You're not going to believe what 2 CC companies did to us...

[mommyof4]

OK, I know that the Credit Card industry is less than ethical at times, but this one beats all. My husband's mother passed away in December, and he was appointed by his brothers and sisters to settle the estate. One of his jobs in this capacity was to contact the credit card companies and settle her bills. One of the CC companies just cancelled the debt and called it good. The other one had an 8K balance due, but agreed to settle for 4K. My husband paid the 4K to the company out of the estate money, and thought everything was good. He just pulled his credit report the other day, and it turns out that BOTH of the CC companies reported the loss on HIS credit report. Apparently, they listed him as an "authorized user" on the accounts, since he was settling the accounts, and then reported them to the credit bureaus as partial charge offs. His FICO has taken a 50 point hit from this. So far, both credit card companies are not cooperating with him in getting this fixed.

Any ideas as to what to do? Don't say "get a lawyer," as my husband IS a lawyer, and he's still having no luck dealing with this.

[maat55]

The best I can offer is to take this question to this site.

CardRatings.com • Index page

[mommyof4]

The best I can offer is to take this question to this site.

CardRatings.com • Index page

Thank you. I posted the same question there, too. I also wrote to Debt Smart, asking if they had any advice.

[kork13]

How is that even possible? Was his name/SSN associated with the account in any way? I don't know, but are there any sort of protections for the executor of a person's estate? It seems that was the only role he played here. Myself, I'd be raving, insisting on talking to the next person(s) up the food chain until someone a) explained what happened, and b) could get it corrected.

[noppenbd]

Unbelievable. Or should I say believable, but pathetic.

He should first dispute the account with the credit bureaus that are listing it.

He should then file a complaint with the Office of the Controller of the Currency, which oversees bank/credit issues:

OCC - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Administrator of National Banks

He should next write a letter to the CC companies instructing him that this is not his debt, and that they must stop reporting it to the credit bureaus. He should also inform them that he has already filed a complaint with the OCC.

[PrincessPerky]

Err do you need the 50 points?

I agree it was wrong he was the executor of the will, not responsible for her credit on his report.

BUT

Just how much work are you willing to put into it to get your 50 points back? So long as they are not asking you for more money and wont, I wouldn't bother about it. (well unless you need a loan right away?)

[bjl584]

Being the executor to an estate should not make one liable for unpaid debts of that estate. There has to be some sort of legal seperation.

[mommyof4]

Err do you need the 50 points?

I agree it was wrong he was the executor of the will, not responsible for her credit on his report.

BUT

Just how much work are you willing to put into it to get your 50 points back? So long as they are not asking you for more money and wont, I wouldn't bother about it. (well unless you need a loan right away?)

Yes, we are trying to purchase some more property out of his mother's estate (45 acres of farm land), and we do need financing for this venture. 50 points has hurt his chance of getting a loan for this quite a bit. It's definitely worth the battle.

[EEinNJ]

I think you should name names, so we can avoid doing business with these companies. Consumer action is the only way to stop these abuses.

I'm surprised any CC company wrote off the debt. When my first wife died, she owed on a couple of cards, and I paid them from her assets. It never occurred to me to do otherwise.

[AlligatorBaby]

Wow that is just terrible. I am so sorry! If your mom never listed him as an authorized user, then I don't see how they can tamper with her accounts and just add people willy nilly! They are lucky that you settled it at all instead of just hoping it goes away. Can you write a letter to the credit bureaus, CCing the credit card companies, explaining the situation and requesting it be taken off since your name was added illegally? I would also contact the BBB. I know it seems silly, but I have reported BIG companies to the BBB and have gotten results. I am so sorry this happened, it is so unfair!

[swaymonae]

^Agreed. I have spent many, maaany hours on the phone with "customer service reps" and their "bosses" and the "bosses bosses" .. if you work your way up the company's chain with no result, start filing complaints.

I got screwed big-time by 2 companies, relatively about the same time. I filed complaints to the BBB and both items were resolved within about 4-6 weeks.

Considering you're actually going to have to deal with two sources: 1) The CC company and 2) Credit Reporting Agencies; it's likely to take longer -

I was once told by a CC company that they had corrected a mistake that they were reporting and that it would take up to a month to see it reported correctly!!!! So I waited a full month, and NOTHING.. I won't give the whole story, but it's a huge waiting game,..it took a couple months to fix. Something you have to stay on top of. It's horrible.

You just have to pull out the big guns.

So many people miss out on what's owed to them because they gave up, without exploring other sources of the power of complaint!

[cantretire]

Err do you need the 50 points?

I agree it was wrong he was the executor of the will, not responsible for her credit on his report.

BUT

Just how much work are you willing to put into it to get your 50 points back? So long as they are not asking you for more money and wont, I wouldn't bother about it. (well unless you need a loan right away?)

It's not the 50 points. An executor's credit rating should not be connected to an account that they are merely handling and not actually on. Many are not even related to the deceased. He should fight to clear that up.

[atomicrc11]

Also, authorized users do not have any fiduciary responsibility to pay back a loan unless the account is joint.

First thing to do, write a letter and send it to all three credit bureaus disputing the debt. They then will have to take the debt off your credit report and if the credit card company can prove you are liable, then they can add it back on. This puts they burden of proof on the credit card company and not you.

Also, to get it done quicker, I know when I've gone to www.annualcreditreport.com you can dispute things online. They then send you something you have to sign and mail back. This happened to me when someone with a similar name lived somewhere and somehow the address was associated with my credit report. I disputed it and when I checked later it was gone.

[blankcheck]

This sounds horrible!
If you've already been denied credit for any reason, and they specify the credit reporting agency, you're entitled to a free report from those agencies. Then, you can use the annual credit report later to check that everything has really been fixed.

Also, keep the paper trail airtight. Document every phone call, email, physical letter, etc. including date/time, and name of correspondents. Much more effective than a generic "the last time I called somebody said..."