I was able to enroll in the Chase credit card "Balance Liquidation Program". This closed my account and gave me a fixed monthly payment. The balance is to be paid off at 2% interest over a 5 year period. This is a hardship program based on certain life events (divorce, death of spouse... I don't have the full list, if anyone does please give it.)

Please note the Chase program I have has nothing to do with their "Payment Protector Plan" which is an option you pay for enrollment in that lets you defer payments for various reasons.

The type of hardship program I was able to get with Chase seems to be a well kept secret. A Google search turns up almost nothing about it's existence as of the date of this post.

Does anyone know if Bank of America has a similar program? I know I can call and ask them directly but I would like to know the name of the program and the terms and qualifications before I call.

For the benefit of others please post any information you have for the other major credit card companies as well.
Thanks!

Bank of America has a Hardship number---1-866-635-4311. Our interest rate was jerked up VERY high--we were'nt going to be able to pay. They lowered the rate back to the original 12%--which is at least reasonable. He didn't mention a time limit. I don't know their list of hardships.

Can I please have the number to the chase Balance liquidation Program. We received a letter and I missed placed it Thnk_you

800-404-6220, although by now...

I don't know if Bank of America has this program; however, JP Morgan/Chase offered this to me after they arbitrarily raised my minimum monthly payment from $271 to $681 - I was never late with a minimum payment, nor did I ever miss a payment. Apparently they chose a certainly group of low rate, life of the loan, portfolios and then just raised the minimum payments. My question is this: in order to join this program, I must cancel my card and then the fixed rate at 2% stays for 5 years... a good financial deal, however, I am concerned this will effect my credit report/rating. Does anyone know if this program is detrimental? It is obvious that JP Morgan/Chase is reducing their revolving accounts... does anyone know anything more about this?

Chase claims that they report the account as closed voluntarily by the customer with no negative comment or impact. Others have confirmed online that this is how it shows up on their own personal credit reports. There is one slight snag... your total credit and available credit will both be reduced; therefore your % of credit available will also be reduced, which is important if you have high outstandings vs total credit. Not that many (any?) banks or other lenders are approving new credit, except maybe captive lenders for cars and other hard-to-move inventory and services.

My interest rate went up to 20% with Chase for no reason, I have autopayments so they are on time each month with no defaults. They said they raised it due to the economy. I told them I would file a Chapter 13 and not pay at all with that rate and they put me through the hardship line. They gave me a 6% fixed rate for 5 years with the agreement to close the account. I was thrilled since my balance was a revolving door with interest and finance charges each month. You tell them you took a significant reduction in income... they don't require any bank statements, etc. I was happy to work out an agreement that allowed me to make my payments, keep good credit, and actually be able to pay off my debt and have it go DOWN each month!

I just called the number that was sent to me in the mail: 1-866-529-5938. They lowered my interest rate from a whopping 28% down to 12%. I had an overdue balance of $502. They suspended and erased the late payments for that amount and required me to make $99 a month payments for the next 4 months which they require to be automatically withdrawn from my checking account. After the four months, it is up to me how to pay them and my min monthly payment will still only be $99. It will NOT show up on your credit report as credit counceling or anything like that. It will only positively affect your credit, which is nice!

I also entered this program by BOA. Beware... they actually did not suspend the past due amount as promised and actually started reporting me as late to the credit bureau. I had never been "late" as in over 30 days late ever! I looked at my credit report and was stunned to see the 30 days late icon for the last 3 months. I called and talked to a person who made my so mad I thought I was going to explode. They did not seem to even understand what I was talking about. This company has caused me so much grief that I get palpitations when I see their name in print. Stay way from Bank of America!!

Charges dilemma. ATM charges are an unfortunate fact of life for out-of-network banking consumers. Thanks to all the overdraft money Dodd-Frank will be taking from banks, the large money banks are planning to fill the gap with higher ATM charges. JP Morgan Chase is leading the charge, with a $5 ATM fee for non-customers in Illinois.