Mysterious charges to my account balance, Creditors Interch
Date: Tue, 05/22/2007 - 09:06
I had an approx $10K debt with MBNA, which was taken over by Creditors Interchange. Like most people, I was unaware of the deceitful practices of creditors, and I fell prey to their fear tactics [the threat of transfer to their "legal department", threats of having to pay the total balance by day's end, etc].
I discovered a $2000 discrepency in my account balance, and called the representative I'd been dealing with. I had been paying $285/month with no interest or finance charges, yet she claimed there were various charges made to my account. When I pointed out our previous payment agreement, she said it must have been MBNA adding charges to my account...I figure this is impossible, as Creditors Interchange seems to own my account now.
I know validation letters are reserved to the first 30 days after contact, and I had been regularly making payments. I knew the debt was mine, and I held myself fully accountable. After the $2000 increase, however, I stopped payments at once and sent a validation letter--certified--along with explanation of my case. I asked for validation of payment history to account for the discrepancy, and made it clear that I wasn't disputing that the debt was mine.
Of course, they didn't reply. After a month went by, I received a letter from Mann Brackett, another creditor that appears to be a law office but specializes in arbitration.
I will send Mann Brackett a validation request, but I'm curious how to go about receiving explantion of the mysterious charges to my balance. Do I include in my letter the details of how I wrote Creditors Interchange asking about the increase on my balance?
Ultimately, many posts deal with individuals who fear lawsuits, and many others who say that the debt isn't theirs...I have yet to come across a situation like mine, and would really appreciate some guidance. I was happy paying the $285/month, but I simply couldn't go on paying a balance that isn't true.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your advice.
Send them a validation letter certified return receipt mail.Pull
Send them a validation letter certified return receipt mail.Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus and if you find any incorrect info,send a written dispute to the credit bureaus.
mbna
MBNA should have charged off your account before it went to third party collections. The additional charges were most likely added on after the third party got it and were added on by the third party as a sneaky way for them to make more money on their investment in your debt. Wait for your validation from Mann Bracket and I would bet they will only validate back to the third party and not to MBNA who has just merged with Bank of America. By law they must validate to the original creditor and also provide a detail of where thes charges come from and what you paid and when. I hope you spell this out to them in your letter.
Thanks for the prompt replies: one more thing, though: Initia
Thanks for the prompt replies: one more thing, though:
Initially, MBNA sold the debt to Creditors Interchange
After I requested validation of the suspicious $2000 spike on my account balance, Creditors Interchange "referred" it to Mann Bracken.
The letters I receive suggest that both of these CAs are collecting on behalf of MBNA:
Creditors Interchange wrote, "You have failed to make payment or reasonable arrangements to satisfy your obligation to our client." This letter was sent AFTER I asked to see my payment history to discern where the suspicious charges on my account had been coming from.
I thought CAs buy the debt...are they collecting for MBNA [bank of america]? Donna Robbs, the CI rep I've dealt with, suggested that the charges were made on behalf of MBNA [which isn't true, because I called Bank of America, which has no record of my account].
In the same vain, Mann Bracken wrote, "If an arbitration award in favor of FIA Card Services [I guess a branch of Bank of America, which MBNA merged with]is granted, we intend to pursue legal remedies available pursuant to the award."
What really grinds my gears is that I never disputed the debt and was fine paying it: I charged my whole master's degree tuition to the card, and wasn't ashamed when a serious surgery prevented me from paying MBNA.
I've read about CI's deceptive practices, and now it makes sense why a suspicious increase appears on my balance.
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated.
Dispute any unauthorized debits with your bank as well. Mann Br
Dispute any unauthorized debits with your bank as well. Mann Bracken is just doing a scare tactic. It is just saying "we're going to garnish your wages and/or bank account if we win a judgment". Well, they haven't won anything yet, and haven't validated all the tack on charges.
That depends on if they still own the account, CI may be a debt
That depends on if they still own the account, CI may be a debt buyer, if they are then MBNA has nothing to do with the account anymore. You may want to find out if CI has purchased the account or if they are simply managing it. If they purchased the account, find out when that was.
