Holding payments...FCBA

whyspers
"credit all payments to your account on the date they're received, unless no extra charges
would result if they failed to do so. "
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I had a payment post a week late...that was TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE since my bank had it in it's posession MORE than a week before they said they got it...

THE BANK CALLED FOR ME AND TOLD THEM IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE...they blamed the computer...(COMPUTER ERROR).

 

Thanks for that info. I think the finance company for my auto loan is doing this. My payments have been crediting anywhere from 10 to 20 days after they were mailed. I didn't realize until I ordered an account statement that they compoud interest daily. I finally figured out why it seemed why my principal did not seem to be going down fast enough.

I assumed that since I was never charged a "late fee" it didn't matter how long it took them to credit it. But when $200 out of $255 is going to interest, it does.

I am determined to get this fixed!

 

Whyspers,

It's under Section 808 of the FDCPA. The section makes it an unfair practice to collect â??any amount (including any interest, fee, charge or expenseâ?¦)â?¦â?.
and the Matthews FTC Opinion Letter (5/17/93) says that the practice of charging a fee for information concerning a collection account falls within the scope of this section.

 

I think that is what Household was doing, they would send the invoice as late as possible, and then somehow it took them FOREVER to post the payment, I called them and asked them to send the invoices earlier, they said they couldnt, all invoices for that due date are sent out on the same day... She tells me... just send the payment in .. well ok, I tried that and you guys lose it without the invoice!! My due date is on the 21st of the month, she says they send those on the first.. so I asked, why the hell is it taking over 12 days to go from CA to CO!!! Now I have been sending payments in early without the invoice, and they havent lost one yet, but I am sure they will again at some point.

 

12 DAYS CA TO CO...I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE 10-14 DAYS CO TO OK!!!

 

Well I know GE Capital/Monogram Bank is getting their hands slap to the fact of class action lawsuits... I don't know if any of you know, hell you may even have accounts that were effected, so read up and if you can join in on the suit.

http://www.classactionamerica.com/cases/case.asp?cid=442


http://www.classactionamerica.com/cases/case.asp?cid=1083

http://www.classactionamerica.com/cases/case.asp?cid=443&currentRow=0

 

My favorite way to get around this kind of thing is to get one payment ahead. I call Discover on the 27th to get my new balance and mini payment amount, send off the payment on the 1st, and check to see if it's posted on around the 10th (it usually says it's been posted by the 3rd or 4th of the month) The payment due date is the 26th, so I'm three weeks ahead of time.

I only had to send in one payment without a statement stub. Now I get my statement after I've made my payment, so I just use "last month's" stub each month and cross out the balance and mini payment info (since it's out of date).

Plus, I have the moral satisfaction that they pay for my toll free calls to get the payment info.

-ingenue

 

Why don't use Discover's online payment system?

Best regards,
Mirage

 

If you dispute a bill the burden to prove it is theirs not yours.So is the expense of proving it.Charging for a statement would be an attempt to shift their obliqation to the non responsible party.

If it was legal to charge for such items they could make the cost so high one couldn't pay it thus in effect overriding their obligation to prove the debt by making your right to proof of it so costly it becomes unattainable

 

This would always mean it has to be credited on the day it was received.

 

Have you tried reading the despute info.printed on some of your credit card statements.
Don't know if there is anything about it there or not but I think I will look at some of mine and see what I find.

 

hmmmm, everything has to be difficult in this game, LOL. In Arizona, it's part of the administrative code as well, you've checked your state laws?

Under the FCBA, once you've disputed something they have timelines for resolution of the dispute. As I am recalling, you can withhold the payment for the portion you are disputing until resolution, I'd think statements as evidence on the part of the OC would be part of that -- afterall you'd think they'd want to prove it to you so they could be paid in full. I can't figure if they think at all, so that may be a mute point.

What about your contract/agreement, does it have procedures too for dispute resolution?

 

This summary from the FTC says you can request copies of documentation:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fcb.htm
What if...

...the bill is incorrect?

If your bill contains an error, the creditor must explain to you - in writing - the corrections that will be made to your account. In addition to crediting your account, the creditor must remove all finance charges, late fees or other charges related to the error.

If the creditor determines that you owe a portion of the disputed amount, you must get a written explanation. You may request copies of documents proving you owe the money.

...the bill is correct?

If the creditor's investigation determines the bill is correct, you must be told promptly and in writing how much you owe and why. You may ask for copies of relevant documents. At this point, you'll owe the disputed amount, plus any finance charges that accumulated while the amount was in dispute. You also may have to pay the minimum amount you missed paying because of the dispute.

If you disagree with the results of the investigation, you may write to the creditor, but you must act within 10 days after receiving the explanation, and you may indicate that you refuse to pay the disputed amount. At this point, the creditor may begin collection procedures. However, if the creditor reports you to a credit bureau as delinquent, the report also must state that

you don't think you owe the money. The creditor must tell you who gets these reports.

and from the truth in lending act which the fcba is part of:

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/1666.html

(i)

make appropriate corrections in the account of the obligor, including the crediting of any finance charges on amounts erroneously billed, and transmit to the obligor a notification of such corrections and the creditor's explanation of any change in the amount indicated by the obligor under paragraph (2) and, if any such change is made and the obligor so requests, copies of documentary evidence of the obligor's indebtedness; or

(ii)

send a written explanation or clarification to the obligor, after having conducted an investigation, setting forth to the extent applicable the reasons why the creditor believes the account of the obligor was correctly shown in the statement and, upon request of the obligor, provide copies of documentary evidence of the obligor's indebtedness. In the case of a billing error where the obligor alleges that the creditor's billing statement reflects goods not delivered to the obligor or his designee in accordance with the agreement made at the time of the transaction, a creditor may not construe such amount to be correctly shown unless he determines that such goods were actually delivered, mailed, or otherwise sent to the obligor and provides the obligor with a statement of such determination.

and the best part, if they don't follow procedures:

(e) Effect of noncompliance with requirements by creditor

Any creditor who fails to comply with the requirements of this section or section 1666a of this title forfeits any right to collect from the obligor the amount indicated by the obligor under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section, and any finance charges thereon, except that the amount required to be forfeited under this subsection may not exceed $50

Here's a link from creditnet, marie's done some research:

http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?threadid=18325)

Sassy

 

Whyspers,

Why can't you dispute under the FCRA provisions for the responsibilities of information furnishers, they've a duty to investigate whatever you dispute as inaccurate. The same under the CRA responsibilities for re-investigation of disputed information. If they are going to report a specific date, they have to be able to back it up as accurate.

I'm guessing this is what you're doing, they're just trying to get around their responsibility for accurate reporting by trying to charge you. In a courtroom, it would be their burden to prove it to the judge as well.

Maybe you should give them a link to your prose sight so they can see you're done playing in the gray areas, LOL.

Under FCRA Section 623, they've a specific responsibility to report the commencement of delinquency within 90 days of having listed the tradeline:

(5) Duty to provide notice of delinquency of accounts. A person who furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency regarding a delinquent account being placed for collection, charged to profit or loss, or subjected to any similar action shall, not later than 90 days after furnishing the information, notify the agency of the month and year of the commencement of the delinquency that immediately preceded the action.

Sassy

 

Whyspers, I can't get over the kahunas of these two you're having to deal with!

This is what I've found and some of what I've been pondering:

http://www.cardreport.com/laws/credit-laws.html

FCBA -- After the creditor has explained the bill, if you do not pay in the time allowed, you may be reported as delinquent on the amount in dispute and the creditor may take action to collect. Even so, you can still disagree in writing. Then the creditor must report that you have challenged your bill and give you the name and address of each person who has received information about your account. When the matter is settled, the creditor must report the outcome to each person who has received information. Remember that you may also place your own side of the story in your credit record.

If you don't dispute during the 60-days of having received the statement, you can still dispute the bill, just the speedy timeframes for correction aren't applicable anymore. Doesn't mean you have to accept that the bill is correct. Who knows if you even received that bill? Did they ever send you a notice of billing rights, required disclosure once per year? Charging for statements should be part of your original agreement/contract; could you ask them to state the authority under which they are charging for those statements? If this wasn't your account you wouldn't have received any of these things.

I'd think you can show that you tried everything to get the dispute resolved and the OC just wouldn't be responsible or cooperate. Here's regulation Z, Truth in Lending Act:

http://www.cardreport.com/laws/tila/tila.html

Isn't the SOL expired for collection? They are just damaging your credit w/o any means to collect; they have duties to you under the laws not the other way around.

Then once disputed, AFTER INVESTIGATION, and they're reporting the delinquency and attempting to collect, the dispute provisions of the FCRA would kick in for that same information.

Two dispute processes outlined in the FCRA:

1. Information Furnishers:

Duty to provide accurate information.

Information disputed by consumer.

Duty to correct and update once notified and determining information is in fact, inaccurate -- 30 days, same as time given to CRA's. Must investigate disputed information to determine.

Duty to provide notice of disputed information --
Once notified, can't report without dispute notation.
Is it marked as being disputed on your reports?

2. CRA:

Reinvestigation required.

Upon notice, the CRA must reinvestigate free of charge and record the status of disputed information or delete w/i 30-days.

Must report information to furnisher w/i 5 days including information provided by the consumer.

Have you disputed specifically the date with the CRA?

I'd think this would trigger them to specifically investigate the date reported as disputed.

You could tell the CRA that you've tried to obtain verification directly from the OC but they refuse to provide the verification without charging for costs of the statements and while you agreed to pay for the statements, they took it upon themselves to apply the payment for the statements to the outstanding account balance instead. This puts the burden on the CRA to specifically investigate THAT item.

The CRA has to consider any information you provide in a re-investigation.

Did you specify that the $15.00 was for the statements when you paid it? There's some law that prohibits them from applying your payments as they want to if you've specified what it is for.
The CRA's are prohibited from reporting negative information in excess of the time limits, so the accuracy of that date is very important.
The OC has the duty to specifically report the commencement of the delinquency.

That would put the burden on the CRA to reinvestigate and verify specifically the date reported.

Inaccurate, incomplete or information that can't be verified has to deleted or modified as appropriate.

The only ones that can charge for disclosures are the CRA's, blah blah blah, the reporters aren't addressed. Therefore, I'd think by switching the burden to the CRA, or both, to reinvestigate they'd have to verify the specific information being disputed. The information can't make the same argument to the CRA, that it needs $15 to provide the statements. It is their responsibility to meet the duties of the statutes IF they choose to report the information, it's not like they HAVE to report, they are the ones that chose to do so. If it's deleted and then reinserted, you're entitled to notice and certification of the information being reinserted.

d) Other charges prohibited. A consumer reporting agency shall not impose any charge on a consumer for providing any notification required by this title or making any disclosure required by this title, except as authorized by subsection (a).

(a) is the CRA's charging for a report without adverse action.

Ok, just re-read your filing, LOL, why didn't you sMack me earlier? How come you aren't asking for the deletion of the tradeline? did you do that in a settlement offer? I understand your answer to christine saying that would be asking them not to do something that they are legally entitled to do, but, there's nothing that says they have to report and if they choose to report it has to be accurate and complete. They've been throwing all kinds of hoops at you, both of them, and all the while reporting unverified information and inaccurate information, even though they are specifically required to report the commencement of delinquency. Then after all the grief of filing a lawsuit, you'll still have to ask them to verify the information or trust that it's correct, surely the SOL is expired.

Sassy