Thinking of suing chase......need good attorney

[OHBOY]

After much 'hmmmhumming' because I am basically 'collection proof' I have recently decided to file for bk in the near future, however.... today I received a letter that sheds a possible new light on things:
" The letter was from a 'Class Action Settlement Administrator' and it stated: "this lawsuit concerns promotional loan offers that some Chase credit cardholders accepted, whereby the loan was subject to a fixed interest rate (APR) until the loan balance was paid off in full. In November 2008 and June 2009, Chase sent some of these cardholders a 'Change in Terms" notice, raising their minimum monthly payment from 2% to 5% of their outstanding account balance and, in some cases applying a $ 10 monthly fee to their account.

Plaintiffs brought this lawsuit alleging that the Change in terms was improper. Chase contends that the Change in Terms was lawful and denies that its conduct was in any way illegal or improper. PLAINTIFFS AND CHASE HAVE AGREED TO A SETTLEMENT TO RESOLVE THIS LAWSUIT...." (for $ 200 Million).


As one of the poeple, I was deeply affected, and could not afford the the increase of minimum monthly payment from 2% to 5 % on my 2 Chase credit cards. CHASE NOT ONLY CAUSED ME TO GO INTO DEFAULT WITH THE INCREASE, BUT ALSO TRIGGERED THE SUBSEQUENT SNOWBALL EFFECT WITH MY OTHER CREDIT CARDS.

I am now thinking of 'bailing out' of the class action suit and thinking of suing CHASE on my own for forcing me into a position of bankruptcy. Througout my 81 yrs I had ALWAYS paid my bills on time, was NEVER late on anything, never defaulted on anything, had never had to even contemplated bk, and always had excellent credit...that was UNTIL CHASE CAME AROUND....

I am of the opinion that Chase should 'eat' everything I owe them (or by now the junk debt buyer)
I believe that they should have to pay for all the other credit card defaults that I subsequently had to face as a result of their actions (other cards THEREAFTER also raised their terms...).
I am also of the opinion that they owe me for losing my good credit rating, and ...
I believe I also deserve to be compensated for A LOT OF HEART ACHE AND FRUSTRATION.

NOW....as I am wondering if there is a good attorney out there who would go after CHASE on my behalf (with the understanding that I do not have the funds to pay any attorney up front) I WOULD VALUE YOUR INPUT and THOUGHTS !

[keepmine]

Chase settled to avoid the expense of litigation. Had they decided to fight, they may have won years down the road.
I'd suggest you take the emotions out of the equation and just file your bk. Within 90 days, Chase and your other creditors will eat those balances and you'll go on with life.
Should you opt out, I doubt you'll find a lawyer willing to take this on a contingency and if you did, you're looking at years before you even see a courtroom.

[SMinGA2]

Class action lawsuits largely benefit the attorneys. I've read of some cases where people opt out of the class action and sue in small claims court. I'm not sure what you're likely to gain from the class action suit,vs. what you can pursue in small claims. I don't know what other venue you could use other than either class action or small claims though.

[OHBOY]

Class action lawsuits largely benefit the attorneys. I've read of some cases where people opt out of the class action and sue in small claims court. I'm not sure what you're likely to gain from the class action suit,vs. what you can pursue in small claims. I don't know what other venue you could use other than either class action or small claims though.

Thanks for the input, however since small claims court has low financial limits I would not bother with it.

[frogger]

I am now thinking of 'bailing out' of the class action suit and thinking of suing CHASE on my own for forcing me into a position of bankruptcy. Througout my 81 yrs I had ALWAYS paid my bills on time, was NEVER late on anything, never defaulted on anything, had never had to even contemplated bk, and always had excellent credit...that was UNTIL CHASE CAME AROUND....

I understand your point and your emotions, however emotions need to be set aside and deal with this as a business decision. If changing your payment from 2% to 5% created this entire financial picture, then perhaps your finances were entirely too tight to begin with?

Not trying to be critical or judgmental here, however if I were 81 years old, I would not be wanting to spend the rest of my days fighting Chase.

You may win, you may not, however in the grand scheme of things, you're going to lose if you spend the rest of your life fighting this. File and be done with them.

[OHBOY]

I understand your point and your emotions, however emotions need to be set aside and deal with this as a business decision. If changing your payment from 2% to 5% created this entire financial picture, then perhaps your finances were entirely too tight to begin with?

Not trying to be critical or judgmental here, however if I were 81 years old, I would not be wanting to spend the rest of my days fighting Chase.

You may win, you may not, however in the grand scheme of things, you're going to lose if you spend the rest of your life fighting this. File and be done with them.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _


frogger: actually I did not think that my finances were too tight at all. I was comfortable with the 3.5% interest rates that I had made for quite some time and that were advertised TO STAY AT THAT RATE UNTIL PAYED IN FULL. I was the 150% increase in payment requirements certainly put a 'kink' (to say the least) in my pre planned financial status.

IF I could find an attorney to take this on I would not hesitate and be on board in a heartbeat.

I would not look at it as a stress factor, instead...since I am unable to do physical things like golfing or bowling, I may view it not only as a stimulating mental exercise but a hobby as well.

B...U...T, since I am not versed enough to persue a case like this on my own, all of you are probably correct and I need to put it to rest. A nice thought it was though........would love to see some justice........

THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR INPUTS !

[HHM]

To be honest, it is a very weak case if you bail from the class action and try to go it alone. Frogger makes a good point and that would be part of Chases defense.

To get the sort of damages you "think" you can get, you would likely need to prove that Chase knew, or should have known, that "you" would suffer this sort of harm. The class action is essentially a breach of contract case and therefore relatively easy to define damages (e.g. refund the fees and over charged interest). What you are contemplating is some sort of tort claim (negligence, etc) since you have "special" damages beyond that of most class members. The only problem, it is not clear what tort Chase would have committed.

I don't know if you have been looking for an attorney yet, but trust me, you are NOT going to find one willing to take this case, and even if you did, would NOT do so on contingency. So, let's be real for a second, are YOU willing to pony up $10,000 to $20,000 to fight this. If not, why should an attorney?

[Sammie]

OHBOY--Fogger & HHM are correct, don't waste your enegry with them. My dh and I borrowed money from them back then at the int. rate that you stated to pay off other cc's. Since it was a substantial amt. we had a min. pmt. of $150 a mo. We through extra money ea. month to go toward the Principal. Then the bomb fell, they sent us the same notice you received and our min. payment went up to almost $300 a mo. My husband lost a great deal of his income, due to the company cutting Commissions & we knew it would take us 30 yrs. (if we lived that long) to pay this one card off. BK (Ch. 13) was our decision, we go to our 341 meeting 2 wks. from tomorrow & that is the largest amount owed.

This happened yesterday, my dh went online to pay our Mortgage (which is with Chase). Our Mtges. are NOT in our Bk., when he got to our account it said to call a rep. at Chase that our account was closed. When he called he was told that since we filed for Bk. even though it does not involve our Mtge., we can no longer pay online, but we could pay by phone without an additional charge, which he did.

I am interested to see if Chase is going to be a creditor that is going to come after us when we go to the meeting.

I wish you luck in whatever decision you makesammie

[SMinGA2]

All debts are part of your BK. You most likely mean that your plan calls for you to continue direct payments to the mortgage. Even so, they are bound by the automatic stay and most remove online account access for fear it could be considered a collection effort. As to coming after you at the 341, that is unlikely. Generally creditors that do appear are small, local (think family, former friends who you owe). If one intends to object to the dischargability of a debt, they need not appear at the 341. But that basis would be on recent luxury purchases or cash advances.

OHBOY--Fogger & HHM
This happened yesterday, my dh went online to pay our Mortgage (which is with Chase). Our Mtges. are NOT in our Bk., when he got to our account it said to call a rep. at Chase that our account was closed. When he called he was told that since we filed for Bk. even though it does not involve our Mtge., we can no longer pay online, but we could pay by phone without an additional charge, which he did.

I am interested to see if Chase is going to be a creditor that is going to come after us when we go to the meeting.

I wish you luck in whatever decision you makesammie

[OHBOY]

HHM: I am of the opinion that Chase should indeed have known that plenty of folks would suffer this type of harm and end up in bk, upon being forced to make drastically increased monthly repayment amounts ( what amounts to an increase of 150 % more than initially advertised) and especially upon contacting Chase via phone and email and asking/begging them to recind the proclaimed change of terms while pointing out what devasting effect it would bring about...

I figured that I am probably in dreamland with hopes of finding an attorney.... and it's good to hear your honest thoughts.

The purpose of my post was to get input from others and I certainly appreciate all of you having taken the time to respond to 'set me straight' (hey, nothing has ever been accomplished without a dream...)

THANKS TO ALL for your responses.

[Sammie]

All debts are part of your BK. You most likely mean that your plan calls for you to continue direct payments to the mortgage. Even so, they are bound by the automatic stay and most remove online account access for fear it could be considered a collection effort. As to coming after you at the 341, that is unlikely. Generally creditors that do appear are small, local (think family, former friends who you owe). If one intends to object to the dischargability of a debt, they need not appear at the 341. But that basis would be on recent luxury purchases or cash advances.

Well thank you very much. This is why I love this Forum so much I learn something new every day. Neither one of us could understand why Chase would cancel our online payments because we didn't include our Mtges. into our ch. 13. Also, for clarifying the creditors, we don't owe anyone but the cc companies (they are enough) sammie

[Sammie]

HHM: I am of the opinion that Chase should indeed have known that plenty of folks would suffer this type of harm and end up in bk, upon being forced to make drastically increased monthly repayment amounts ( what amounts to an increase of 150 % more than initially advertised) and especially upon contacting Chase via phone and email and asking/begging them to recind the proclaimed change of terms while pointing out what devasting effect it would bring about...

I figured that I am probably in dreamland with hopes of finding an attorney.... and it's good to hear your honest thoughts.

The purpose of my post was to get input from others and I certainly appreciate all of you having taken the time to respond to 'set me straight' (hey, nothing has ever been accomplished without a dream...)

THANKS TO ALL for your responses.

You are most welcomed! I am sure they knew this when the proposal was first offerred and 1 1/2 yrs. later we were all stuck. My husband called them also and told them that we could not afford this increase and basically were told there was nothing they could do. sammie

[frogger]

I am of the opinion that Chase should indeed have known that plenty of folks would suffer this type of harm .

Whether they would/should have know or not does not matter.

They don't care!

Go ahead, file, and get your financial bailout, just like the banks did.

[kawh]

... today I received a letter that sheds a possible new light on things:
" The letter was from a 'Class Action Settlement Administrator' and it stated: "this lawsuit concerns promotional loan offers that some Chase credit cardholders accepted, whereby the loan was subject to a fixed interest rate (APR) until the loan balance was paid off in full. In November 2008 and June 2009, Chase sent some of these cardholders a 'Change in Terms" notice, raising their minimum monthly payment from 2% to 5% of their outstanding account balance and, in some cases applying a $ 10 monthly fee to their account.

Plaintiffs brought this lawsuit alleging that the Change in terms was improper. Chase contends that the Change in Terms was lawful and denies that its conduct was in any way illegal or improper. PLAINTIFFS AND CHASE HAVE AGREED TO A SETTLEMENT TO RESOLVE THIS LAWSUIT...." (for $ 200 Million).


As one of the poeple, I was deeply affected, and could not afford the the increase of minimum monthly payment from 2% to 5 % on my 2 Chase credit cards. CHASE NOT ONLY CAUSED ME TO GO INTO DEFAULT WITH THE INCREASE, BUT ALSO TRIGGERED THE SUBSEQUENT SNOWBALL EFFECT WITH MY OTHER CREDIT CARDS.

I am now thinking of 'bailing out' of the class action suit and thinking of suing CHASE on my own for forcing me into a position of bankruptcy. Througout my 81 yrs I had ALWAYS paid my bills on time, was NEVER late on anything, never defaulted on anything, had never had to even contemplated bk, and always had excellent credit...that was UNTIL CHASE CAME AROUND....

I am of the opinion that Chase should 'eat' everything I owe them (or by now the junk debt buyer)
I believe that they should have to pay for all the other credit card defaults that I subsequently had to face as a result of their actions (other cards THEREAFTER also raised their terms...).
I am also of the opinion that they owe me for losing my good credit rating, and ...
I believe I also deserve to be compensated for A LOT OF HEART ACHE AND FRUSTRATION.

NOW....as I am wondering if there is a good attorney out there who would go after CHASE on my behalf (with the understanding that I do not have the funds to pay any attorney up front) I WOULD VALUE YOUR INPUT and THOUGHTS !

I hate Chase, too. But in this particular case, did you move or otherwise not receive the original notice about 2-3 years ago?
I was one of the people Chase put the squeeze on, in the summer of 2009, for 150% more minimum payment every month. I went ahead and paid because I didn't want Chase to benefit from their sleazy tactics. After a year and a half, my balance with them was paid down enough for the payment to be what it was in the summer of 2009. Chase was the first CC I stopped paying recently. It felt great. It'll feel better when the remaining balance is discharged, looking forward to that.

So don't think I'm not sympathetic, but I believe the time for bailing on the class action is way over, the deadline was years ago, so you are a part of the class action, which probably will award around $10-$25 apiece for the people affected by Chase reneging on its offers. I don't know for a fact that the outcome would have been different for me, but that's when I had to begin taking on more BT debt to make the minimums Chase was demanding. The class action suit benefits lawyers, mainly.

[keepsmiling]

Same boat here.
My dh attorney has been talking about doing exactly what you speak of. Too bad you live so far away or he'd take your case.
He claims it's consumer fraud.
That class action thing is gonna put 63 cents in our pocket. Did you see what the attorneys get? I think it's 25 million bucks.