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Hi, about a year ago I got caught in a scam and lost a bit over 4000 dollars, all of which went on my credit card. Since then, and for several months, I was good with making my payments on time through the online bill payment website. Eventually I slipped up on a payment and the next month my monthly payments became too much for me to bear. I have a 7,500 dollar credit limit and it had reached up to almost 8000 dollars. After being called daily from the creditor, I borrowed some money from parents and a little I had saved up to finally pay off about 800 dollars, brining my balance to about 7,250 a month ago. Surprisingly, this month, that balance shot up to about 7,450.

Now I have not used my credit card in several months, but my balance just does not seem to be going down. I called BofA today and found out my interest was on the order of 30% cause of late payments and that it would only go down to an unspecified amount only when I have made regular payments for 6 months. So, even if I make the minimum payments, my balance just keeps going up.

I can't help but feel helpless that I am just tossing money away just so I can get back on my regular payment cycle. I am just a full-time college student at the moment and fully dependent on my parents with some savings from long time ago. I also have no job, but have just begun to seriously search.

I am lost at where to even start. I am paying nearly 200 dollars a month now and that's literally not even scratching the surface of my balance. I can't help but think that perhaps I could get that 7,500 at lower interest elsewhere and pay off these enormous fees? A lot of the money I used to pay off the scammer was in form of cash advance on my credit card, which I know have even higher interest rates.

Would it be a good idea for me to perhaps find a way of acquiring money through some other company and settle at a lower interest rate?

Also:
The reason I missed the payments was not because I had no money but rather there was a misunderstanding over the online bill pay method I used to pay my cards. You see, when you pay through online bill pay, the payment is not scheduled for the day when you actually go through the motions to pay online, but the next business day after. With the payment due dates usually on the weekends, I had the habit of making the payments on friday or so, but to my dismay the payment would be scheduled for the monday after it was due. I had actually believed this was OK, because the first time I had made an online payment and found it was scheduled after the due date, I called BofA and was assured that they note the date that the online payment was sent, not the date the payment was scheduled for and that I would not be penalized for it.

However, when I had done the same thing maybe 2 or 3 months after that first late scheduled payment, I saw a late fee (by then I didn't even notice my interest fees had skyrocketed as a result). When I called them then, they told me something else.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:04 am Subject: Bank of America

Since you are a student, you probably don't have anything the credit card can put a lien against; like real estate. If you are delinquent, you can call BOA and ask about their hardship program. I called them and told them my financial woes and they referred me to "Take Charge America" who they work with to help people get on a debt consolidation program; they lower your interest rate with BOA and put you on a scheduled payment plan (the rate they say they can get is 9%). They usually are very good to work with and in some cases will settle the amount you owe them for less than 50% of the balance if you can come up with the money. They usually won't settle until you are 120 - 180 days past due.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:08 am Subject:

If the charges were indeed a scam,I would have disputed thru your bank as fraudulent charges and made them due a chargeback to whoever got your money.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:18 am Subject:

Generaly you have 60-90 days to dispute a charge on your credit card. Please read your Terms and Conditions. They should be sending you one every year.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:46 am Subject:

Does any one know the amount you can have deposited into a regular bank of america checking account at one time? Some banks have limits of the amount you can deposit in one day,etc. I tried to find it but cannot. Thank you.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:58 am Subject: credit

Have you 'disputed it' with your credit card comapny?? Explaining the situation? Sometimes that will help, too. is this your ONLY credit card? If you have more than one credit card, do you have high balances on them, too?