Hudsonhubtimes.com - Attorney general hopefuls vow to stop 'predatory' credit card marketing

by Marc Kovac

Capital Bureau chief

Columbus -- A friend of a friend asked Liza Toher to sign up for a credit card.

He was getting paid for everyone who provided their name and Social Security number, and the Ohio State University graduate student from Rhode Island was happy to help out.

She promptly forgot all about the application until later when it popped up while checking her credit rating.

And she's had plenty of opportunities to sign up for other cards, thanks to active credit card marketers on campus.

"They're everywhere, there's no getting around it," she said, adding later, "and they have all the best shirts."

Toher spoke during a press conference on the OSU campus Sept. 25 alongside the Democratic state treasurer and attorney general candidate, Richard Cordray, who said, if elected, he would fight to limit predatory credit card marketing on college campuses.

Too often, marketers hit college students who are away from home for the first time with misleading or fraudulent claims and freebies, like T-shirts.

"They sign up for credit cards, they end up building credit card debt," he said. "For many of them it imperils their ability to complete their college education because now they're battling an accumulation of student loan debt and also an accumulation of credit card debt."

Jen Detwiler, spokeswoman for Mike Crites, said in an interview the Republican attorney general candidate agreed that protecting Ohioans and college students from unscrupulous sales tactics would be a priority.

"Mike Crites will vigorously enforce the consumer protection laws as they apply to all Ohioans, particularly college students short on finances during the college years," she said. "They can particularly be preyed upon by unscrupulous businesses."

Cordray outlined a three-pronged approach to dealing with the issue. First, he said he would support legislative efforts to limit credit card marketing on college campuses -- there are two bills pending in the Ohio Legislature, for example.

Secondly, Cordray said he would work with boards of trustees of colleges and universities to rethink how they handle alumni information.

"For young people who are either not working or if they're working, it's typically to pay their tuition," he said. "We don't want them to be targeted by the credit card marketers in the first few years that they're out on their own."

Finally, Cordray said, if elected, he would monitor closely credit card marketing on campuses and take action against those who violate the state's consumer sales practices laws.

"Any marketers who gets at all close to the line in terms of fraudulent or misleading marketing practices, we will come down hard on them and we will be tough and consistent in enforcing Ohio's consumer protection laws across the board, but particularly in protecting our young people on college campuses," he said.

Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.