Credit Cards and Contract Law

11/30/2006

Dear Editor,


I have a question for you lawyer types out there in relation to Frontline's "Secret History of the Credit Card."


Anyone with plastic in their wallet knows that the credit card companies can change the terms of the contract at any time for any reason.


My question is: if the credit card company can change the contract at any time, why can't the consumer? The credit card company issues its disclosures with extremely precise language to ensure that no normal person can make heads or tails of it. Why can't consumers issue their own disclosures to the credit card company stating their own terms of repayment when they get socked with a late fee or a precipitous increase in the interest rate?


I'm asking a very serious question here about navigating the legal waters in this matter. There is something in contract law that has to be based on something more than just the letter of the law. Something having to do with
Locke's notion that all legislation is really the "promulgation" of a natural law, and natural law is what founded our country, no? If so, then is there an implied reciprocity between the parties to the contract? Even a verbal agreement is considered legally binding if both parties agree to it, which is where the idea of shaking hands on it or giving one's word has legal, as well as moral, implications.


So, I am wondering if there might not be some possibility to set a precedent by forcing this issue of implied reciprocity in contract law such that the debtor can issue a disclosure on what will and will not be paid during the
repayment period. I'm looking for something that can be duked out in the courts and made to go all the way to the Supreme Court. Then we can see what those guys are really made of.


I already know this is a David and Goliath situation. I don't need to be told how big Goliath is. I don't care. What I want to know is if there is a chink in their armor that can be exploited. Something like Rosa Parks saying "no."


Thanks,
Margie A. Hoyt
Watonwan Co. A/C