Confused by late fees on your credit card statement? Not sure how much or why credit card companies are charging you for late fees? So is congress and there is good news around the corner.

Although I’m not holding my breath just yet, yesterday the Senate Permanent Subcommittee held its first of several meetings examining the business practices of credit card companies.

Senator Carl Levin will testify that many credit lenders engage in abusive and unfair practices. One person who voiced his opinion rather loudly (rightfully so) was an Ohio Man; Mr. Wannemacher who’s $3,200.00 credit card debt turned into $10,700.00 after interest and fees.

Mr. Wannemacher used a Chase card in case you wanted to know who to avoid, but other banks who employ similar fees are Bank of America and Citigroup.

Some other little credit card practices you may not be aware of are listed below:

Universal default: Make a late payment on credit card A, and other companies raise interest rates on your other cards.

Lowest interest first policy: charging consumers different rates for different types of transactions; transactions with the lowest rate purchases get paid off first, so that high-interest transactions hang around, charging you more.

Trailing interest: credit card companies charge interest on an entire purchase after you've paid it off.

So far I haven’t been impressed by too many of the legislative acts that have been put in place to protect consumers from these types of things. For example; the mandatory “credit counseling” rule for any would be bankruptcy filers.

Credit counseling in my opinion one of the biggest scams on earth and would take the BK any day over that. I’m surprised they don’t share office space with Cash Call and Pay Day Loans, but I don’t make the rules. However, as a proud American I’ll trust our government and keep my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, it would be wise for Americans to realize borrowing money is more expensive then it’s ever been. Your credit score is more important then its ever been and if you want to live a comfortable life, I suggest you become familiar with every aspect of both.

If you don’t understand your credit card bills, or don’t know why they say what they do on your credit report, we’d love to hear your opinions.