Did you ever lie on a CC application?

[momto2boys]

I am new here and have found this board very helpful! I had my initial consultation the other day, and decided to file Chapter 7, which my lawyer said I qualify for. When I was talking to my lawyer he asked me if I have ever lied on a credit card application and I said I might have and he pressed for more info. I told him I did not remember when, but I thought I had done that in the past. He said that could cause problems because if the creditor had known that they would not have given me such a high limit.

In February of 2004 I received a pre approved credit card application & applied for a Fleet card ( now BOA ) and I told them I make $50,000 a year and I only made about $5,000 a year. I have a feeling that this is going to hurt me and I am scared as heck about it. My hubby said that typo's can happen & since I filled out the application online, it should not matter, but this CC company has been harrasing me day & night, calling my work, faxing my work, calling my inlaws, and I have a feeling that they are going to cause me trouble when I file.


Have you ever lied about your income and then filed? I just want to know what to expect.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

I don't recalling ever lying on an application, but even if YOU did, I would go with the TYPO excuse IF its not too late. I believe its the creditors own damn fault for not "checking out," your application to begin with. Kind of like when you apply for a job, don't they check references!

Best Wishes, Catchmeifyoucan

[sofarindebt]

Yes I have

on a payday loan (I have no job) and on one of my credit cards worth $14K for BofA.

Am I worried about it? No. It has already been charged off and if they do object in worse case, if I have to pay them back a settlement of $6-7K, I can live with that in place of wiping out our $125K of debt.

[SamanthaJones]

That credit card application is ancient history.

(And besides- if it were not? The typo claim is brilliant~)
Some questions to demand answers from from a credit supplier in the event they claim you applied fraudulently:
Did you verify my income prior to giving me credit?
If yes, how excatly did you verify my income?
If no- why did you extent me credit based on an anonymous online application?
What is your company policy for verifying income prior to extending credit?
Have you extended additional credit without first reverifying income, or even employment status, or the applicant's ability to repay a higher line of credit?
What is your policy for verifying employment?
And it goes on and on.


I saw this in a pro-se manual. The author(s) claim that this 'back atcha' approach will usually end a creditor's attempt to claim fraud, etc, since it would be a very expensive task to provide all of the information requested by the debtor- and really? WHY are these people providing the amounts of credit they are, basically sight unseen? It goes to show them as negligent.
Did you positively verify my identification?

[SamanthaJones]

More info on requesting info from an objecting creditor:

Asking for the answers to such questions that I posed earlier is called 'discovery motion'. If the creditor fails to respond to 'discovery motions' the bankruptcy code requires the court to impose sanctions against the creditor and its local counsel. Also- the creditor must provide evidence of subjcetive fraudulent intent against a debtor. Seems like the odds are stacked against a win for the creditor?

[SinkingFast]

Mom,..........

Attnys like to prepare for the worst case scenario. Better you be warned in advance than be told, "It'll be OK." and get slapped with an Objection later.

Pre approved CC applications come when Creditors buy lists. They ask for names of everyone with a certain Credit Score range. Credit Scores don't even factor in income.

Yes, typos do happen. If you did this app over the phone, the Bank Rep could have just as easily made the error. Also, since this CC acct is held as the result of a merger, BoA possibly doesn't even have the original credit app on file.

In this particular case at least,........... This is a relatively new CC LOC you're talking about. You're talking a 3 year old LOC as opposed to a CC you'd had for 10-15 years. The Creditor could make a case for fraudulent use of the LOC and an abusive filing.

A lot will depend on when and how you ran up the debt. Smaller charges and balance transfers with an incremental climb in the debt would be viewed as "normal course of business use". Recent, large charges or balance transfers, within the last 6 months or so prior to filing, are red flags. That type use screams, "I'm in financial trouble and grasping at straws to save a sinking ship!"

[momto2boys]

Thank you so much for your help I am hoping this will not be a problem! I have not used the card for about 1.5 - 2 years, I think. I did not make any huge purchases with it. I did buy most of my groceries, gas, clothing, and a few things for our home with it.

[keepmine]

I would ignore samanthajones 2 posts in this thread.
A consumer has no control over a banks lending policies. The majority of credit card lending decisons are based on your credit score plus, your answer to the questions on the application. It is your responsibility to be truthful. They have no duty to investigate the accuracy of the information you provided.
At the end of the day, it'll depend on if the applications are still in existence.

[SamanthaJones]

Ignore what you like, that information is from bankruptcy lawyers.

S. Elias wrote the book I refer to, how to file on your own, and the information about 'discovery' comes from thebkblog.com- which is bankruptcy questions answered only by bankruptcy lawyers.

[petrified]

[keepmine]

The blog and the book are incorrect. All they'll do is respond as "irrelevant".
Why do you post nonsense that the debt is stacked against creditors? Plenty on here have had adversial proceedings filed against them.If a creditor has a bonifide reason to object, the deck is a long way from being stacked.

You may want to read what the code says as exceptions to discharge:

http://assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode11/usc_sec_11_00000523----000-.html

[storesstores]

That web site for the blog does not work..How can I access it?

[SamanthaJones]

Try www.thebklawyer.com/thebkblog

I don't know how to 'paste' internet addresses in here.

[SamanthaJones]

I have yet to seen a single person tell about an adversary in here.

All I have seen are people that may have, or were going to and have offered payoffs to the creditor. Whoever you are, you are one angry soul- perhaps you are the one who HAS lost an adversary? Your health is going to suffer if you don't learn how to meditate, and breathe~

Ommmmmmmm

[SinkingFast]

If a filer has a decent attny, the attny will tend not to let a CC's negotiation attempts reach the Adversarial level. If the attny cannot brush off the Creditor, the attny will generally advise the filer to reach a mutually agreeable settlement.

It is true that we have not had a Member post about a full fledged Adversarial from a Creditor. At least since I've been posting here. There have been a few people post here that Creditors threatened and they wound up settling.

Generally, most posters who have had problems,......... It's been with their local Trustee or the UST's office.