Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland

Credit Card Company Accounting Mistakes

LONG story short...we recently transferred a balance from one credit card to another...both accounts happened to be held with the same financial institution, one by my husband, one by me. Since that payment check was sent to transfer the balance, there began a huge series of accounting mistakes on their part. What finally happened is that they posted the check back to the account it had been written on, so that we showed a large credit balance. We corrected them several times, telling them our balance should be -0- (we have since transferred the balance to another financial institution, due to all the mistakes made)...they said it would be adjusted and the account closed (as we had requested), but the last statement we received still showed this large credit balance. We called one more time to try to tell them that the balance should be -0- and that we wanted to close the account. Then we received a letter saying the account had been closed. We also received a check for the large credit balance!!! So...moral/legal question...do we cash and keep the check? If we do, and they discover their error someday, will we be responsible for returning the money? What should we do, and what are our rights?

Thank You!


Asked on 8/29/99, 9:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Press Chung & Press, P.C.

Re: Credit Card Company Accounting Mistakes

Moral question: you know the answer.

Legal question: same answer. It's not yours, and they are entitled to have it back. To protect yourselves, make copies, write a clear letter explaining what happened, and send it certified mail.

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Answered on 8/30/99, 6:11 pm


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