Judge wipes out woman's credit card debt

Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

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<font color="green"> A judge wiped out a woman's credit card debt, angrily ruling that Discover Card was exploiting the woman by piling on fees.
In a six-year period, beginning in 1997, Ruth Owens paid $3,492 on her $1,895 debt with added fees and finance charges. She was still left with a $5,564 balance owed on the account.
Discover Card sued Owens for breach of contract, but Cleveland Municipal Judge Robert Triozzi ruled against the company last week.....
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So what do you think?
Bad credit card company?
Irresponsible credit card user?
Judge re-writing contract law?

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Were they late fees?

Were the finance charges higher because of late payments?

Was the account used (more purchases or balance transfers made)during this time?

The numbers don't add up for a normal account.

There's got to be more to this story.

Eric

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

I agree there isn't enough detail but then again it is private info

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

She probably made up her own repayment plan without regard to due dates for minimum payments. Once you establish bad credit with a credit card company, they can really jack up your rates. I have a Discover Card and there are no unreasonable late fees or finance charges that aren't your own fault. Everything is clearly explained in your contract.

I blame all three. She was irresponsible for incurring debt that she was unable to pay in a reasonable amount of time, and credit card companies seem too quick to issue credit without regard to credit worthiness. Unless she declared bankruptcy, I see no reason the judge should have ruled in the women's favor.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Wished the judge do the same for me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Yeah, I'd like some more info before I look into moving to Cleveland. You know, those $29 late fees can pile up real fast, if you were late every month for 6 years, that's like over two grand right there. Still, like flashlite sez, credit card companies will give a card to anyone. I mean, I've seen numerous accounts of pets being sent credit cards, and dead people.

The judge said this, according to a local news report:

Triozzi notes in his ruling that if Owens simply stopped paying altogether in May 1997, her account would have been closed. He says Discover would probably have negotiated a settlement for much less than the amount due.

daloosh

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

My credit card story...

I had a Capitol One card several years ago. I had a zero balance on it for quite awhile so they decided to lower my limit... yeah, that made loads of sense to me too... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/duh2.gif Anyway, they sent me a letter telling me that they would be lowering my limit on such-and-such date. (I still do have that letter as proof.) Keep in mind here that at this time, I had a ZERO balance on the card... I still have those statements as well.

So I decided to pay off a higher interest card and pay off my Harley (higher interest) with two Capitol One "checks" before they lowered my limit. I wrote the two checks... and Capitol One bounced them both. I have the statement that shows the date that they rejected them and it was well before the date they said they were going to lower my limit. I sent them all of the documentation and their answer was, "we don't have to go by that date... we can change your limit anytime we want". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon8.gif

So on top of the bounced checks to the other credit card company and my Harley payment and the fees that they charged me, Capitol One charged me two bounced check fees of $25/each. So now my ZERO BALANCE account had $50 on it that were nothing more than fees that they had charged me because they decided to lower my limit before the date they said they would be doing it.

I disputed the fees and refused to pay them. They denied my dispute... even after I sent them all of the documentation that I had... and they continued to add interest to my "unpaid balance" every month. Finally when the "unpaid balance" reached somewhere around $500, they stopped billing me and sent several collection agencies after me. This actually went on for almost three years. The offered to "settle" with me for only $350... I told them to shove it up their ***. They told me that it was hurting my credit... I loved when they told me that because it was just one week after I had purchased my $40k Murano... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif ...

I never did give them a dime... they don't call me anymore... I don't get threatening letters from them anymore... but I do get offers from them to give me a new 0% interest for the first year credit card!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

A few years back, I made the mistake of loaning one of my CCs to my (now ex) best friend.

When I finally went to pay it off, I called 3 or 4 times in the span of a week for the payoff amount and when the payoff was good through. I got 3 different amounts when requesting the same payoff date.

I paid it off a day earlier than the date that the payoff was good for. The amount that I paid was the most recent request and the highest amount.

The next month I received a bill for twenty something cents. Talking to the pions in their customer service dept was worse than dealing with the govt. After 2-3 calls that were not returned to a manager that I had previously dealt with, the bill turned into a $200+ bill in about 6 months. The account was closed and it was charged off.

When doing some research a year or two later about baby items for my grandaughter in the library, I stumbled accross an article about a class action suit against a major CC company that was being sued for adding frivolous charges.

The accusation that I found most interesting was that they intentionally delayed crediting payments to accounts in order to prevent the account from having a zero balance.

It was the same company that I had my experience with - Capital One.

By the way, absolutely no chance of "mail delay" in my case - I hand delivered my payment to the operations center. My payment was credited on time - so they just chose to "change" the amount that was owed in order to perpetuate the account.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Sasha, if you didn't pay anything, nor use the account in any way for three years after they bounced those checks, then the statute of limitations killed the debt.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

I blame the credit card company, period. What they did was usury, plain and simple, and the judge is to be applauded for his wise decision.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

In VA, the statute of limitations is 5 years. After that they can no longer collect the debt, but it does continue to adversely affect your credit if they have reported it.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

[ QUOTE ]
Empath said:
Sasha, if you didn't pay anything, nor use the account in any way for three years after they bounced those checks, then the statute of limitations killed the debt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I know... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ... That's why I just kept taking the phone calls once a week from the collection agencies and even went so far as to thank them for calling me and that I looked forward to talking with them again the following week... they usually hung up on me at that point... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Sasha, I am not a litigous person, I have never sued anyone in my life. But if any credit card company did something that unethical to me, I think that I would have to make an exception. Kudos to you for not tying up the courts.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

There's an old story about a person that kept getting a bill from a credit card company for $0. Eventually, they started sending automated collection letters for $0.

The "debtor" finally sent them a check for $0 and got a notice thanking them for their payment , we've marked your account paid in full.

You need to pro-actively take control of these nuisance items. Sasha, you should immediately pull all 3 credit reports. There's no doubt in my mind that Cap 1 has reported you and just when you need a credit line, home improvement or a Gap credit card, this issue will raise it's ugly head.

The statute for the collection of the debt may only be 3 or 4 years in your state but the Fair Debt Reporting Act allows 7 years for the creditor to report the debt.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

I'll be darned, if I would ever let a credit card company take advantage of me with late fees and higher interest rates. I keep a log of all charges and payments. I also pay locally, at my bank, at least 3 business days before the payment is due, because it takes two business days for the payment to be processed and acknowledeged by the credit card company. They don't consider the payment as being made until they receive the funds, at their location, in New Jersey, before 1:00PM. If I mail the payment in, I send it at least 10 business days before it's due. Pay my cards off in full every month, so I haven't paid any interest or service fees in over 20 years. Never paid a late fee or had the interest rate raised.

I wouldn't trust these companies as far as I could throw them. I've had months, where they didn't send me a statement, and I would call and remind them.

oldgrandpajack

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Some years ago, a friend showed me her credit card statement, looking for some advice. Her minimum due payment was less then the interest for that month so if all she ever did was pay the minimum payment, her debt would continue to go up.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

I have to say that credit card companies are unreasonable when it comes to fees. It is very easy to have a debt never be paid if you can't make consistent payments and the late fees pile up. I wouldn't assume that all the late fees (there had to be plenty for the debt to get out of control like that) were the women's fault. My brother and myself always pay our credit card bills on time. In the past year we've been hit with three or four late charges each. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif Since we both pay online at least a week before the bills are due we know for a fact that the payments weren't late. It seems that credit card companies are in the habit of not crediting payments immediately after received, whether those payments are electronic or by check. No doubt they do this to collect undeserved late fees. Many people (I'm not one of them, BTW) just pay their credit card bills each month without even looking at them. Under those conditions, it's quite easy to tack on a late fee occasionally and have the majority never notice. I did of course, and the fact that the fees were removed three or four times by the bank once I gave them hell tells me they were bogus to start with (I even had transaction numbers and dates showing that the bill was paid on time). Now I pay online about ten days in advance, and save all my transaction data. No problems for over six months. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

On the other side of the coin, a person shouldn't assume debt that they can't pay. I never charge more than I can pay in full at the end of the month. I know credit card companies don't like people like me who never run a balance but at least we pay. Credit cards are given too easily to known deadbeats nowadays, and the CC companies don't care as long as they make the minimum payments. Of course, when they can't, which is usually sooner rather than later, they try to make up for their losses by charging everone else bogus and/or higher fees, and also by paying cheap interest on savings accounts. There ought to be more regulation of the credit industry, and credit cards shouldn't be issued to a person who has declared bankruptcy for at least a few years. Irresponsibility should have consequences.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

I'm in the middle of a major hassle! Background: My mother died last year while my father was an invalid at home, but still managing his affairs. He called Citibank to have her name removed from their checking account. They froze the account, and the next several checks he wrote bounced. A couple weeks later, he went into the hospital and I had to assume (at his request) POA for him and trusteeship for the living trust they had set-up many years before. With the help of his attorney (wrote the trust) I did so. I set-up trust accounts with Citibank (Big mistake!) and in person closed their checking account. I got another statement on the account showing a couple $ balance. I in person went and told them to CLOSE the account! A month later, another statement. I again told them to Close the account! A month later I got a statement= account "closed." A month later a collection agency came after me for $30 for unpaid service charges on the account! I paid it. I set up new trust accounts elsewhere, and after making sure all outstanding checks had cleared, went in and closed both Citibank accounts! (~$45K) (And nicely explained why.) I demanded and received "account closed statements."

Fast forward to mid July: Received a letter from Camco (collection agency) saying I owed Citibank ~$2,500. I called the number provided and after a half hour, acertain that some bozo in L.A. with my name or very similar, skipped out on a Visa card back in 1994. The last four #'s on his SSN were different from mine. Thought I straightened them out, as they acknowledged they didn't think it was me.

Fast forward to last tuesday: Another letter offering to accept a "reduced" amount on the "debt." I called again and after the usual shuffle, pried the CC number from them. Thay now say the associated SSN is my real one!!!!!! After digging through canceled checks/records from then, I determined my sole personal credit card has been through my employer's credit union since at least 9/92 and I have never had the need for more than one one personal card! I have never held a CC with the number they provided!

We're goin' around again tomorrow!!!!

PS: After my father was hospitalized (He passed away last March) I supplied the documentation to Citibank to access the ~$8K he had with Citicorp Investments to halp pay for his care. After Citibank/CitiCorp personnel copied all of the trust/related docoments in a Citicorp/bank facility, Citicorp demanded I provide the ORIGINAL trust documents!!! (I wasn't born yesterday, and I suspect I will require further "legal" assistance before this is over!) (Oh! ever try actually collecting on a life insurance policy?- Gotta say John Hancock truely sucks!!!)

Larry

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

Just like insurance agencies, credit card agencies are so close to scams, it is amazing.

Re: Judge wipes out woman\'s credit card debt

My own experience with credit cards has been good! I haven't paid one penny in credit card interest since day one. I treat it the same as the checkbook- don't use it unless the money's "in the bank." For several years, I have been set-up for auto pay (in full) every month. Don't mess with them, it seems that most of the time they don't mess with you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif For me it has been a very useful tool!

Larry