This is a copy of the text of a letter I wrote to an attorney who is attempting to collect on behalf of a collection agency that my household bank credit card account had been sold to:
I have received your correspondence of May 20, 2003, however I do not owe any money to Household Bank. The mere fact that Household Bank posts charges to an account does not make those figures legitimate. The sum of $952.29 represents unearned late fees and interest on those late fees. My credit has been seriously damaged by the insertion of this figure into my credit history as a legitimate debt, which it is not. Below is a synopsis of my relationship with Household, which I have previously furnished to (the collection agency) (the synopsis below includes a few modifications for the purposes of clarification).
My credit report indicates that I opened an account with Household in September of 1988. That may be true, however, the oldest of the two files that are readily handy begins with the statement dated March 15, 1992. My first problem with Household began in July of 1996 when I accepted their offer for a loan with a fixed 8.90% interest rate through payoff.
The loan amount was $9,443.43, which I used to renovate a vehicle. My frustration with Household is memorialized by a letter I wrote to, then president, (name deleted)on May 19, 1997. In that letter, I complained that several checks I mailed to Household (and had returned to me via my bank statements as paid) were not posted to my Household account. Between May 27, 1997 and March 9, 1998, there were frequent letters to an assistant (name deleted) to the president attempting to get payments posted correctly and solve other competence issues.
On March 6, 1998, Household lowered the credit limit on the account from $10,000.00 to $7,200.00. The reason given was delinquency, even though payment on the account had never been late. However, this was completely irrelevant to me as I had not drawn on this credit line since July, 1996, and had no intention of drawing on it again.
With the statement dated October 14, 1998, Household began posting late fees to the account on a regular basis, even though, the payments were made to the account each month on time.
On February 12, 2001, I calculated the interest accrued on the outstanding debt since September of 1998 (the last time that the correct balance had been recorded on the statement), deducted the payments I had made since October of 1998. In October, 1998, I owed $5,815.45. Accrued interest on the descending balance from that date through January, 2001 was $919.74 (at 8.9%). For the period, Oct. 1998 - Feb. 2001, I had made $4,443.00 in payments.
The outstanding balance in Feb. 2001 was $2,292.19, which I paid on February 12, 2001, bringing the legitimate balance to zero. I did not pay the unearned late fees or interest on the unearned late fees, which amounted to $515.28. I have no earthly idea where the figure $964.96 comes from. Of course, I have always found Household Bank’s arithmetic rather unusual.
My credit report acknowledges that this account was closed in February, 2001, yet I have statements from Household Bank dated through July, 2001, recording late fees. I believe there were statements after that date, but by that time the files were in storage and I threw the later statements in the trash. Which of course, is where I should have thrown the solicitation from Household Bank in 1988.
I have not included copies of the statements here, but I will be happy to furnish you with copies of any statements if that will be helpful.
Gary
San Antonio, Texas
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