Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: a credit card purchase

You want to make sure you dispute the charge with your credit card company, in writing, addressed to their billing dispute department. Once you identify the charge and describe what the charge is, you will invoke your rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act. You only have two billing cycles to complete this. An investigation must take place and the results turned over to you before those charges can be re-applied. With regard to the original creditor, they have some right to attempt to collect what they feel is a valid account, but they must be careful not to run afoul of the State collection practices act, which applies to the original creditor. If you state to them in writing that you dispute the charge and refuse to pay, certain types of collection contact must stop. This does not mean that they could not bring some type of legal action. The same with the third party collection agency. Send a letter to the agency stating you refuse to pay the bill. Any future contact by that collection agency would then violate federal law. It is doubtful that the original creditor subscribes to the credit reporting agencies, but the debt collector likely does. They would have the ability under certain circumstances to report the item on your credit. If you dispute it in writing to the agency, they must report that you dispute the account to the credit reporting agencies. If the collection activity continues you may be forced to take some type of legal action.