URGENT:: THREATENED by Credit Card Comp

Posted by tko (344 days ago)

please please read and helpful advice that i can take into action :-)

my husband has a loan and credit card with XXXXXX. missed a payment with the loan department, they sent case over to collection agency. the collection agency then threatened us and credit department froze the credit card. we filed a police report and formal complaint to the company. then they removed the case from the debt collectors and returned the loan to normal monthly payments. the credit card department then said they'll unfreeze the credit card , but we have to pay 2,000 minimum payment/month. then ONE MONTH later, they called and demand the ENTIRE outstanding balance. this can't be legal!
please help. really need some advice and can't afford to pay for a lawyer.
thanks!

(I am based in Hong Kong)

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Posted by omaharrison (344 days ago)

Nasty situation.
Basically in every type of loan one take, there is in the terms and conditions section a place where the bank writes that it has the right whenever it wishes to demand full repayment of loan.
But I think if you go to legal advice you should hear something like "behaviour in good faith by the bank". The bank has a responsibility to act in good faith, and from what you say it looks like the bank is more of acting as "revenge" because of your complaint. :-s
If you cant pay it back I think the best for you is to go for legal advice. At least advice if you dont have money for full representation.
From experience when a judge sees a party without a lawyer he/she will know how to aid them.
All the best and good luck.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by ringah (343 days ago)

Unfortunately this sort of thing seems to go on quite a lot. If you have evidence that the collector threatened you with harm the police should be able to handle it, however if all they did was attempt to intimidate you, you are stuck with private legal action. There has been a lot of debate about regulating debt collectors and not much really done to curb the problem with those that go too far. It sounds to me as if the customer service department initially restored your card and then the file has gone to another department who have decided to terminate the account. The bad news is they probably can. However I would say chopping the account for a missed payment is probably overkill. There may be an angle but as suggested above you will need to get some argument for wrongful action by virtue of the manner in which the case was handled.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by gdbill (343 days ago)

Strange. Banks seldom turn a debt over to a collection agency for missing only one payment. They do, however, tend to freeze other lines of credit (including credit cards) when you are in default on one credit product.

(I am based in Guangzhou)