I opened a business credit account with Advanta bank in Jan 03. Interest terms were prime + 5%. In Aug 04, Advanta decides it wants to raise my terms to prime +13.5%, but fails to tell me as required by their own agreement. I find out when the Sept statement shows APR is way higher than it should be. Not knowing what happened, I call Advanta, and a rep tells me the rate went up because I missed a payment, and that if I pay at least the min for the next 2-3 months, they will return my rate to what it was. I was busy, and didn't check right away, but it turns out I was not late on my payment. They had found a mistake I was unaware of on my credit report (for $33), and raised my rate. I was not told this, and given different excuses, until Dec04/Jan05, when a rep finally told me about a change in terms notice I should have gotten in Aug 04. Had I written in saying I don't agree, rates would have stayed P+5, but the account would have closed. I immediately wrote in saying I just found out, and didn't agree, but they would not fix the account. I had closed the account anyway when the rate jumped in Sept.
I tried calling almost every other day to get this fixed, but was told by numerous managers that they wouldn't do anything to help account. I told them I felt this was breach of contract, and I would stop paying. They said (oh well), so I stopped payments.
Their collection dept abused the Fair Debt Collection Act up and down. I wrote in to have calls stopped, and they continued to call for months, both at home and at work. They disclosed info to 3rd parties both at home and at work, and left delinquent account messages on the business answering machine. They refused to place managers on the phone when requested. They told me they would call every day if they liked, and they pretty much did Mon-Sat. Even when a manager was supposedly fixing the account after I sent her a specifically requested letter, they still called daily. They lied and changed their story almost weekly until the account went to charge off. The entire time, I told them I would resume payments the same day as they fix the account to the agreed terms. They never did.
Now they have filed a lawsuit against me, saying I breached the agreement by not paying.
I am writing the answer and would like to counter claim. Where can I find examples of an arbitration counterclaim, and how much can I ask for in the claim? Is it $1000/violation incident, or $1000 per type of violation? What are some common counterclaim charges I can use, and do counterclaims for this type of dispute ever win? If the arbitrator says I owe what I claimed I owed from the beginning (and offered to pay since last year), does it hurt my credit? Thanks for any help
Jim
AFI1040@aol.com
I tried calling almost every other day to get this fixed, but was told by numerous managers that they wouldn't do anything to help account. I told them I felt this was breach of contract, and I would stop paying. They said (oh well), so I stopped payments.
Their collection dept abused the Fair Debt Collection Act up and down. I wrote in to have calls stopped, and they continued to call for months, both at home and at work. They disclosed info to 3rd parties both at home and at work, and left delinquent account messages on the business answering machine. They refused to place managers on the phone when requested. They told me they would call every day if they liked, and they pretty much did Mon-Sat. Even when a manager was supposedly fixing the account after I sent her a specifically requested letter, they still called daily. They lied and changed their story almost weekly until the account went to charge off. The entire time, I told them I would resume payments the same day as they fix the account to the agreed terms. They never did.
Now they have filed a lawsuit against me, saying I breached the agreement by not paying.
I am writing the answer and would like to counter claim. Where can I find examples of an arbitration counterclaim, and how much can I ask for in the claim? Is it $1000/violation incident, or $1000 per type of violation? What are some common counterclaim charges I can use, and do counterclaims for this type of dispute ever win? If the arbitrator says I owe what I claimed I owed from the beginning (and offered to pay since last year), does it hurt my credit? Thanks for any help
Jim
AFI1040@aol.com
