Crédit d'impôt : le Sénat s'accorde un délai pour statuer Par Valérie, vendredi 28 décembre 2007 à 18:15 | Actualité | #153 | rss (Source :www.lavieimmo.com ), le 15 Novembre 2007 "Le Sénat remettra-t-il en cause le doublement du crédit d'impôt sur les crédits immobiliers ? La commission des finances du Sénat, présidée par Jean Arthuis, a examiné hier la première partie du projet de loi de finances pour 2008 (PLF 2008). " Article sur le site lavieimmo.com.... lire la suite
Vous avez plusieurs propositions de credit entre les mains. Certains criteres peuvent vous aider a opter pour telle ou telle solution. Des taux de credit immobilier a la carte: Dans les differentes propositions que vous livrent les banques ou les etablissements specialises consultes, le recours a certaines formules de calcul de taux peut s'averer plus avantageux qu'un d'autre, en fonction de votre situation personnelle. Ainsi, avec un taux fixe avec echeance constante, vous connaissez, des la signature du contrat, le taux de credit, le montant des mensualites et la date d'echeance du pret.
Credit d'impot : le Senat s'accorde un delai pour statuer "Le Senat remettra-t-il en cause le doublement du credit d'impot sur les credits immobiliers ? La commission des finances du Senat, presidee par Jean Arthuis, a examine hier la premiere partie du projet de loi de finances pour 2008 (PLF 2008). "
Well, lots of developments in the world of credit cards in 2007. Here is a rundown of the major happenings this year. End of Balance Transfer Nirvana - I think the year 2007 will be remembered as the year that the easy balance transfer deals are over. Since 2002, 0% APR balance transfer offers have been an important strategy to attract new consumers. However, since June this year, credit card companies have made life more difficult to do so. Rather than remove the 0% offers, what credit card issuers did was to actually remove the caps on balance transfer fees. By doing so, they actually made it expensive to do a balance transfer, especially if the amount was large. But why did they actually do this? Well, a couple of friends I know who work in credit card departments say it is precisely because consumers have caught on to the 0% APR BT deals. They would apply for a new card with 0% deals. But rather than staying with the card after the introductory period, they would move their existing balance to either another card with the same issuer, or to another card! Hence, rather than keep the customer (as most cable TV companies do), the credit card issuers actually started losing money on these 0% balance transfer deals. Right now, Citi, Chase and Bank of America have removed the cap on balance transfer fees for most of their cards. Chase does away with 2-cycle billing method - Just before the major banks appeared before the Senate Banking Committee to explain “deceptive” credit card practices, Chase decided to do away with the 2-cycle average daily balance method of computing finance charges and revert to the more usual average daily balance method. I used to caution cardholders who carry a balance against getting a Chase credit card, but now this is no longer a concern. Late Fees and Over-the-limit Fees continue to rise - While headline inflation is around 2%, it certainly is much higher in credit card land with regards to fees. It used to be that late fees and over-the-limit fees were $15. It then went to $19, then $29. Late last year, most credit card issuers had them at $35. Now it is about $39 for most cards. I bet it will soon be $49 before long! New Innovation in Cash Back Credit Card - The Chase Freedom Card is introduced a new concept in the world of cash rebate credit cards. Rather than giving cardholders 3% rebates for items like gasoline, supermarket expenses etc, Chase came up with 5 category of expense items and will pay cardholders 3% rebates on the top 3 items that they spend on the card each month.
Everyone has complaints about credit card companies. They seem to operate by rules that would be illegal in any other industry. Last February a “Credit Card Bill of Rights” was introduced by House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA). The bill has several key provisions: 3. A crack down on payment due date gimmicks. Banks would be required to mail statements out 25 days before they are due, instead of the current 14. They would also prevent credit card companies from charging a late fee when a card holder can provide proof of mailing seven days before the due date. 4. Allow card holders to set mandatory credit limits. Currently, banks approve transactions above your credit limit, and then charge you an “over the limit” fee. 5. A restriction on heavy fee subprime credit cards. This provision requires that some fees be paid up front before the card is issued. 7. Requires credit card companies to fairly allocate payments. This would prevent them from applying payments to the lowest interest rate debts first. 9. Better oversight of the credit card industry. Congress would collect statistics on credit card usage and fees. In March, congress held hearing in which it heard from consumers who felt taken advantage of by unfair and misleading credit card offers. What Does The Credit Card Industry Say? During the hearings, congress heard from the credit card companies who warned of less restrictive credit and fewer reward card opportunites if this legislation passed. Bush has said he opposes this bill. Barack Obama not only supports this bill, but would go beyond it and have credit cards rateding system enacted to improve consumer information on credit card features. This is somewhat surprising since his running mate, Joe Biden, has long been an advocate for credit card companies, many of whom are based in Delaware, the state he represents. John McCain, who reportedly is a big credit card user, has not taken any position on this bill. I think that most of this bill is excellent, and some of it is silly. Restrictions on arbitrary rate hikes and double cycle billing are both no brainers, as are allowing mandatory credit limits. I am also a big fan of the provision forcing banks to apply payments to the highest interest rate balance first. I also have no problem with the provisions clarifying language, although it will probably end up as small print somewhere that I will never look. As for the credit card industry’s arguments, in the wake of the current financial crisis, more restrictive credit terms for sub-prime borrowers seems like a good idea now more than ever. If however, I was to believe the doom and gloom scenarios painted by the banks, I would still be in favor of the credit card bill of rights. I do not want to travel for free because banks are profiting through unfair and deceptive credit card practices. If these shady practices are the only reason reward cards exist, frankly I would rather not vacation on the backs of my less fortunate neighbors who have been cheated by their banks.
I personally love my credit cards. But I do know that there are people who do not like carrying credit cards. Most of the time, they have had bad experiences with them - like getting into mountains of credit card debt. Many of my friends also feel the “urge” to carry a balance if they carry a credit card. For myself, I have never carried a balance and it is for this reason that I really love my credit card. Here are my reasons why a credit card is actually a good thing if you can use it responsibly. 1. Earn reward points - If you pay your bills on time every month and do not carry a balance, then reward credit cards allow you to earn “points” that can be used to redeem a variety of rewards. I have used reward points for airline tickets and many merchandise and I find it such an useful feature. 2. Earn cash rebates - I presently use the Blue Cash and I have been earning cash rebates with this card. For the last two years, my rebates work out to about 2+%. Every anniversary statement, I get a credit from the rebates I earn and I have a much lower credit card bill for one month in the year. 3. Credit Cards help me build a credit history - Let’s face it, my first credit card years ago helped me get started in building my credit. A good credit is essential for you to get the lowest rates for your mortgage and auto loans. Obviously, abusing your credit card can also hurt your credit. 4. Credit Cards allows me to carry less cash - I seldom have cash in my wallet. That is because I use to pay everything on my credit card. Mrs Credit Card is always having a go at me because my wallet is always empty! But hey, why carry cash which can be stolen when a credit card will do. 5. Credit Cards have purchase protection features - I used this feature a couple of time when I accidentally broke the product I bought from a retailer. American Express simply accepted the responsibility and I managed to exchange the product. 6. Extended warranty feature - Credit cards these days have extended warranty feature whereby they will take care of any repairs beyond the warranty period. Amex has this feature in their cards and I have used this for an old camera that I had. 8. Emergency Line of credit - My credit limit provides me with an emergency source of credit should I need any funds. In my opinion, this is important to have because when you actually need cash, it is very difficult to get! 9. Credit Cards have concierge features - I use my Amex Platinum to book restaurants, help me when I have trouble with my airline tickets. You do not need an Amex Platinum card to enjoy such features. Many no annual fee Visas and Mastercard also have concierge features which are massively underutilized by cardholders.
Ok - Christmas and the holiday season is coming. Here are my personal holiday credit card tips for the festive season. Yes, if you have a reward credit card that you have not used for a while, chances are that you may still have some reward points that are unused. Make sure you check when they expire and use them during the holiday season. As with all merchants, credit card reward programs offer discounts and special deals during the festive season. They usually come in the form of special items, less points requirements or special discounts when you shop through the credit card reward program’s site. For example, American Express has shopamex.com, Discover has shopdiscover.com. These programs will offer special deals throughout the festive season. Do you rack up more credit card debt than you should and get a January overhang? The key to avoid impulse purchase is to actually budget and do most of your shopping early. Last minute shopping often leads to overspending! By budgeting and doing your shopping early, you also give yourself time to search for the best deals (whether offline or online). If you do have to carry a higher balance in the next couple of months, then give your credit card issuer a call and ask them to give you a lower rate. If you have been paying on time and your credit score is good, there is a decent chance they will agree to your request. This obviously would not work if you have not used that credit card for a while or have a record of missing payments! Get a 0% APR credit card for purchase Once again, if you really have to carry a higher balance over the Christmas season, you should try to get a credit card that offers a 0% APR deal for purchases. Search for the deals with the longest introductory period. If you have very good credit, then Blue from American Express may even give you a 0% deal for as long as 15 months. Shop at GAP or any well known retailer and chances are that when you check out, you will be asked if you want to apply for their store credit card. “With this card, you will get a 5% discount whenever you shop here” will be the standard sales pitch. If you do the math carefully, chances are that you will hardly spend enough to make that discount worthwhile. Furthermore, if you respond to every offer, you’ll soon be carrying a bunch of retail store credit cards and have the fattest wallet! With that, I would like to ask you to share your other holiday credit card tips with us.