Erroneous Credit Card Charges

I am in the state of California. I'm having a problem with what I believe are erroneous charges on a visa card. The account is that of my mother's who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I recently obtained conservatorship of her affairs. I have made over twenty phone calls to the bank in an effort to get copies of these charges. My mother does not have the card. I am not sure when she lost it and I requested a fraud investigation. No investigation was ever done. I never received anything related to an investigation from the bank. There were 12 items I initially questioned and I was able to obtain records for five of them, which were correct, and we are obligated to pay this. I am still questioning the other items. The descriptions on the statement are very vague and I believe these charges are incorrect. Since the charges are a few years old, I was told this info was only available on microfiche. After waiting almost four months for the bank to check its' archives, I was told no other records could be obtained. The bank is not cooperative and has had a class action lawsuit in the past for incorrectly assessing late fees. I do not believe this is a reputable company and that my mother is being taken advantage of. One charge is in 1996, the other charges are in 1997 and 1998. I do not believe these charges to be valid and the bank cannot give me any records. We are continuing to pay on the account as we do owe some of these charges. The bank's final position with me is that because we have been paying on this account then we must accept all of the charges. The amount in question is over $5,000. What recourse do I have to protest these charges? Is the bank obligated to provide proof of these charges ? Do I have the right to demand a fraud investigation?
Thank you for any information / advice you can provide.

This will serve as a good lesson for everyone to review their credit card statements when the come in the mail. Most credit card companies contracts (aka Cardholder Agreements "CA") state that you have sixty days from the date of the statement to dispute a charge. If you do not dispute the charge within that time period or if you pay any part of the diputed charges, the charges will be deemed valid.

The reason for this, is if the charges are unauthorized the credit card company will charge back the merchant for the transactions. After two years, it is nearly impossible to go back to these merchants and try to demand records from them regarding the fradulent transactions. So they ask you to handel your disputes in a timely manner.

So, yes, your grandmother owes the charges. Being that she is not well you may be able to negotiate a reduced balance settlement with the credit card company in which they waive part or all of the interest.

Good luck!


[email]JASON@LEGISLATOR.COM[/email]