Fraudulent charges on Bank of America credit cards in Florida have been growing rapidly. Thanks to online shopping and identity theft increasing every day, fraudulent charges on one’s BOA account has also been growing. It’s a kind of identity theft, America’s fastest growing crime. Bank of America credit cards are very popular in Florida as it has a lot of branches all over the state.
Steps to take if you have to Dispute Charges on your Bank of America Credit Card Account.
The law governing this area is the Fair Credit Billing Act (“the Law”). As a practical matter, here is what you need to do to dispute a charge on your Bank of America Account, when (not if) you find fraudulent charges on your credit card statement:
Make your Bank of America Dispute to a charge in writing.
BOA and the other banks invite you to call them because they are your friends, right? WRONG! The Law gives you 60 days from the date that the fraudulent charge first appears on your credit card statement to dispute the charges IN WRITING! Phone calls don’t trigger your rights under the Law. If your rights are not triggered, you cannot sue the bank for the bogus charge. Feel free to call the bank to make your dispute so long as you follow up with your dispute in writing. During your phone call to the bank, ask for the name of the person you are talking to and get an email address to which to send your dispute. Of course, you should keep a written copy of your email.
Get Bank of America to acknowledge your dispute in writing.
Under the Law, BOA is required to acknowledge your dispute in writing. This is your proof that you timely sent your dispute to the bank and that it received it. In our office, we send these disputes by certified mail to avoid defense attorneys raising the lack of writing defense. If after you make your dispute you do not get an acknowledgement within 1 week, call the bank again and keep on top of them until they email or snail mail you an acknowledgement. Today, most of them will email an acknowledgment to you quickly. This acknowledgment will be a key part of your case for when the bank decides to hold you liable for someone else’s charges.
Make sure you receive the bank’s decision to your dispute within 2 billing cycles.
Bank of America is required to give you a decision on your dispute within this time frame. If you don’t receive its decision, be sure to call the bank and make sure to get its decision in writing, whether by email or snail mail. This communication starts the 1 year clock running for the time you have to file a lawsuit.
When American Express Declines your dispute, you have 1 year within which to sue it to reverse the fraudulent charges.
In the legal world, this is called the “Statute of Limitations” and its really short. The law keeps you on a very short leash to notify the bank of your dispute (60 days from when it appears on your credit card statement) and how much time you have to sue the bank (1 year from when it sends you the dispute results). If you don’t file the lawsuit in the 1 year time period, your rights against the bank will be lost and you will probably be help responsible for the fraudulent charges.
Why You should NOT prepare a Bank of America Dispute yourself.
We can do it for you at no out of pocket charge to you. We will write the dispute letter for you and send it to Bank of America at no out of pocket charge to you. If they remove the fraudulent charges from your account, it costs you nothing and you will be all set. If BOA decides to hold you liable for the fraudulent charges, we will file the lawsuit on your behalf and it will still cost you nothing out of pocket. Under the law, the bank is required to pay your attorneys’ fees and costs in any successful action. We are usually very successful in collecting our fees and costs from the bank. This is why is very important to send your dispute to BOA in writing or, better yet, let us do it. We will make sure that the letter is correct and that it has been received by it.
Our help costs you nothing out of pocket
If you have fraudulent charges on your credit card statement, learn more about your rights at Credit Repair Lawyers of Florida. We have been helping consumers with credit issues since 2008. Visit us at www.creditrepairlawyersfl.com , or call us at (877) 293-2882 or email us at [email protected]. We are happy to help you through the maze of disputing your credit card issues all at no out of pocket charge to you. Contact us today for your free, no obligation consultation.
