This person appears to pay off his balance every month and is rarely late:

“However, I’ve always paid the balance on my Chase credit cards in full every month and rarely ever am I late (the last time was at least 6 months ago).”

What that means is that the credit card company is not making any money off this consumer.

It’s certainly no secret that credit card companies are in the business of making money, and most of their money is made from consumers who do not pay off their balance every month, which means no interest payments.

Regardless of whether this person’s consumer rights were violated, it would be a tough battle to fight and hardly worth the effort for most individuals, since they can just pull out another credit card….

Avoiding Credit and Charge Card Fraud: Steps to make it more difficult for a crook to capture your card or card numbers, and how to report losses and fraud.

Before You File for Personal Bankruptcy: Information About Credit Counseling and Debtor Education. This report advises consumers about the new bankruptcy law requiring credit counseling before filing for bankruptcy and debtor education after filing.

Billed for Merchandise You Never Received? This report explains your rights and steps to take to correct the problem.

Building a Better Credit Report: Learn how to legally improve your credit report, how to deal with debt, how to spot credit-related scams, and more.

Choosing A Credit Card: The Deal is in the Disclosures. This report explains credit card terms, how your balance is computed, how to shop for the best deal and outlines cardholder protections.

Co-signing a Loan: Lists your obligations if you decide to cosign on a loan for a friend or relative. At the top of the list: you may have to pay up to the full amount of the debt if the borrower does not pay.

Credit, ATM and Debit Cards: What To Do If They’re Lost or Stolen. Outlines procedures for reporting loss or theft, and how to minimize your risk.

Credit and Divorce: Encourages recently divorced consumers, and those contemplating divorce, to look closely at issues involving credit. Understanding the different kinds of credit accounts opened during a marriage may help illuminate the potential benefits – and pitfalls – of each.

Credit and Your Consumer Rights: Explains credit laws that protect your right to obtain, use, and maintain credit. Offers practical tips to help you solve credit problems.

The Credit Practices Rule: The Rule prohibits many creditors from including certain provisions in consumer credit contracts. It also requires creditors to provide a written notice to consumers before they cosign obligations for others about their potential liability if the other person fails to pay.

There is considerably more info on credit, finance, foreclosure, debts, scams and consumer alerts.

Click this link for all the report and info:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/credit/loans.shtm

The right to dispute a debt and receive validation are part of the consumer’s rights.

A debt collector is any person or entity, including lawyers, who regularly attempt to collect consumer debts. Such a person is required to respond to your debt validation request

A consumer can dispute a debt at any time, but only a written request sent within thirty days of the first written notice of the debt triggers validation rights. However, failure by the consumer to dispute the debt during this thirty day period does not constitute a legal admission of the debt.

A debt collector must cease all attempts to collect the debt until they have sent a sufficient response.

At a minimum, the debt collector is required to confirm with the creditor the amount being claimed is correct and that the person from whom they are attempting to collect the debt is the person who owes it.

To be valid, your request for debt validation must be submitted in writing. You can dispute the entire debt, part of the debt, or request the name of the original creditor (debts are bought and sold and any specific debt collector may not be at all associated with your original creditor).

Your debt validation letter should be sent in writing. It’s best to send the letter via certified mail with return receipt requested. This way, you have proof of the letter’s mailing and receipt by the debt collector. If you have to file a lawsuit against the debt collector, the certified and return receipts will help strengthen your case.

Any dispute of the debt must also be reported by the creditor on the consumer’s credit report pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

However, the General Accountability Office (GAO) released a follow-up study disputing those numbers. Then the Federal Reserve Board issued a similar study noting that “the proportion of individuals affected by any single type of data problem appears to be small.”

In 2007, the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) which represents the credit bureaus testified that less than two percent (2%) of 52 million credit reports had data deleted because it was in error.

OK. Let’s just say we don’t know for sure what percentage of credit reports are wrong.

Although there is great disagreement over “how many” credit reports are erroneous, there is no disagreement that some amount are incorrect. Even if only 2% are wrong, that would mean that well over 1 million individuals have bad information representing their credit history.

The good news is that consumers like you and I have rights and bad information can be removed.

Furthermore, if you have become overwhelmed with credit card debt and other unsecured debt, and you don’t want to consider bankruptcy, there is professional debt negotiation help available to lower your unsecured debt obligations and get your family’s financial situation back on the path towards prosperity.

Click “Contact” to find out for yourself.

Or enter your name and email on this page to automatically receive more details about getting out of debt without bankruptcy.

These are some of the areas that such laws deal with:

♦ credit repair
♦ debt repair
♦ product safety
♦ service contracts
♦ bill collector regulation
♦ pricing
♦ utility turnoffs
♦ consolidation
♦ personal loans

Here are some of the federal laws:

♦ Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
♦ Fair Credit Reporting Act
♦ Truth in Lending Act
♦ Fair Credit Billing Act
♦ Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Federal consumer protection laws are mainly enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The point is that in the United States there are laws protecting consumers against predatory practices of banks and credit card companies to bilk consumers of everything they can.

Statute of Limitations on Unpaid Debts

An example that came up recently with one of our clients – a debt they had not paid on for 8 years came back into existence with a collector calling them. The client didn’t know that there is a statute of limitations in their state on unpaid debts. For credit card debts, if the company can not collect in 6 years, the debt is gone and can not be collected any more.

The client didn’t know there was a statute of limitations on their credit card debt, so grew worried that something bad would happen. We simply told the creditor that the statute of limitations had gone to its limits and that the client no longer owed the debt.

This was, for the client, a big relief. But, it was his lack of knowledge that lead him to worry and think that he was going to have to pay it.

Creditors Cannot Call You If You Write Them And Tell Them To Stop

Did you know that you can tell a creditor not to call you at your home or work? Yep, you send them a letter (registered mail, always) and tell them that you don’t want them to call you at work or home and they have to obey that request. After that, they can only send you letters.

You can find out about your rights as a consumer by searching on the internet under consumer rights concerning credit cards, or debt.

We make sure our clients know their rights. It saves them the grief and worry with their creditors as a few of them try to mislead the client.

Know your rights! It’s a very simple and good thing to know.

And, I have other good news for you!  Debtor’s Prison was closed about 200 years ago!  So, you won’t be going to jail if you can’t pay your creditors. Let’s take that threat right off the table.

The next thing you need to know is that your creditors will not “take your home if you don’t pay“.  Why? Well, we live in a country that is not run by a dictator that can just take anything they want at any time.  Neither are the corporations of the US able to just take things from people at random because they didn’t pay.

There is a legal system that exists to hold back those debt collectors from taking everything you own in order to pay your $5000 credit card.  In fact, there is quite a legal process that goes on before anyone can be ordered by the court to give your creditors money. 

SO WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOUR DEBT?

• One, the creditors get grumpy and try to threaten you with all kinds of bad things if you don’t pay.
• Two, they Make promises to you that they don’t keep if you make a payment (because whoever promised you “can’t be found” when you realize they were making it all up).
• Three, they can send your debt to an attorney for collection.

The attorney has to follow the laws too.  He has to send you a letter telling you that he has the debt and that you have 30 days to challenge the debt, meaning, you can say – “prove it”!

IMPORTANT: SUMMONS ABOUT YOUR DEBT

If you don’t respond to the attorney’s letter or make any payment arrangements (because you can’t, because you have money problems…) then, they can file a suit on you.  You get a Summons, which is an announcement that you need to go to court, or respond to the suit.  The intention of a suit is to overwhelm you into paying them.  That is all they are trying to do.  If you are scared of courts and going to courts, well, that’s exactly what they are counting on.  They know that you will pay them if you are scared!

If you respond to the suit (and you may have directions on the Summons of how to respond), then this could delay the process of the suit and maybe give you a chance to find some money.

With our clients, if they get sued, responding to the suit allows more time for our client to put money together so we can make a settlement with the attorneys.

No one can take any money from you until the judge rules that you are guilty of owing money. If that happens, then there are a few things that could be done, but all by the court’s permission (except #1):

1. Nothing, and this happens a lot of the time, the creditor does nothing.
2. Garnish your wage.
3. Put a lien on your property.
4. Put a lien on your bank account.

That’s really it.

It is a process that can take months.

I’ll give you some more information on what I’ve seen happen to our clients and most of it is under #1 above.

This is really not a bright idea, though it is really great for the credit card companies.  What is done here is that you get a credit card and then assign your spouse as an authorized user.  They did not sign the credit card contract and so are not under any penalty if the payment is late. 

Or are they? 

In truth, the authorized user is not under the same stipulations as the primary card holder that signed the contract, however, if the payment is late, the authorized user will be called (if they can’t get a hold or the primary card holder, or if they can’t get a payment from the primary card holder). 

The creditor will threaten the authorized user that their credit will be harmed if a payment is not made. 

BAD IDEA FOR CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZED USERS

This is completely untrue.  The authorized user will not be sued, or have their credit score dropped or any other such thing.  The person that signs the credit card contract is the person that will have any penalties if they don’t pay. 

Also, if you do give another person the right to be the authorized user, it can open the door to misspending of the credit card resulting in “over the limit” fees and increases in the interest rates. 

So, when you decide to make another person an authorized user, make sure you can manage the use of the card so you don’t suddenly find yourself having to pay for more than you had anticipated.

You may be one of those people.

If you are having a difficult time paying your credit card debt OR unsecured debt, the creditors can make life a living hell for you. You do have rights as a consumer and these are set out in the Fair Debt Collection Act.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AS A CONSUMER

For instance, a creditor can not scare you into making your payment. But, there are a few that try that tactic to get you to pay. Usually, the person is young and eager so they “bend the rules”, so to speak.

Over the 10 years I have been in the Debt Settlement industry, I have heard creditors tell our clients that they will have someone coming over the next day to take their furniture if they don’t make a payment now. Or, there will be a sheriff at their door on Monday if they don’t pay by Friday. Or, they will repossess their home if they don’t make a payment in the next few days.

All of this is garbage and completely untrue.

In order for a repossession to take place, the debt has to be secured. Secured debt is money owed for a car or motorcycle. Credit cards used for computers that will devalue the minute they are sold does not mean the debt is secured.

If it is all confusing, try this, have you ever seen a “Citibank Repossessed Furniture and other Articles” store in your neighborhood?

No?

That’s because if the debt is unsecured, the creditor will not be knocking at your door to take your possessions, that are by now, useless to them.

There are things that creditors can do and it’s good to know what they are.

Knowing your rights as a consumer is important, especially if you have hit hard times. You need to know what your creditors can and can not do to you.