Line of Credit Dispute

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: SC

I opened a Line of Credit account in 1998. It was opened as overdraft protection for a checking account I opened at the same time. I never withdrew or used the credit and closed the account in 2001.
Since May of 2007 the bank is saying that I owed the terms of the credit account, $500 and has been charging interest ever since. I had no idea since they didn't have my current address. They charged off the account to a collection agency. After being notified by the collection agency, I have sent dispute letters to both the bank and the collection agency.
The bank has sent my original application from 1998 and the statements from May 2007. They say that is enough to answer the dispute. I disagree. I never withdrew funds from the account and don't have any proof, check stubs, transaction numbers, etc...
I don't have any experience in these matters. How else can I fight this? Can I take them to court? Should I send letters to executives? Talking with representatives has been futile.

Thanks

Order your bank records and find out what happened.

I have ordered my bank records and they refuse to send me anything before Jan 2007. That is my issue. I closed the account in 2001. There is a six year window, 2001 until 2007, that they refuse to address.

I want to know what happened and can't get them to communicate. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? What can I do to get them to address my account from 2001?

1 They can only report this debt to your credit file for 7 years plus 180 days from the date you went delinquent. That would be 7 1/2 years from the day in 2001 when you closed the account. The time is almost up.

2 The statute of limitations in SC is 3 years. You have an affirmative defense to any suits they file

3 Send them a letter telling them you refuse to pay, and to stop contacting you. All they can do is put it on your credit for a little while (6 months, a year?), if they even do that.

Life is short, too short to sweat something like this, unless you are going to apply for credit in the near future.

Thanks for the information. Knowing the statue of limitations in SC is particularly helpful.

The account didn't go delinquent until 2007 however. Between 2001 and 2007 there was activity on this account that was unbeknown by me. Payments, overdrafts, etc... were taking place that I had no knowledge of. I have asked the creditor, Wahovia, for their records and why the account wasn't closed in 2001 they are either unable or unwilling to answer.

Since this is a Line of Credit account I have asked for statements and/or check stubs that contain the withdrawals from this account. Anything after 2001 wouldn't have been by me.

I don't know what my rights are here and am considering an attorney. I have never used an attorney however and don't even know where to start.

Quote:

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Between 2001 and 2007 there was activity on this account that was unbeknown by me. Payments, overdrafts, etc... were taking place that I had no knowledge of. I have asked the creditor, Wahovia, for their records and why the account wasn't closed in 2001 they are either unable or unwilling to answer.

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How do you know that payments were made? Your records, or theirs? If their records, can you confirm this through your own records? Sometimes, unscrupulous debt collectors will claim payments were made so they can go after time barred debts.

The creditor's records. I don't have any records since I ceased business with the creditor in 2001. For example, a statement from the creditor dated 1/2007 from has my address from 2001. I never got this statement because I didn't live at the address.
These statements include Automatic Payments to the balance on this account. I have no idea who or what made those payments and asked them about it. They don't know either.

It seems like they didn't close my account in 2001 and have erroneous transactions coupled with it. They are trying to collect on an account that has my name on it but nothing else.

Sounds to me like some creative bookkeeping. See an attorney.

One option is to pay the amount they claim you owe directly to Wachovia and then sue them in small claims. Otherwise this is almost impossible to straighten out. I had a similar problem with B of A and that worked.

Have you actually gone down to the bank and demanded the records? They can pull anything recent up on the computer.

That is bad advice. If you pay on it, and it turns out that the SOL has run, you just kissed that money goodbye, and you could still have to deal with the illegally reaged account on your credit for some time.

As it stands now, there is a good chance that you will not only not owe anything, but that they will be writing you a check. Assuming that the payments can be proven not have been made by the OP, there are quite a few law violations there, and this could result in a decent settlement.