Does anyone know the legal implications, if a credit card co. fails to bill for an item purchased with its card? Is the consumer bound by law to contact the credit card co. and request them to send a monthly statement? (after a year)
IF you have a balance, the Fair Credit Act requires them to send a statement every 30 days. If they failed to bill you promptly, and you have received the services or merchandise, you are required to pay. There is no real law covering timeliness of billing..
A long-winded customer relations rep at Providian who said she used to work for Discover told me on the telephone that the credit card company was under no legal obligation to send you a bill monthly. That is was your responsibility pursuant to the contract to follow up on payment with or without a formal billing statement.
Actually there is a law regarding billing, called the Fair Credit Billing Act. For a summary of the law, go to: http://www.debtalliance.com/credit_billing.htm The FCBA is contained in Title 15 USC 1666-1666j For a full text of the law go here: http://www.apeccp.org.tw/doc/USA/Policy/ch41/1666.htm to see the subsections insert the appropriate letter (a through j) after the '1666'.
The person you spoke to was full of crap. Please see the previous post regarding the Fair Credit Billing Act. Creditors would love you to believe that they aren't obligated to sent you a statement so that you can pay for their computer screw-ups with late charges and extra finance charge, but the fact is that they are obligated to provide you a statement if you own them money, or you have a credit balance of more than $1.00. This law also contains all of the provisions for dealing with disputing charges on a statement from a creditor and other consumer protections.
It seems at one point after reading a version of the Fair Credit Billing Act in 1995 I had come to the conclusion that a creditor had to bill you every month (or so), and if they did not bill regularly (provided you gave them the right address), the enforceability of the debt was questionable. However, I haven't been able to locate this language since. Any ideas on that?
both opinions are true. the credit card company is required to bill you every thirty days. but you are also required to pay the company whether you get a bill or not. I know this sounds very confusing. here's whats going on in the comapnies mind. they know they sent you a statement. they do not track the statements through the postal service. therefore they have no way of knowing if you got the statement or not. if you have a good history with the company and they are a reputable company they will credit youre fees. however if you have told this to them more than several times they may not believe you. this is why i only do business with banks that have internet access so that i can check my bill if i dont receive the statement.
I wish I'd known about this 3 years ago, when my AT&T Universal Card Bill refused to show up at my apt. for AN ENTIRE YEAR, after at least a half dozen complaints and "investigations." I got a few 30 days marks on my report as a result. What a load of crap.
Re: RE: Failure to bill this is why i only do business with banks that have internet access so that i can check my bill if i dont receive the statement. Citibank r =================== Don't work too well for those with out computers and others who know nothing about using computer does it?
