PROVIDENCE –– U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse brought together a small group of Rhode Islanders on Monday morning to talk about the problems they’ve had dealing with high interest rates imposed by credit-card companies.

The four participants related a range of personal histories that ultimately ended in the same predicament — interest rates that nearly tripled over short periods. The group included a young man once hospitalized with a debilitating disease, a businesswoman with multiple credit accounts, an elderly man and a mid-career professional laid off for a short period.

In May, President Obama signed into law the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which addresses some of the issues the speakers raised Monday at the meeting in the John Hope Settlement House in Providence. Whitehouse, a Democrat, has sponsored two other proposals addressing credit-card issues.

“It’s a good piece of legislation,” Whitehouse said of the federal CARD Act, which became law on May 22. “But it didn’t address the fundamental question: ‘How high should credit-card rates be?’ ”

The first of Whitehouse’s proposals would provide incentives for credit-card companies to keep interest rates down; the second would reverse a decades-old federal law that allows companies to shop for states with lax consumer laws, allowing onerous interest rates and fees to be imposed on account holders across the country.

One man, Douglas Corey, of North Scituate, said the interest rate on his credit card more than doubled, from 12.74 percent to 28.99 percent, even though he made regular payments on the account.

The restrictions that companies place on credit-card use and payments make it seem as if an account holder is “walking this tightrope and they’re poking sticks at you,” Corey said.

William Floriani, an elderly resident of North Providence, said he had a similar experience when he switched credit-card accounts to gain a lower interest rate, only to see it double.

“You try to be a good consumer . . . and not bury yourself in debt,” he said.

It’s a tactic Floriani said he finds “unconscionable.”

pgrimald@projo.com