Archive for Reader Questions and Answers
Does Perkstreet Financial Use Chexsystems?
Posted by: | CommentsIt occurred to me that I haven’t been doing “Reader Questions and Answers” for a while, at least not publicly. I mean, I’m always happy to answer questions as best I can via email or whatnot, but sometimes it makes more sense to answer them here so more people can find the info. Or something like that.
Anyway, today’s question comes from Nathan in Pensacola, FL.:
Hey Mike, I’ve been seeing ads for PerkStreet Financial SM for a few weeks. Who are these guys? And do they run Chexsystems?
Man alive, these Chexsystems folks are really stressing a lot of people out! For those who don’t know, Chexsystems is a reporting agency for banks. When you apply for an account, most banks pull your Chexsystems file to see if another bank has reported a bounced check, overdraft, closed account, etc. Basically, if you mess up with one bank, Chexsystems will report it for five years. They don’t decide whether a bank will open an account for you, but it you have a negative entry, your chances of opening a new bank account are greatly reduced.
One other thing. They’re pretty much untouchable. Supposedly, you can dispute negative entries, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting anywhere by doing that.
Anyway, back to the question. PerkStreet Financial is a partner of Bankcorp, and is another entry in the lineup of Internet-based financial service companies. It’s not a bad deal, with up to 2% cash back on debit card purchases and up to 5% cash back on purchases at certain retailers during promotional periods. They also have a healthy network of surcharge-free ATMs – in my zip code, I found 26 surcharge-free ATMs, both in typical places (gas stations and groceries) and goofy places (Waffle House and a bowling alley).
PerkStreet Financial does use Chexsystems reports to evaluate applicants, according to a representative there who was nice enough to take my call at 1 AM. I’m not sure which entries will result in a decline. When I called, the representative told me they manually review each application.
There’s a low opening balance (right now, $25), so it might be worth a try to see if they’ll accept you. Again, I don’t know what criteria their system uses to accept or deny applicants (and they’re not going to tell me) so I obviously can’t guarantee it won’t be a huge waste of time.
If you can’t get an account with PerkStreet Financial because of a Chexsystems entry or a negative credit entry, I’ve written about other options in the following posts:
Getting a Checking Account While On Chexsystems
Can I Get a Savings Account While On Chexsystems?
Oh, and if you don’t know what’s on your Chexsystems report, you can visit the Chexsystems website to get it for free (once per year or when you are declined for an account). You can order the report online, but you won’t get it instantly — they’ll mail it to you.
I’ve Been Sued for Credit Card Debt in Ohio – Now What?
Posted by: | Comments(Front end note: I’ve been getting a ton of emails from readers lately about credit related topics. I’m honored to be able to help (or at least empathize), but I think it might be better for everyone if I started answering questions here instead of providing individual responses through email. Let me know what you think.)
Okay, with that out of the way, here’s a question I received early this morning:
Mike, I just got a certified letter from the Cuyahoga County Municipal Court telling me that Citibank is suing me for about $6,000 in credit card debt. What am I in for, and is there anything I can do? I saw an ebook being sold on (site obscured) showing me how to challenge the lawsuit – is that for real? – Allen R.
Well, first I have to do the whole disclaimer thing – I’m not a lawyer and can’t give legal advice; my response does not create an attorney/client relationship; do your own research, as statements here may be outdated/inaccurate; I’m not liable for a single damned thing you do after reading this. Got all that? Good. Moving on…
You didn’t say what state you’re in, but the only Cuyahoga County I could find is in Ohio, so I’m running with that.
According to my research, you have 28 days after the date on the letter to respond and challenge the lawsuit; otherwise, Citibank (or more accurately, the attorney it hired to file the suit) can file a motion for default judgment, which means Citibank wins.
Every book, legal article, etc. I can find says not to ignore the letter. But I’d say the conundrum is, “Well, what do I respond with?” I mean, unless you can prove you already paid the debt, or never had the credit card to begin with, I’m not sure it’s going to help much. Even if someone else fraudulently racked up the bills, the court is going to ask why you didn’t report it to Citibank long before now.
I’ve seen the sites you mentioned that sell ebooks and “kits” supposedly showing people how to challenge a judgment. The premise seems to be claiming that the suit is invalid because the creditor delivered it incorrectly, didn’t fill out the right form or whatever. I dunno – I’ve never bought from any of those sites – but I suspect shelling out $39 for an ebook AND pissing off a judge in the same week is probably not a good combination. Plus, an attorney friend told me that even if you get the case dismissed on a technicality, the creditor can just refile the judgment suit with the proper documentation/method/whatever – so it sounds like that tactic would, at best, just delay the inevitable.
I’ve heard of people responding with a letter that basically says, “Yeah, I owe the money. But I can hardly keep food on the table, let alone pay my credit card bills. I’m really sorry.” Those who have caught a sympathetic judge on a good day might get the lawsuit tossed out. But I’d talk to an attorney before doing that.
Okay, so let’s say shenanigans or appeals for sympathy don’t work out, or you just don’t respond. As I noted, Citibank’s attorney will likely file a motion for default judgment after the 28 days are up.
From there, it’s basically a matter of damage control, which I’ll get into in the next post.