Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Hi,

Chase credit card company recently changed my sons status from authorized user to account holder without his consent. Is that legal?


Asked on 8/18/14, 2:43 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

That is impossible. If they purport to do that and do not fix it, your son should get a lawyer. He may have a valuable claim/suit against Chase. Before you sue, call them and ask them to fix their error.

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Answered on 8/18/14, 4:17 pm

I would agree with Attorney Ashman. It is not possible for Chase to unilaterally make someone a joint account holder when they are only an authorized user.

That does not stop errors from being made here. However, this kind of error would be very unusual. And I disagree slightly with Attorney Ashman that any kind of a lawsuit would be proper here. We simply do not know enough facts about what happened. In order to sue, someone must have suffered harm of some kind - in this case financial harm. So where is the harm? And what steps have been taken to rectify the problem? If the answer is no harm and nothing has been done then any talk of lawsuits is premature.

So let's back up. What makes you think that your son is now a joint account holder rather than an authorized user on the card?

Is the account in default? Is this being reported on your son's credit? If your son is an authorized user then the primary account holder can take him off. Why is your son even an authorized user on an account?

I suggest that you contact me or a local consumer attorney and pay for a review of the documentation to see what is going on. An attorney will then be in a better position to know what steps need to be taken. It may be as simple as a letter or phone call to Chase to get the problem fixed.

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Answered on 8/19/14, 11:39 am


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