Household – HSBC Watch consumer advocates said for years that a combination of high HSBC interest rates, questionable payment processing and troubled merchants is a bad combination for customers and credit card holders.

Add Storehouse to HSBC’s list of merchants, also known as troubled companies that need every dime of ill-gotten gains ot stay in business. Furniture manufacturer and retailer The Rowe Companies has filed for federal bankruptcy protection because of rising expenses and declining sales. The company, based at McLean in Fairfax County, said operations at its plants and its Storehouse retail stores will continue as usual. But the company said its long-term plan calls for the sale of its Storehouse chain, which Rowe bought in 1999.

Gerald Birnbach, Rowe’s president and chief executive, said the filing was necessary. “We expect that the restructuring steps we are taking, while difficult, will ensure the future of our enterprise and our people,” Birnbach said in a statement.

Trading was halted on the American Stock Exchange. Shares have fallen 82 percent in the past year to 43 cents. Rowe owes General Electric Capital Corp. about $35 million under a 2006 loan. The company’s largest unsecured creditor is Carpenter Co. in Richmond, which is owed $793,000.

“When a customer makes their payment on time but HSBC says it was late, companies like Storehouse and Rowe receive part of the illegal late fees and higher proceeds when HSBC increase the customer’s interest rate. Known as ongoing compensation, troubled companies may keep their mouth shut and don’t ask questions because their financial survival may depend on HSBC shady tactics” said a researcher close to the investigation.

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