What can I do if my banker ordered me a credit card without my permission?
Full Question:
A banker uses my account information to order a credit card for me without my permission. What can I do?
04/08/2009 |
Category: Debts and Credit |
State: Idaho |
#15924
Answer:
The Truth-In-Lending Act is a federal law that requires that all terms in a consumer credit transaction be fully explained and certain consumer protection requirements must be followed .The following information is from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regarding issuance of credit card requirements in the Truth in Lending Act:
"Section 226.12--Special Credit Card Provisions
1. Scope. Sections 226.12(a) and (b) deal with the issuance and liability rules for credit cards, whether the card is intended for consumer, business, or any other purposes. Sections 226.12(a) and (b) are exceptions to the general rule that the regulation applies only to consumer credit. (See §§ 226.1 and 226.3.)
12(a) Issuance of credit cards.
Paragraph 12(a)(1).
1. Explicit request. A request or application for a card must be explicit. For example, a request for overdraft privileges on a checking account does not constitute an application for a credit card with overdraft checking features.
2. Addition of credit features. If the consumer has a non-credit card, the addition of credit features to the card (for example, the granting of overdraft privileges on a checking account when the consumer already has a check guarantee card) constitutes issuance of a credit card.
3. Variance of card from request. The request or application need not correspond exactly to the card that is issued. For example:
• The name of the card requested may be different when issued.
• The card may have features in addition to those reflected in the request or application.
4. Permissible form of request. The request or application may be oral (in response to a telephone solicitation by a card issuer, for example) or written.
5. Time of issuance. A credit card may be issued in response to a request made before any cards are ready for issuance (for example, if a new program is established), even if there is some delay in issuance.
6. Persons to whom cards may be issued. A card issuer may issue a credit card to the person who requests it, and to anyone else for whom that person requests a card and who will be an authorized user on the requester's account. In other words, cards may be sent to consumer A on A's request, and also (on A's request) to consumers B and C, who will be authorized users on A's account. In these circumstances, the following rules apply:
• The additional cards may be imprinted in either A's name or in the names of B and C.
• No liability for unauthorized use (by persons other than B and C), not even the $50, may be imposed on B or C since they are merely users and not "cardholders" as that
{{4-30-99 p.6916}}term is defined in § 226.2 and used in § 226.12(b); of course, liability of up to $50 for unauthorized use of B's and C's cards may be imposed on A.
• Whether B and C may be held liable for their own use, or on the account generally, is a matter of state or other applicable law.
7. Issuance of non-credit cards. i. General. Under § 226.12(a)(1), a credit card cannot be issued except in response to a request or an application. (See comment 2(a)(15)--2 for examples of cards or devices that are and are not credit cards.) A non-credit card may be sent on an unsolicited basis by an issuer that does not propose to connect the card to any credit plan; a credit feature may be added to a previously issued non-credit card only upon the consumer's specific request.
ii. Examples. A purchase-price discount card may be sent on an unsolicited basis by an issuer that does not propose to connect the card to any credit plan. An issuer demonstrates that it proposes to connect the card to a credit plan by, for example, including promotional materials about credit features or account agreements and disclosures required by § 226.6. The issuer will violate the rule against unsolicited issuance if, for example, at the time the card is sent a credit plan can be accessed by the card or the recipient of the unsolicited card has been preapproved for credit that the recipient can access by contacting the issuer and activating the card. "
