Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois

Re: Credit Card Debt

Thank you for your question and I am sorry hear about your predicament.

First, it would appear that your son may have committed some sort of fraud. The more you pursue this, the greater the chance that he will find himself in some sort of legal peril.

Second, had you been receiving notice of the bill over time? At what point did they start contacting you? (eg, when did you first realize that your son had taken out the card?)When did you first contact the credit card company?

Third, can I assume that the account has now appeared on your credit report?

Not to bog you down with a number of questions, but there are a number of factors which ultimately weigh heavily on your ability to get out from under all or a part of this debt.

There are a number of channels to work through under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. What options are available to you is dependent on the answers to the questions above. Generally speaking, the Illinois Attorney General is the only one who can initiate action to resolve improper credit reporting issues. However, recent law has given debtors some direct options for pursuing the issue themselves.

In any event, I always suggest creating a discussion with the creditor and credit reporting agencies in advance of going to that level. Just make sure everything is in writing.

Please feel to contact me directly if you have any more questions. My email is: [email protected].

Thanks!