Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
Like most of the motivated membership here, I took my creditors' statements as "gospel truth." However, my wife and I are getting a rude awakening.
My wife and I moved into an apartment about 2+ years ago, in order to "get our start." To put a long story short: since our parents had trouble "letting go," we were forced to open three credit card accounts for financial assistance. All three cards (Discover, Chase/Bank1, and Bank of America) had offered 0% APR for a year. We even used cash advances (21% APR) and "convenience checks" (3.9% APR), which were affordable with controlled usage. And since my wife received a job as a police officer, we began paying off our credit card debt.
However, due to rude bureaucratic "foot scuffling," my wife was temporarily unemployed for many months during training and certification. And I could not find a job. We were forced to use our credit cards for most expenses. By the time my wife got her job back, we had maxed out all of our credit cards. But we began paying off our credit card debt again, while juggling cash and credit card usage.
Much to our fear, the interest rates on our cards began. Discover and Chase/Bank 1 began between March and May 2005, while Bank of America began in June 2005. All we could do is pay the minimum payments, otherwise we could not pay other expenses. We began living paycheck to paycheck, as we do now. Over time, extra expenses, such as unexpected medical bills from our health insurance, forced us to make a few delinquent payments on each card.
Our health insurance company abuses the phrase "exceeds reasonable and customary costs." Lovely. But this is another story.
Over the past few months, our creditors got more aggressive. Two out of three credit card companies raised our interest rates. Chase/Bank 1 gave us a 21% APR, while Bank of America has just stuck us with a whopping 31.6% APR. Discover remains around a 9% APR, thankfully, since we closed our account with them.
Discover had tried some dirty tricks, such as calculating an increased minimum payment which kept us exceeding our account limit monthly. From there, Discover stuck us with many large late fees, such as a "past due" fee, an "over the limit" fee, and a "late payment" fee. Moreover, Discover shifted our minimum payment due dates to earlier times of the month, with default delays in online payment scheduling options. But after we closed the account, our account with Discover suddenly became manageable. What a surprise.
On the other hand, Bank of America has become a monster. During our entire account holding, Bank of America has arbitrarily shifted our minimum payment due dates. And, on top of these early due dates, Bank of America just gave our account a 31.6% APR penalty phase , which will guarantee "over the limit" fees monthly. Now, instead of charging $150-$160 per month, we will be charged $300+ per month, which we simply cannot afford. And the late fees have been as high as $160. :-|
Financial responsibility is one thing, but profiteering is another. Is there any way that we can fight back against Bank of America?
This site deals with unlawful bank charges in the UK, based on UK law.
I very much doubt there will be anybody on this forum who has enough knowledge if the US legal system to be able to provide any direction or guidance.
By the way, how did you find out about our site? I would be very interested to know this!
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Hi ERic and welcome, i'm not sure what we can do about your financial situation in the states as your laws are very different from ours! i;m not a legal expert but there might be someone on here who may be able to point you in the right direction, bear with us? good luck!
I QUESTION THEREFORE I AM!!
Unfortunately i'm not an expert in any given field legally and my advice and that of the Consumer Action Group and the Bank Action Group is given without prejudice and without liability so please if in any doubt whatsoever seek help from an insured qualified professional. Contents of my posts are purely my own personal opinions and not condoned or endorsed in any way, shape or form by CAG. Thank you!
Hi ERic and welcome, i'm not sure what we can do about your financial situation in the states as your laws are very different from ours! i;m not a legal expert but there might be someone on here who may be able to point you in the right direction, bear with us? good luck!
Thanks. I understand. A fresh perspective could be very enlightening!
Sigh. I just received a notice from Chase/Bank 1 that our account APR has increased to 29.9%. Our monthly payments just increased from $150-$160 to $280+.
Have you tried searching if there are any similar sites in the US?
For all I know these charges could be completely lawful in the states.
It's a longshot that there's going to be anybody reading this forum who has knowledge of US law to be able to advise you I'm afraid.
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Advice & opinions of mechs, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
I have found out what I could and obviously this advice is given on the advice I have been given, from America.as your laws over there are different from ours
1/ You could phone the companies and ask them to reduce the rate of interest
2/ Declare yourself bankrupt, but then you can not get credit for 7 years
3/ Go to one of the debt management firms that deal with this kind of thing
My niece does not know of any sites over there that is simular to this one .so it may be worth trying to find one first,
Sorry if this is not the kind of reply you were exspecting, but its the best I can offer you
Advice & opinions of mechs, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
I deal with a couple of American banks on a fairly regular basis and in my experience they are even more rule and procedure driven than UK ones. I've seen them turn down very sound property investment proposals because they have limits on exposure to individual foreign customers. This is despite the person in question (not me by the way) building up a very strong business relationship with the bank's staff over several years.
I don't think you would ever get an American banker to admit there might be an issue over charges. There must be some American debt help sites where these issues could be explored.
I have found out what I could and obviously this advice is given on the advice I have been given, from America.as your laws over there are different from ours
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Originally Posted by mechs
1/ You could phone the companies and ask them to reduce the rate of interest
We did this with Chase/Bank1 and Bank of America. However, the representatives of both companies refused to do anything. We were not surprised, since American credit card companies legally exercise unregulated discretion on APRs, among many other things.
This unregulated discretion is the problem. It is allowing American creditors to get progressively worse. American customers need to fight back somehow.
Originally Posted by mechs
2/ Declare yourself bankrupt, but then you can not get credit for 7 years
We want to avoid bankruptcy, especially since we do not have a long financial history.
Declaring bankruptcy would destroy our financial future, yes?
Originally Posted by mechs
3/ Go to one of the debt management firms that deal with this kind of thing
We thought about debt management counseling, where the debt management firm negotiates with your creditors. However, even with a debt management firm involved, credit card companies still control interest rates. And some Americans have reported that credit card companies sometimes offer malevolent responses to credit debt management.
Moreover, using credit debt management lowers your credit rating, yes?
Originally Posted by mechs
My niece does not know of any sites over there that is simular to this one .so it may be worth trying to find one first,
Sorry if this is not the kind of reply you were exspecting, but its the best I can offer you
No worries, friend. I appreciate the help. I have been searching American websites, but none of them offer advice for fighting back against such tactics. There must be some legal loopholes and legal contradictions produced by such broad unregulation. However, legal language can be hard to navigate.
Could your niece look for me? Maybe she knows websites that I have not seen.
If you can pm me with an email adress I will pass it on and ask her to contact you .......she llives in Florida and I know some laws are different in different states, but as regard to your banking laws I am completely lost I am afraid.
Actually she did mention something else that you can set something up and if you do not have enough money in one account to pay a dd they will transfer it from a savings account ....I cant remember what she called it now also if you can pay a bit extra then you can say where you want the money to be taken from on your card ....bu I suspect you already know that
Advice & opinions of mechs, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
This is just me thinking out loud but up until not too long ago this 'claiming your unlawful bank charges back' malarkey was unheard of. Maybe there are loopholes over in the US law that can be exposed? Is there any way you could gather information about what is happening here and see a specialist lawyer to see if they can uncover anything...it all has to start somewhere, maybe you could be the first person to try it in the US?
Please note that I am not a legal expert and all advice given is without prejudice and is purely my opinion only.
** Nationwide - £1821.15-PAID IN FULL - Aug 06 ** ** Halifax Mortgage -£390 - PAID IN FULL - Nov 06 ** Lloyds TSB - MCOL issued 09/03/07 - £2953 + costs - ON HOLD....
Eric I have found this forum regarding the Bank of America for you its a bit like this one though not set out so nicely but anyway I am sure if you ask in there someone will be able to answer your questions.
Advice & opinions of mechs, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
Greetings from the States!
However, due to rude bureaucratic "foot scuffling," my wife was temporarily unemployed for many months during training and certification. And I could not find a job. We were forced to use our credit cards for most expenses. By the time my wife got her job back, we had maxed out all of our credit cards. But we began paying off our credit card debt again, while juggling cash and credit card usage.
rates on our cards began. Discover and Chase/Bank 1 began between March and May 2005, while Bank of America began in June 2005. All we could do is pay the minimum payments, otherwise we could not pay other expenses. We began living paycheck to paycheck, as we do now. Over time, extra expenses, such as unexpected medical bills from our health insurance, forced us to make a few delinquent payments on each card.
, which will guarantee "over the limit" fees monthly. Now, instead of charging $150-$160 per month, we will be charged $300+ per month, which we simply cannot afford. And the late fees have been as high as $160. :-|
Financial responsibility is one thing, but profiteering is another. Is there any way that we can fight back against Bank of America?
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Re: Greetings from the States!
Originally Posted by barracad
don't be like the banks - give a little back 
There was a time before CAG but now CAG is here we are the empowered! 
