II 
Calendar No. 55 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 627 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 30, 2009 
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and 
transparent practices relating to the extension of credit 
under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit Cardholders’ 
Bill of Rights Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT CARDS ON TERMS CONSUMERS CAN REPAY. 
(a) RETROACTIVE RATE INCREASES AND UNIVERSAL 
DEFAULT LIMITED.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 127A the following new section: 
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‘‘§ 127B. Additional requirements for credit card ac-
counts under an open end consumer 
credit plan 
‘‘(a) RETROACTIVE RATE INCREASES
AND UNI-
VERSAL DEFAULT LIMITED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-
section (b), no creditor may increase any annual per-
centage rate of interest applicable to the existing 
balance on a credit card account of the consumer 
under an open end consumer credit plan. 
‘‘(2) EXISTING BALANCE DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this subsection and subsections (b) and (c), 
the term ‘existing balance’ means the amount owed 
on a consumer credit card account as of the end of 
the 7th day after the creditor provides notice of an 
increase in the annual percentage rate in accordance 
with subsection (c). 
‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF EXISTING BALANCES FOL-
LOWING
RATE
INCREASE.—If a creditor increases 
any annual percentage rate of interest applicable to 
the credit card account of a consumer under an open 
end consumer credit plan and there is an existing 
balance in the account to which such increase may 
not apply, the creditor shall allow the consumer to 
repay the existing balance using a method provided 
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by the creditor which is at least as beneficial to the 
consumer as 1 of the following methods: 
‘‘(A) An amortization period for the exist-
ing balance of at least 5 years starting from the 
date on which the increased annual percentage 
rate went into effect. 
‘‘(B) The percentage of the existing bal-
ance that was included in the required min-
imum periodic payment before the rate increase 
cannot be more than doubled. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN FEES.—If— 
‘‘(A) a creditor increases any annual per-
centage rate of interest applicable on a credit 
card account of the consumer under an open 
end consumer credit plan; and 
‘‘(B) the creditor is prohibited by this sec-
tion from applying the increased rate to an ex-
isting balance, 
the creditor may not assess any fee or charge based 
solely on the existing balance.’’. 
(b) EXCEPTIONS TO THE AMENDMENT MADE BY 
SUBSECTION (a).—Section 127B of the Truth in Lending 
Act is amended by inserting after subsection (a) (as added 
by subsection (a)) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A creditor may increase 
any annual percentage rate of interest applicable to 
the existing balance on a credit card account of the 
consumer under an open end consumer credit plan 
only under the following circumstances: 
‘‘(A) CHANGE IN INDEX.—The increase is 
due solely to the operation of an index that is 
not under the creditor’s control and is available 
to the general public. 
‘‘(B) 
EXPIRATION
OF
PROMOTIONAL 
RATE.—The increase is due solely to the expira-
tion of a promotional rate. 
‘‘(C) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH WORKOUT 
PLAN.—The increase is due solely to the fact 
the consumer failed to comply with a negotiated 
workout plan with the creditor. 
‘‘(D) PAYMENT NOT RECEIVED DURING 30- 
DAY GRACE PERIOD AFTER DUE DATE.—The 
increase is due solely to the fact that any con-
sumer’s minimum payment has not been re-
ceived within 30 days after the due date for 
such minimum payment. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON INCREASES DUE TO FAIL-
URE TO COMPLY WITH WORKOUT PLAN.—Notwith-
standing paragraph (1)(C), the annual percentage 
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rate in effect with respect to each category of trans-
actions for a credit card account under an open end 
consumer credit plan after the increase permitted 
under such subsection due to the failure of a con-
sumer to comply with a workout plan may not ex-
ceed the annual percentage applicable to such cat-
egory of transactions on the day before the effective 
date of the workout plan. 
‘‘(3) STANDARDS REQUIRED.—The Board shall 
prescribe, by regulation, standards— 
‘‘(A) for entering into any workout plan 
applicable to any credit card account under an 
open end consumer credit plan; and 
‘‘(B) governing any such workout plan.’’. 
(c) ADVANCE NOTICE OF RATE INCREASES AND SIG-
NIFICANT CONTRACT CHANGES.—Section 127B of the 
Truth in Lending Act is amended by inserting after sub-
section (b) (as added by subsection (b)) the following new 
subsections: 
‘‘(c) ADVANCE NOTICE OF RATE INCREASES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any credit 
card account under an open end consumer credit 
plan, no increase in any annual percentage rate of 
interest (other than an increase described in sub-
section (b)(1)(A)) may take effect unless the creditor 
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provides a written notice to the consumer at least 45 
days before the increase takes effect which fully de-
scribes the changes in the annual percentage rate, in 
a complete and conspicuous manner, and the extent 
to which such increase would apply to an existing 
balance. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON RATE INCREASE NOTICES 
WITHIN FIRST YEAR.—Except in the case of an in-
crease described in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) of 
subsection (b)(1), no written notice under paragraph 
(1) of an increase in any annual percentage rate of 
interest on any credit card account under an open 
end consumer credit plan (for which notice is re-
quired under such paragraph) shall be effective be-
fore the end of the 1-year period beginning when the 
account is opened. 
‘‘(3) 
MINIMUM
TERM
FOR
PROMOTIONAL 
RATES.—In the case of a promotional rate, no writ-
ten notice under paragraph (1) of an increase in any 
annual percentage rate of interest on any credit card 
account under an open end consumer credit plan 
shall be effective before the end of a 6-month period 
beginning from the date the promotional rate takes 
effect. 
‘‘(d) ADVANCE NOTICE OF ACCOUNT CLOSURE.— 
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