In a blatant case of a governmental double standard at work, the state of New Hampshire charges a $3 surcharge on credit card transactions for court fees, fines and other legal fees.

This fee is illegal, in truth, according to the regulations of Visa and MasterCard, which prevent retailers who use their credit cards from charging customers any unauthorized surcharge.  Yet, after stopping the policy of the surcharge after the credit card company requested it, the state Supreme Court ruled that it should be able to collect the surcharge.

With 36,000 credit card transactions made in state courts, the state made $108,000 last year on the surcharge.  Of course, if the court is acting like a business with the payments and surcharges, it hardly seems fair that it ruled in favor of the legality of its actions.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF SERVICES & LEGAL NOTICES ("THIS AGREEMENT") CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE TotalBankruptcy.com WEBSITE (the "Site" or "TotalBankruptcy"), which can be accessed with the following link:

http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/terms_conditions.htm
These terms explain your (and our) rights under this Agreement, and make certain disclosures required by the law. By using the Site, you give your assent to the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to these terms, you may not use the Site. TotalBankruptcy, Inc. ("TotalBankruptcy"," "We" or "Our") has the right, in our sole discretion, to modify, add, or remove any terms or conditions of this Agreement without giving individual notice to you, by posting the changes on the Site. Your continuing use of the Site signifies your acceptance of any such changes.

Last Updated: March 2005
TotalBankruptcy.com is committed to safeguarding the privacy of everyone who uses this website. Accordingly, we have developed this privacy policy to explain to you what information we collect about you, the steps we take to keep this information private and secure, and what we do with this information. This privacy statement is part of our Terms and Conditions, which can be viewed in full by clicking here. By visiting this website, you agree to be bound by the terms of this policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this policy, please do not use this website.
To access the Privacy Policy in its entirety, please use the following link:
http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/privacy_policy.htm