Credit Card Glossary Terms: Part 2

Glossary Part: 1 | 2

This article in the continuation of Credit Card Glossary Terms: Part 1. Debteriorate is here to help you understand credit card lingo and help you stay out of credit card debt. Our services include debt consolidation, debt payoff as well as debt counseling. We’re here to help you feel less overwhelmed and put you on a healthy financial path. Let’s continue with our credit card glossary:

Finance Charge: It’s the total cost of borrowing, including interest and fees.

Non-Dischargeable Debt:  It’s a debt that can’t be eliminated through bankruptcy proceeding. Such debts include, but are not limited to, student loans, most federal, state and local taxes, money borrowed on a credit card to pay those taxes, and child support and alimony.

Overlimit or Over-The-Limit: This refers to a cardholder account that has surpassed its credit limit with a transaction. When cardholders attempt to make purchases that will put them over-the-limit, the card issuer may decline the transactions or, as has become more common in recent years, may charge consumers hefty over-the-limit fees.

Time-Barred Debt: It’s a term that describes a particular type of old, unpaid debt. Every state has a statute of limitations that limits how long a creditor can get a court judgment forcing payment. For credit card debt, states' statutes set limits of three to 10 years. Debt older than that is "time-barred debt."

Universal Default: It’s a common practice among credit card issuers that allows them to increase cardholders' interest rates for any change in risk profile with any lender. So credit cardholders who fail to make timely payments to other creditors (credit card issuers, utilities, car lenders, landlords or mortgage lenders) can see their rates raised by other creditors, even if they were never late in paying those other creditors.

Wage Garnishment: It’s a court-ordered technique of debt collection in which a debtor's paycheck is deducted a set amount and paid to a creditor or a court until the debt is paid in full.

Zombie Debt: It’s an old credit card and other debts that are beyond the statute of limitations, so a debt collector cannot successfully use the courts to collect them. Although these debts no longer have the courts as an avenue of collection, there's nothing to prevent debt collectors from asking consumers to pay them.

If you’re having a hard time paying off your debts, debt collection might be the right course of action for you. Check out Debteriorate.com and read all about our debt collection, debt payoff and debt counseling services. We’ll help you avoid bankruptcy and help you get out of debt. Give us a call at 1-888-258-8478 or fill out our confidential prequalification consultation form online.