credit card and authorized user

What is the name of your state? CA
A former live-in that was an authorized user of a credit card in my name used the card after we split up. Before she moved out, I asked & received her card from her. After she moved, she contacted the credit card co. & reported the card lost or stolen. the cc company issued a "new card" with new acct. number to her at her new address. I was not part of this as I still to this day, have the original card. She then charged 10k on the card, repoted the card lost again, had a new acct. number assigned and changed the address a second time and also made monthly payments to the cc company for about a year. All without my knowledge. Then she decided she paid enough and I should pay the rest. She changed the address a third time to my address & I received a bill for almost $8500. I called the cc company, was told they would send an affidavit of fraud use. I was to fill it out , return it and they would look into it. I never recieved the affidavit. A few months past & upon re-financing my home, it popped up on my report as delinquent. I contacted the cc company again & was told they already decided I was liable. I finally received an affidavit, filed it out with full explaination plus copies of statements that show address changes, the fact tht all payment were made by her, not me, as indicated by copies of payment checks to cc company. I also questioned as to "how an authorized user" was able to change the address & report lost cards without the consent of the user of record (me). No response to affidavit or questions. Never received any notice that final decision was made to affidavit. Now, 2 yrs. later , there is a lien on my house ??? Don't I have to be notified of a lien ? Should I have been given formal decision in writing?
What can I do now**************...... cc company is "first usa"

[JETX]

Though I do sympathize with your position, I feel that your inaction brought some of this on yourself.
1) You say that you requested an affidavit from the CC company. Then, "I never recieved the affidavit". Why didn't you contact them again and ask them to resend it??
2) " A few months past & upon re-financing my home, it popped up on my report as delinquent."
Why did you let a 'few months' pass??
3) Makes me ask, How long did you take to return the affidavit??
4) Again, you seem to have been 'casual' about this, because you now jump 2 years further ("Now, 2 yrs. later...").

It sounds to me like you really weren't concerned with this issue enough to handle it properly.... and maybe the credit card company felt the same way.

In any case:
"Don't I have to be notified of a lien ?"
*** What type of lien is this?? If it is a judgment lien (as it probably is), a jugdment would have been rendered against you. That would have required (usually) your knowledge of the lawsuit.

"Should I have been given formal decision in writing?"
*** Of what 'decision'?? You have described an action. If you are asking if you have a right to know what the process is, the answer is no. If you are asking about a judgment (if any), then yes. See above.

"What can I do now**************......"
I would suggest:
a) Find out what type of lien.
b) If a judgment lien, contact court and review notice of service in casefile. If you were not properly noticed, you can attempt to get the judgment set aside. If you were properly noticed and just ignored them, the judgment will likely stand.
c) Contact the creditor and try to negotiate a settlement. Since you have let this go on for so long, it is likely that any statute of limitations to allow you to go after the 'other' card user may have expired. Otherwise, you could file a lawsuit against her to try to recover your 'damages'.

Inaction does not make you liable for the amount charged by the "self authorized user". She committed fraud by changing the bill to address without your knowledge. And the credit card company was negligent in allowing an authorized user to change the bill to address without consent from the primary cardholder.


One thing confuses me about your story. How did your "friend" get a new account number? Did you have a balance on the original account number? Didn't you ever wonder why you were not receiving any bills on this credit card?

There's a distinction between an AU and a joint account holder. Are you using the terms properly here?
Some account have joint holders, and any party can change the address or report the card lost/stolen. Other ones have restrictive AU clauses that don't allow the AU to change such details. An AU should be able to report the card lost/stolen and get a new card, simply because the CC companies experience so much fraud that costs them money. They WANT to be able to prevent that.
Unfortunately, it looks as if they may have enabled it in this case. They're still going to get paid, so they don't care.

I have some infomation...on the matter since I worked with a CC company fraud investigations.First readig your email,take me to the conclusion that you "demostrated" negligence of you part due to your lack of action to inform and respond to the cc company.Like other members indicated AU can report lost/stolen cc's but they can't change address without the consent of the primary cardholder. Please make sure the acct was a single acct and she was really an AU.According to cc agreements the primary is responsible for any and all charges done by the authorize user is your RESPOSABILITY". Did you ever called the cc company to remove her from the acct? Taking her cc away from her is not enough. For example she could still used the acct # from a receipt or statement and order anything over the phone or internet.In order to recover any money you have to take her to court.Sorry..but if I was researching your acct for a fraud claim..it will seems to me with the information given you that were trying to pull a fast one on the bank! Also normally everytime you change your address a notificationof change of address is sent to the formal address just to make sure the address was changeby the cc holder.Good luck!

As far as the change of address is concerned....I have to agree with JAVEN...I not only changed my address, but changed my rate with a CC co...they sent me notification about this change to make sure I was the party who did this...and I was aware of it.