Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Excessive Credit Card Fees

In general, you would be required to pay only what you agreed to pay in the contract for the credit card, no more, no less. So the question will be what did the contract for the credit card say. I don't have that in front of me, but if you had payment protection to pay the minimum monthly amount, it does seem unlikely that the credit card company can charge you late fees for this. If there is any basis for the higher interest rate, it would probably be on the basis of the late payments, which probably are not legitimately late payments at all.

In general, there is little you can do before a trial. You say you have a summons, but I assume that there is not yet a judgment against you. Then, when you go to court (and be sure to show up in the right place at the right time, don't be late), ask for a trial. Also ask for a "bill of particulars." That means that they must show you exactly what they are charging you with and how they calculate the amount.

They will almost certainly require you to file an answer. DO NOT BE LATE!!! If you are late, you will lose automatically. File a written answer with BOTH the attorney AND the Court. Do it in plenty of time. Make sure that your answer actually denies that you owe the money (or at least some of it). Half-baked answers can cause you to lose if the court thinks you are not actually denying that you owe the money (or at least some part of it).

Then on the day of trial (the trial will be like half an hour), the credit card company must PROVE that you actually owe the money, including all the charges.

If they cannot prove that you agreed to pay the higher interest rate, etc., etc. they LOSE. For example, I can't imagine how they can prove that they are due late fees if the insurance was paying the monthly minimum payment. Similarly, if the contract says one interest rate they cannot charge a different interest rate than is agreed in the contract.