Survey: What Consumers Don’t Know About Credit-Card Rights

Consumers don’t know squat about their credit-card rights if a new survey from CreditDonkey.com is on target.

Among the results:

>> 7 out of 10 respondents do not know the Fair Credit Billing Act limits their responsibility for unauthorized charges to a credit card to only $50.

>> More than 4 in 10 consumers incorrectly believe credit card issuers can increase interest rates after the first 6 months. Nearly 1 in 10 believes issuers can never increase interest rates.

>> 1 in 6 consumers believe credit card issuers can raise rates on an existing balance “any time the issuer feels like raising it.”

>> Another surprising finding: 55% of respondents think they have only 30 or 45 days to get a dispute letter in front of a creditor to take advantage of the federal consumer protection law.

>> Half of respondents indicated they still need to pay the questioned amount while a dispute is under investigation.

The survey of 504 consumers over age 18 was conducted July 7-8.