So you found a fraudulent charge on your credit card statement with Chase? Disputing a charge with Chase sounds simple, but there are pitfalls you need to know about. Since online shopping and credit card use are both used over the internet, its no wonder that credit card disputes are so rampant. What is equally rampant is credit card companies, such as Chase, Bank of America and American Express, fighting with consumer to deny such claims. That right. Your bank is not on your side. Your bank is on your bank’s side. It just wants to get paid and does not care about who pay is so long as its monthly statement gets paid.
Steps to take to get bogus credit card charges off of your bank account.
- Send your dispute in writing. You have the law on your side but the law requires you to make your dispute in writing. The Fair Credit Billing Act, is the law that protects you from bogus credit card charges. Phone calls don’t count. The banks encourage you to phone in your disputes but if you do and you have to sue, you may be out of luck. If you feel compelled to phone the bank about a fraudulent item on your credit card statement, follow it up with a letter to the bank. This way, you are protected. (Note, we are currently fighting with a large bank over this very issue. It encourages its customers to phone in their disputes. When they deny the dispute, their attorneys fight the cases on the basis of lack of writing. It’s a pretty heinous thing to do).
- Make sure you get an acknowledgment of your dispute from the bank. This is your proof that the bank received your dispute. Again, this may or may count as a writing of your dispute to satisfy the statute, but it certainly helps in showing that the bank was aware of your dispute. If you don’t get a written acknowledgement of your dispute or an email of it, be sure to call the bank and ask them for an acknowledgment in writing. Don’t back off until you get this acknowledgment.
- Be sure the bank issues you a temporary credit. While the bank researches your dispute, it cannot charge you for the disputed item nor can it collect on it or charge you interest. Look at your credit card statement that comes the following month to be certain that the bank gave you a temporary credit.
- When and if the bank declines your dispute (many times it will), you must file your lawsuit within 1 year or you will be stuck paying the fraudulent charges. The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you a very short 1 year statute of limitations within which to sue the bank to remove the bogus charges, starting from the date that the bank declines your dispute.
Hire us if the bank wont remove the fraudulent charge from your credit card statement.
Suing banks is not a do it yourself project. Here is why:
- The bank attorneys get a steady diet of DIYers that they feed to their young associate attorneys. These young attorneys make their bones with their firms by beating up the wannabe Perry Masons. They know the law and you do not. They know legal procedure and you do not. More importantly, many of them know the judges and well….you probably don’t. Don’t do this on your own.
- It costs you nothing out of pocket to hire us. Under the law, we can sue for your damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. We ask for no money up front. We are very good about the cases we select and how we litigate them. We collect our fees and costs from the defendants that we sue.
- Consider the damage that the bank has caused to your credit standing. When we file these lawsuits and settle them, we always consider the damage that has been caused to our clients’ credit reports due to their refusal to pay for charges that are not theirs. We make the banks remove the derogatory comments from the credit reports so your credit score is restored to what it was before you got hit with the fraudulent charges.
Call us at Credit Repair Lawyers of America if you have fraudulent charges on your credit report. We will write the right letters for you and litigate your case so that it costs you nothing out of pocket. Call us at (404) 528-2058 or email me at [email protected]. Let us help you at no out of pocket charge to you.
