Fallen behind with credit card payments?

Have you been receiving calls from your credit card company? Are you having trouble making the minimum payment on your credit cards?

If you answer yes to both of these questions, you are not alone. According to the Fitch Retail Credit Card Index and Consumer Action, credit card, delinquencies spiked in the last quarter of 2008, and a wave of credit card defaults were expected in 2009.

But new legislation, dubbed the "Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights" by supporters, will curtail many practices card companies have long relied on to boost profits and keep consumers in debt.

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, signed into law by President Obama on May 22, 2009, duplicates many of the reforms the Federal Reserve Board adopted in late 2008. But it goes further by broadening some consumer protections and establishing others.

Below are tips that will make contacting your credit card issuer a bit easier.

Contact your issuer

Contrary to what you might think, most issuers say they are interested in talking to you and are more flexible than you think. Start your call to your credit card company's customer service line, and ask to be transferred to the collections or risk department.

Late payments

Explain your problem and say that you are willing to work with the lender to come up with an affordable alternative payment plan. Typically, lenders make these decisions on a case-by-case basis, depending on how long you've been a cardholder, how often you've run into problems paying, how late the payments are and how likely it is that you will pay the company back.

Is the reason you can't pay because you're out of work or have a medical problem? Is the problem temporary? If so, issuers may give you a temporary payment plan to reduce your minimum monthly payment.

Options that may be available

Some of the options that your credit card company may be willing to offer if you were out of work and fell behind on a couple of payments and you've just recently found a new job:

- Wipe out the missed payment to bring your account current.

- Reduce your current interest rate.

- Waive late or over-limit fees.

- Eliminate part of the principal balance owed.

Debt management planA DMP might be the most effective if multiple creditors are involved. A nonprofit credit-counseling agency can help you set up a DMP to include all your credit accounts.

To find a credit counselor, contact the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Call 1-800-388-2277 or visit the Web site at www.nfcc.org. You may also visit the Family & Consumer Science Take Control site at www.nctakecontrol.com or Consumer Action at www.consumer-action.org.

Toi N. Degree is the Family and Consumer Education Agent with Rowan County Cooperative Extension Service. Call her at 704-216-8970 or e-mail: toi_degree@ncsu.edu.