I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 627 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and transparent prac-
tices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer 
credit plan, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 22, 2009 
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. JONES, Mr. 
KANJORSKI, Ms. WATERS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. 
CAPUANO, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. OBEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HINOJOSA, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. OLVER, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, 
Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BRADY 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 
BISHOP of New York, Mr. FILNER, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. 
MARKEY
of Massachusetts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. 
SUTTON, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
WELCH, and Mr. HIGGINS) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
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, 
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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: 
‘‘§ 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 14th day after the creditor provides notice of an 
increase in the annual percentage rate in accordance 
with subsection (c). 
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‘‘(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 
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 
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