January 26, 2010

By: Shaun Ertischek, Esq.

West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw has sued a credit card issuer and a collection agency working on its behalf for “unconscionable conduct in connection with their credit card lending and collection practices.”  Capital One Bank tricked consumers into making payments on old debts by sending the consumers letters that created the impression that the consumers were receiving offers of new credit.  These offers transferred the entire account balance of a charged-off account to a new credit card account.  This allowed them to re-age the debt so that it did not fall under the statute of limitations that would prevent them from filing a collection lawsuit or credit reporting the debt.