One Debt Begets Another

Credit card delinquency rates rise as housing woes spill over.

Danielle Mathias-Lamb, a second-year nursing student, received a letter from Bank of America in January with a shocking message: The credit card she used to pay for her tuition was going to jump to a 28 percent interest rate from 10 percent.

She didn't make any late payments but she just carrying higher levels of debt than she would have in a perfect universe. She was close to maxing out her credit limit with the $7,000 balance she kept on it. (The card originally came with zero percent introductory rate, one reason she decided to use it to finance her education.) read more...