45 days' notice before interest rates are increased (if the bill becomes law, it won't take effect for another year--except for this provision, which would be enacted within 90 days) - Eliminates [double-cycle billing](http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-double-cycle-billing.htm) and "retroactive" interest rate hikes on previous balances - Bans credit cards for anyone under 18 and puts limits on cards for college students - Elminates fees for paying bills by phone or Internet - Allows cardholders to set personal credit limits that cannot be exceeded - Requires banks to apply payments to balances with higher interest rates first Sounds good, huh? Of course, the banking industry doesn't think so. A [Time.com](http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1894041,00.html) story quotes a rep who's not so keen on new regulation: > "The American people can't manage their credit," says one industry heavyweight, "If you change the rules, guess what, we'll just start at a higher rate and you'll see a decrease in availability of credit and an increase in the cost to everyone else." Ouch. What do you think? Does this reform mean real change for consumers? 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