Here's the situation: I'm a victim of fraud checks back in 2011, when I tried en cashing a check from a friend which is fraudulent my accounts was closed. For them it doesn't matter who and what happened. To cut the story short my other banks sent me a letter telling me that they are closing my (2) other accounts. Few weeks after, I received demand letter YES the banks are suing me. That follows a family emergency so I needed to go back home. I'm now unemployed, with cases I'm not sure if its still visible. It took me like 5 months before I finally go back, I tried checking my credit using (protectmyID) and found out like banks/credit card company continuously inquiring which I know is really affecting my record big time. I tried calling some of the number's provided and tried settling what I owe to them but most of them don't want to accept prepaid cards (like western union) as a payment. But my problem is I can't open an account in any banks, they said some banks let those people under Chexsystem to open an account but they will check Equifax that for sure I'm not eligible as well. Please help me on what to do. I'm in different state now, closer to my family and left everything behind in where I came from and from where all this mess started. I want to start fresh but how will I do that with all this problems. And if I'll be employed thinking that most of the co. are paying via direct deposit is driving me crazy.. I will really appreciate your help.
Hi Jenns01 Welcome â?? hope we can help â?? but I think I need a little bit of clarification first: If I understand this two years ago you were involved in some activity with some fraudulent checks but for whatever reason you choose not pursue criminal charges against the other party(s), and now you need to deal with the aftermath. Ok fast forward to today, you need to open a checking account but with entries on both your credit report(s) and Chexsystem you canâ??t do so. Have you been sued? Is there a judgment against you, or is this still in collection? It sounds as though you have the ability to pay/settle the debt but you want to pay via a pre-paid visa/MC debt card and the creditor will not accept it correct? Before you pay for anything try to negotiate a pay for a delete deal â?? in which you agree to pay either full amount or an agreed upon amount and or % of the debt and in turn the creditor removes the entry on your credit report(s) including Chexsystems. Make the payment via money order or wire transfer via Western Union. While I know Western Union has some large wire transfer fees if you are in need of a checking account the 12 to 15 dollars would be worth the price to have the entry removed completely. In the meantime if you need a banking account to have a paycheck deposited into try a prepaid card like UpSide Card â?? I use this card during my BK and I kept it after I was discharged â?? it has the lowest fees across the board and monthly fees as low as .99 if you deposit over 500 per month. You can even â??writeâ? checks against it you get 1 free a month, then itâ??s a dollar a piece. Good luck with everything.
Thanks for replying. My mistake this happened last year and not 2010. With the help of my family, little by little I'm able to pay. Upon checking the status of my debts, most says COLLECTION, UNPAID and the other one is CHARGED OFF AS BAD DEBT. But I'm not sure if this is for the cards or the banks. And how can I asked them or negotiate a pay for a delete deal? And does upside accept those who are under Chexsystem? -- excuse my ignorance what is "BK" means?
How much money are we talking about, that the banks are suing you? Usually, for a few hundred dollars or less, they just write it off and send it to collections. Depending on the size of the debt/judgment, bankruptcy may be an option to consider--especially if you have other debts.
BK = Bankruptcy. Upside would be a pre-paid Visa & MC. Like the WalMart MoneyCard, and other pre-paid V/MCs. No accounts, no check-writing, but they support getting paychecks direct deposited, and with the WalMart MoneyCard, you can deposit a physical paycheck to it at your local WalMart store that offers paycheck cashing. Some banks also offer what they dub as "Second Chance Checking" to people who are on ChexSystems.
If the total amount is around $800 as you say, I very seriously doubt the bank(s) are suing you. The demand letters are just that--demands that you pay. Sometimes, the letters say things like "attorney placement pending" or "pay now to avoid possible legal action" but usually those are empty threats. The most common dollar amounts for lawsuits are the $2000 to $6000 range. Less than that, and companies usually don't sue. More than that, and companies know that a lawsuit will result in the debtor filing for bankruptcy, so they usually won't sue unless there is real estate which can be liened. Assuming that you DO NOT own any real estate, I can almost guarantee that you will not be sued for this amount of money. Therefore, the only benefit of paying or settling this debt is that you can get the notation in ChexSystems removed. If you do nothing, then you may still be able to get a second-chance checking account, or at least a savings account (at a different bank/credit union, of course) and wait for the derogatory account to "fall off" of your ChexSystems report. That takes 5 years.
