I opened a revolving account back in 1998 and had my mother as what we thought at the time as a co-signer. It turned out her name was primary on the account and mine was secondary. The original loan amount was for $1,550, and I had it set for an automatic withdrawal from my checking account. Over the years, due to my good payment history, they would send me a monthly statement informing me that they had raised my credit limit.
Due to circumstances beyond our control (husband got cancer, was injured on the job) it became necessary to use the increase to cover some of our daily living expenses. After all of the increases, the account balance was up to over $9,000.
We ended up having to file bankruptcy, and since my mother was a co-borrower, I didnt want her to be stuck with the repayment. I filled out and submitted a reaffirmation agreement to Beneficial, and they did not do anything with it. They claimed they did not receive it. Which I cannot understand since everyone else that we filled one out for received theirs.
Anyways the bankruptcy went through and Beneficial ended up included. They have gone after my mother for the $9,000 balance of the account which in most cases is what they are suppose to do, that is what a co-borrowers responsibility is. However in this case there are a few twists that have changed all of that.
First, The wording on the loan documents we signed stated that both parties would be informed of any action taken by Beneficial / HSBC that would adversely affect them.in this case, this didn't happen. The only notification of credit increases came to me and only me, and not to my mother who was the co-borrower. Anytime I would go in for an increase, the checks were made out in my name alone, and not in both names as they are suppose to be.
When my mother went to do a refi on her mortgage, she found that Beneficial has the account listed twice with the credit bureau. Once by herself, as a closed account for over $9,000, showing 90 days past due and over $ behind, the other had both of our names on it with a balance of around $8500, showing late of over 90 days.
The bank and the credit bureau called Beneficial and they admitted that the information on the report was incorrect, and they had them remove the account with my mother's name on it alone showing a balance of over $9000. They left an account showing both of our names as responsible, with the balance of around $8500. I have been making the payments on this account by auto withdrawal, however, I did file the bankruptcy and legally no longer responsible for this debt.
The account number on the open account listed with the credit bureau is not the account that we opened. We have NO PAPERWORK whatsoever with this account number on it. Essentially, Beneficial has created a new account and put my name back on it, without having us sign any papers agreeing to this transaction.
Beneficial practices unethical and illegal tactics and they have to be stopped. We are going to do our part to make sure that this happens.
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