Contacting Credit Card Companies

During tough economic times it is best to be proactive than reactive. I know many credit card companies have programs which can lower rates if there is a legitimate reason. A legitimate reason isn't I think you charge too much lower my interest.

A legitimate reason is lower pay due to less hours, very common today. I had a client who worked on commission and went from earning almost $90,000 a year to about $70,000 a year due to poor economy. He started to miss payments and he went to default rate of 26.99% or higher on some cards.

I had helped him refinance his home about two years earlier and he asked me for advice. I told him to call his creditors since he did have a real reason for being behind on cards. Some lowered their rate to 2% or 3% for 6 months at a time. He would have to call again after the 6 months to reapply.

This helped him get caught up and actually lowered his balance. After the 6 months he was able to get his budget under better control and hasn't been late since.

Advice is to contact lenders to see what programs they have for you. Some may be jerks and not help, but at least you know. That's what my client found out. One creditor told him to apply somewhere else or transfer his balance to another card. Not real helpful.