Will a cc take money from a savings account without filing a lawsuit?

[adaughter]

I was wondering because I am getting really jittery at the moment...would a credit card company be able to take out money out of a bank account without filing a lawsuit first/notifying us?

I really hope they don't do that before we file for bankruptcy or something. Its a card with Chase that has been out of contact for 2 years and I've been reading that they are very aggressive and have no fear in filing lawsuits freezing bank accounts. Should I be worried of loosing the savings account? we have never used that savings account to make a payment for any cc btw so I dont know if that makes a difference.

[AngelinaCat]

If the savings account is at the same instituion as the CC, there is a very strong possibillity of that happening. It is called cross-collateralization. You need to close the savings, and checking accounts and move them to another institution. This is called 'Right of Offset.'

Here is a thread by Lajazz947, about some of his experiences:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=26141

[adaughter]

no there is no debt with that bank/ have never had a credit card or loan with them they are a small community credit union my mom deposits some of her paycheck monthly in. but I'm just unsure about everything right now-since I have read other banks take over sometimes and have partnerships just take the money without giving notice. and the lawyer said not to withdraw money from any acct so I dont know what to do...

[magyar123]

It is never a good idea to have checking/savings accounts with the same bank that issued you a credit card. As others mentioned, the fine print gives these banks the authorization to offeset.
When the rumors about Wamu started surfacing I immediately closed my Wamu checking/savings account and went with a different bank.