Hi, quick quesiton about credit card companies. In short, I was out of work for some time and as a result fell behind on all my bills. I had two credit cards both with Bank Of America and they were close to max. During the hardship period, I could not make payments. Time has passed and I am working again now. I called them and explained the situation and asked them to work with me. Their response was that I had to call a different department and that they would need to verify income and expenses first. My question is, what can they legally ask for/do? Can they call employer? Can they get tax records? Just want an idea of what I'm getting into. any advise is appreciated. Jason
I've not been in your exact boat but if that happened to me, I would remember back to the recording their system played at the beginning of your phone call where they said it was recorded and would be used to collect a debt. I'd be worried that their number one goal with you was to get a bunch of info so they could sock you as hard as the law will allow. But maybe I'm just a suspicious sort, but I'd imagine a garnishment is the minimum they're plotting for (well, really against) you. Watch your six talking to these guys. Myself I don't trust either me or them so much on the phone and I made sure to do all in writing. Especially the things where they have a timed deadline to respond, I would make sure to hand write out everything I thought they'd need to know (which was quite a lot, lol). Read the stats on the avg time they spend responding to requests like yours; facts like that are amazing (sad though).
Look at it from the other way, you are asking for a favor, they are deciding whether to give you the help you are asking for. Would you rather get a no, than a yes?
Very smart jam. I'll admit to being so leery of phone contact during credit repair that I sometimes think too defensively. I know you're talking to woodyz but more than he can learn from your posts jam - like me - thank you.
