Lawyer Fed Up and Not Paying Up

(CBS)  A California attorney is fed up with his high interest credit card -- and he's not going to take it anymore.

Ben Pavone, of San Diego, is saying he will not pay his credit card payments until his creditor Bank of America lowers his high interest rate, which is currently set at 27.99 percent.

Pavone said on "The Early Show" he is also angry that his credit limit has been decreased.

But what will happen if he doesn't pay his credit card bill?

Pavone says that if the bank damages his credit for not paying, he will sue them.

The lawyer says he's been a good customer, and has paid his credit card bill on-time for 13 years. The bank, he claims, raised his interest rate and lowered his spending limit without warning or explanation.

"I think that's what a lot of people are frustrated about," Pavone said. "A lot of feedback coming into my office is these are people with good payment records. Excellent payment records. They've been paying consistently, and have paid for 10, 15, 20 years -- in my case 13 years -- there's really no cause for it. The spread from 28 percent to what they're paying, which is maybe a half percent to 1 percent, is simply opportunism."

But is "this is unfair" a legal argument?

Pavone said Bank of America is prepared for this kind of litigation.

He said, "At the end of the day, the legal system is composed of people, judges, juries, and if they don't have a good enough explanation, there's always a legal avenue to find a way to seek justice."

But is Pavone ready to face the consequences?

Pavone said he's used to being an underdog in the courtroom.

"It's part of my job," he said. "This is really not a big deal in terms of taking an underdog case."

[Freedomforever88]

I wonder if he would like his clients to not pay his bill?

[jeff-fla]

A few years ago I got ride of it all. I now use my debit card. I now have no loans and no credit cards. If we all would take this stand, we soon would have them on there knees. All of these years I have been doing this, I have had only one problem and it just happened a few months ago. I used to rent cars for business trips. Never had one problem until a few months ago. Avis told me I had to have a true credit card to now rent a car. I could apply and get one and then rent a car, it will only take a few minutes. They can keep there cars.

[susango]

Kudoz to him taking on Bank of America. I too think they are underhanded. Yes they tell you they are going to raise the interest rate. But why? They do it to pad their pockets. They have gotten stimulus money and are probably getting more.

They only reason I have balances on my cards was to help finance my business because SBA won't lend any money.

I too have always paid on time but being a good customer doesn't seem to matter. Nobody believes in customer service these days. Heck half the time I can't understand a word being said to me by the foreigner on the other end of the phone line. It is not the card holders fault they pay their CEOs too much money. Maybe the should cut some of their expenses and help the working person trying to make an honest living and trying to be responsible for their bills. Doubling and tripling interest rates on good customers is not the solution. I think they are purposely trying to make consumers default on their obligations to them.

We need a revolution to stop some of this goverment BS

[cidaia]

This is not a good time for carrying large balances on a credit card. Think of what ticks look like when they're gorging on your blood - that's a happy banker.

[jbeckett5]

This whole mess has not affected me at all. Maybe it's because I don't carry a balance on any credit card. I'd rather spend my money on my life than on interest. Google for Dave Ramsey's "snowball" and get out of the trap!

[alexlmbp]

Of all people, an attorney should know to read the fine print. I dont know of any credit card company that doesnt notify their customers by way of orginal contract that they have the right to increase their rates when ever they choose. No matter how high. The "Borrower is Slave to the Lender" You borrowe someone elses money, you either pay it off the first month or agree through terms and conditions to payments in monthly installments. No matter the rate of interest. Dont want to pay the fees, dont borrow the money.

[snipe44]

Here is my opinion "Oh Mr Humble One"!
The problem goes like this:
They offer you a great deal "zero or low interest".
Then "THEY SUCK YOU IN"!
Sometime down the road they decide to send you a notice as follows:
Sign this NEW Contract or pay up/pay off in 30 days.
My old interest rate of 9.99% is going up to 26.99% for no reason!
This happend less than a year ago. So, I called to ask why, and was told "we have to make money in these hard times, too".
I find it funny, they only jacked up one credit card, not both!
I'm almost done paying that high interest one off, two more pays to go!
Then I work on the next one and I'm so done.

What they should have done is:
A) Hold the low interest rates so customers wouldn't have to default on the cards and loans. This would stop us good customers from having to pay for the defaults.
B) Work with the customers that were/are hurting. Not forclose/default them. My Opinion is "SOME" money is better than "NONE".
So again, us good customers have to pay.

What we should do, in the near future on a specific date, walk into our banks, pay off our cards and loans "in the name of ABOLISH HIGH INTEREST". Telling the banks "THEY NEED US" as much as "WE NEED THEM".

Doing so would create one of two scenarios:
A) the banks would take notice and change.
B) the banks do nothing and loose their customer base.

SIGNED: Almost Debt Free

[bootmanjohn]

I have a similiar experience happen to me with Bank of America. My partner & I used to carry the Rainbow Card VISA with B of A. A few months ago, I requested a credit line increase. Instead, one of the "brilliant" credit analysts, who evidently disregarded his or her training in customer service, lowered the credit limit down to within a few hundred dollars of the outstanding balance. I called the next day and spoke with "Luke", a senior credit analyst. He told me that the decision was based on my partner's credit history. I thought that was rather peculiar, since my partner was strictly an authorized user and I was using just my credit history for the additional credit. I told "Luke" I do not deal with underhanded companies and told him I would have my credit union send a cashier's check immediately to B of A to pay off the balance. I then demanded him to close the account. "Luke" recommended I do not close the account. I then reminded him he was in no position to tell me what I could or could not do with the account. I then concluded the call.

[fiestyone1]

I am all with this guy. Chase and Citibank did this same thing to me too. I called them both and pitched a fit and was told basically too bad. What burns me more than anything is the fact that these two banks received bailout money.. only to pay their top ex's bonuses and us little people get the screw. I can not wait to file bankrupcy so these credit card companies and eat it and eat it good.

[jwesel1]

Got to http://www.moveyourmoney.info that has the listing of good banks. Just enter your zip code.

[misands]

What a bunch of spoiled brats we have become as a nation. Why can't this guy shop around for a lower interest rate somewhere else and transfer the balance? If he has a really good credit rating, then that shouldn't be a big problem. It seems that a lot of people have some sort of misconception that they have a God given right to borrow money they don't have at a low interest rate.
Let the market work it out. If B/A looses a ton of customers to other financial institutions offering a lower rate, they will be forced to either lower their rates to compete or find a new way of generating revenue.

[HotDot1947]

Bank of America did the exact same thing to me. I had no late charges ,paid sometimes double minimum. I called them and told them I was not paying,now I get two,sometimes three calls a day from a collection agency called Redline Recovery. I looked them up on the web and they are one of the worst agengies with many many complaints. They can keep on calling until BofA does something about my limit and interest rate.