Laurie
Haslet,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, September 26, 2008
My JC Penney card is with GEMB and now my account is in collections. I rarely use the card and always pay it off in full when I do use it. Since I did not authorize the charges, I was not expecting to see a bill from them at all, so had no idea there were any problems What little information I have came from the collection agency and my credit report. 1. They posted approx $100.00 in charges to my account that I an not aware of. 2. They changed my mailing address without my knowledge or consent so I never received any statements regarding the fraudulent charges. US Postal Inspectors tell me this unauthorized change is MAIL FRAUD. It is also a violation of the Fair Credit Billing Act. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre01.shtm Collection agency was given the wrong address when the account was sold to them. 3. They made no attempt to collect the debt themselves. 4. They also violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act when they reported thier mismanagement of my account as my fault when in fact it was thier fault. Its been 2 weeks since I was first contacted by the collection agency they sold the bogus debt to and I still do not know what the charges are for. No one will tell me what they are for. I have sent the required written demands for Debt Validation to the collection agency and JC Penneys via certified mail - return receipt requested with Signature and waiting for the responses. I will be hiring an attorney if this is not resolved in my favor or the Collection agency tries to sue me. I have no intention of showing up in Small claims court without my own legal representation as I will be up against attorney's for the collection agency.