I have been fighting an ongoing battle with this credit card company. Urban Trust Bank finances the Salute Gold Visa Card. I have not spoken over the phone with anyone I can identify as an American. All I hear are foreign accents, principally Mexican.
It has been allowed to violate state finance and banking laws for the State of Illinois. It has a credit card agreement that it is forcing down cardholders' throats — even though those cardholders are faced with a lifeless credit card due to cancellation of the credit card account and inadequate reasons for such cancellations. My BIG BEEF: (1) If there is no credit card, then the credit card agreement is null and void and any unpaid balances should be paid back at a reduced finance charge — NOT AT 19.50%. (2) If there is no credit card, then there should not be a Monthly Maintenance Fee billed to the former cardholder AS A PURCHASE [and that is how it is done] so that amount is subject to the 19.50% finance charge also. My balance of over a year ago was $8xx. 00. Today, it is $692.59... Almost $700.00. I have made regular monthly payments of $30.00. That's $360.00. DO THE MATH! This was a scam. If I stop paying and let them take me to court, a judge will straighten it out and give me a lower finance charge and make them return all the money I paid to them for "Monthly Maintenance Fees". But I also will be faced with a scorched credit record for nonpayment to Salute.
NOW GET THIS: I have been corresponding with the Attorney General of the State of Illinois since November. I sent an initial, very detailed letter and several follow-up letters with additional information. I did not get a postcard from the Attorney General's office advising me that my initial letter had been received and an investigation would take place until February. I then received a short letter informing me that the Attorney General's office would be contacting this creditor. This spring, I received another short letter (misaddressed to me even though I had previously advised them my address had errors in it) informing me that the Attorney General's office was unable to get a response from this creditor. They could not act as my attorney and file a complaint. I had the right to file a complaint against the creditor. That was it... All done and browned. Now, I could have filed a complaint against Salute from the very beginning, but I thought the Attorney General could run interference and literally make these scammers stop scamming. Guess I was wrong. I also guess I could have bypassed the Attorney General and saved months of agonizing over this issue and filed a complaint myself back... When. There are no more conscientious lawyers ready to take on issues like this and serve them up to the wrongdoers in the form of class actions. This issue is big enough for a certifiable class action.
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