Can CC's Go after Joint Checking Account????

[MarieT]

Quick question...can a cc go after our joint checking account even though the credit card was only in my name? My husband has auto deposit from his job, I have nothing going into the account.

Just curious as I have a March 25th court date from Chase cc attorney and wondering since I am jobless what they hope to get. House is only in my name but I owe $100K more than what it is worth and I am not planning to move for at least 10 years and I think the staute of limitations would bar them from collecting on a house sale at that point.

I want to settle out of court prior to March 25th, just trying to get my ducks in a row for negotiating with them.

[free2breathe]

Yes, they can go after any asset that is in your name, even if there are others on the account. With a joint checking account, each person has 100% ownership in the account. I'd have your husband open another account in his name for direct deposit, if you are afraid you're going to have a levy on the account.

[keepinitreal]

Yes, a cc can go after your joint checking account even though the credit card was only in your name.

If the cc is with the same financial institution that the checking account is with, they can grab it using the "right to set off" without warning.

If the checking account is with a different financial institution, then the cc company has to go through court to levy your checking account.

Regardless, your husband should stop auto deposit asap, open up a new checking account in his name only, and re-start the auto-deposit with the new checking account.

Good luck!

[GoingDown]

Yes, a cc can go after your joint checking account even though the credit card was only in your name.

If the cc is with the same financial institution that the checking account is with, they can grab it using the "right to set off" without warning.

If the checking account is with a different financial institution, then the cc company has to go through court to levy your checking account.

Regardless, your husband should stop auto deposit asap, open up a new checking account in his name only, and re-start the auto-deposit with the new checking account.

Good luck!

And I would go one step further... open up the new checking account at a completely different bank, not at the same bank.

I had a checking account at the same bank as one of my sisters, and eventhough bank tellers are not supposed to do this, they messed up and put her deposit in my account, eventhough we had different account numbers. If they can make that kind of mistake just because we had the same last name and the same address for awhile, imagine what would happen if they made a mistake when a creditor went after an account with your last name and your address? This sort of thing shouldn't happen, but it could happen.

Just be on the safe side, and use a different bank for the new account.

And remember, don't keep more money than you can afford to lose in your checking account once someone files a lawsuit against you.

[catleg]

I think they just sue you because it's part of their business model.
Just to try to keep the other debt slaves who still have jobs in line.
"Pour l'encouragement de les autres" as they'd say in the French Foreign Legion.

[MarieT]

Thanks for all the responses! I thought that they could go into our joint account but my husband was saying he did not see how they could since he's the only one putting money in there. (I think he's getting it confused with the IRS "innocent spouse" rule!)

I guess I have until the court date on March 25 to either settle with them or file BK. Got another letter from them yesterday saying they would like to settle before going to court. I figure we basically have until that court date to see if we can get all 4 cc accounts to settle and, if not, we're doing the BK anyway.

Not like they can just go into our account and take the money until they get a judgment after the court date. It is not a Chase bank where we have the checking account. This is the one account I am the least worried about since it is so small and only in my name and I am self employed so not like they can garnish my wages! The ONLY issue with this cc is them going into our checking account but we should have this figured out before they would ever be able to do that.

We just opened up this account since we owe money on an overdraft account to the last bank that we had been with for more than 20 years so I really do not want to open up yet another account. This is the only account that is only in my name anyway.