If lenders have their way, consumer attorneys warn, the rules on credit-card protections could change in their favor.
So, too, could federal regulations on predatory mortgage lending, closed-end mortgage credit, home-equity credit lines and adjustable-rate mortgages.
Disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act can help.
But for the first time in 23 years, the Federal Reserve Board is embarking on a complete review of "Regulation Z," which implements the Truth in Lending Act.
Initially, it wants to know what you think about the format of open-end credit disclosures, the content of the disclosures and other important protections.
Consumer attorneys say that lenders will take full advantage of this situation to convince the Fed to relax rules that have caused them to lose costly lawsuits.
"Through a backdoor method of getting around any degree of responsibility, credit cards have uniformly slipped in arbitration agreements," said Barry L. Kramer, a Los Angeles consumer class-action attorney.
Increasingly, he says, these agreements, prohibiting class-action lawsuits, are becoming accepted by federal courts.
Borrowers all could wind up paying 30 percent credit-card rates if disclosure tactics are permitted to go unchallenged in court.
Some say the lawyers make more than the plaintiffs.
However, it can cost $500 to $1,000 if you are forced to go to arbitration in a dispute.
Who is going to pay that kind of money because of a disagreement over a $50 credit-card charge?
The Federal Reserve Board, Kramer believes, could be most effective if it simply prohibited mandatory arbitration provisions.
Elizabeth Renuart, attorney for the National Consumer Law Center, Boston, says that the Fed's review is not necessarily a concession to the industry.
Requiring a "Schumer Box," which discloses abbreviated credit-card pricing terms on credit-card solicitations, on the final agreement after a credit card is issued.