Where's the Beef....? TILLA 15 U.S.C. § 1637

[My~Cuz~n~Vinny~]

(2) Advance notice of other significant changes

required.--In <<NOTE: Deadline.>> the case of any credit card

account under an open end consumer credit plan, a creditor shall

provide a written notice of any significant change, as

determined by rule of the Board, in the terms (including an

increase in any fee or finance charge, other than as provided in

paragraph (1)) of the cardholder agreement between the creditor

and the obligor, not later than 45 days prior to the effective

date of the change.

The Truth in Lending Act expressly requires that a credit-card issuer make extensive written disclosure to the cardholder of the terms and conditions governing the account.

Plaintiff apparently suggests that the credit-card contract need not be in writing.

Wouldn't it would be putting the cart before the horse to permit Plaintiff

to argue that because it imposed those rates, therefore they must be authorized by some contract that the Plaintiff has proved incapable of producing ?

This would also patently violate the Best Evidence Rule. Under that rule, a party that seeks to prove the terms of a contract must submit the original contract or, provided an adequate foundation is set under C.P.L.R. 4539, an image thereof. Plaintiff may only rely on “secondary” evidence to prove the existence or terms of a contract upon a threshold showing that the document has been lost or destroyed through no fault of the Plaintiff. See Taft v. Little, 178 N.Y. 127, 133, 70 N.E. 211, 211 (1904); Sirico v. Cotto, 67 Misc. 2d 636, 637-38, 324 N.Y.S.2d 483, 485-86 (N.Y.C. Civ. Ct. 1971).