Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Michigan

Incorrectly sent to collections

I recently had a friend pose as an attorney and contact my credit card company to see if they ever offer settlements. I owe about $10,000 on my card at 30% interest. My friend never mentioned we were going to file bankruptcy, merely asked if they ever offer settlements. He was told that they did not offer settlements at all. I have just found out that they have sent my account to a collections agency and when I called the cc company to discuss this, I get routed directly to the bankruptcy department. I am wondering if this breaks the cardmember agreement on the cc compnay's part and if I have any recourse.


Asked on 11/21/05, 8:44 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rochelle Guznack Law Offices of Rochelle E. Guznack, PLLC

Re: Incorrectly sent to collections

First thing, it was a very bad idea to have a friend pose as an attorney and there are laws against that type of thing. There was nothing to prevent you from calling the credit card company yourself and attempting to negotiate a settlement directly with the credit card company. Obviously, you have already defaulted on the account if it has been turned over to a collection company. Some collection companies automatically assume that a debtor is in bankruptcy when they get a communication from an attorney. I hope you never try anything like that again. You will now need to spend some time on the telephone straightening out this problem and negotiating either a settlement or a repayment plan with the collection company.

Good luck.

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Answered on 11/22/05, 5:20 pm


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