“Dear Steve,
I was offered to apply for overdraft protection on a checking account via telephone. As it turned out, all overdraft payments were actually cash advances, therefore high interest rates. But this is the problem.
My wife recently got her annual credit report and found that the bank had this on her credit as a joint account. My wife did not apply for this card. I called the bank and was told that we had gotten this credit account through a branch.
We went to the branch and there is no such record. Another phone call said that we applied online. Lastly we were told that my wife was “present” when the application was made. The bank also had attached this overdraft to our joint checking account. Customer service has since attached the overdraft account to my checking account alone but state that my wife is still jointly reponsible for the debt. My wife never applied for or used this account.
How can we go about getting my wifes name off of this debt?
Hank”
Dear Hank,
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Overdraft accounts are one of those financial products that I hate. They are nothing more than expensive cash advances when you spend more than you’ve got in your account.
It is far wiser to link a savings account with some money in it to use in case you bust your balance. That way you are using your own money to get by without taking out yet another loan.
This sounds like a manageable situation that can be resolved. What a pain though. I suggest that you gather up your facts and make copies of whatever documentation you have and send a letter to the president of the bank. Make sure you send the letter by some sort of traceable means that require a signature so you have proof of the correspondence.
It might take the bank a bit of time to look into but these situations generally do get resolved. Working the problem from the top down will get you more authoritative attention to the issue. The people at the bottom of the banking food chain don’t have the skills or authority to fix it.
The president of the bank isn’t going to deal with your letter personally but it will filter down to the highest ranking person that is responsible for these sort of issues at your bank.
Keep me posted. Let me know how it goes.
Steve
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You may look into various laws as well such as the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act for additional support in this matter to eliminate it from your wife’s credit report. It is often a matter of sending your “evidence” to the bureau with a demand to remove from the file. When they come back having “verified” the debt, request proof and source of validation, then use this information to continue to clear it up. If the bureau will not provide this information, they are breaking the law. Begin “friendly” and graduate to more of a “legal, hard line” approach, always professional of course.