|
I have been divorced for about 3 years and we had a Discover card account in
her name and I was an authorized user. Since I had made most of the
purchases on this account I agreed to pay it in the divorce papers. And I
did in fact pay off the entire balance of the account. Lately though my ex
is being a complete ass and i have noticed that she never changed the online
passwords to access the account and she still has me listed as an authorized
user. My question is this, I would like to get some very expensive revenge
on my ex and if I charge a lot of money to the card and refuse to pay for it
can she legally hold me responsible for the charges criminally or civil
either one? Discover card policy states that the account holder is
responsible for all charges made by any authorized user. Any advice on this
would be appreiated. I live in the State of Tennessee if that is important
to know for what laws are applicable.
Mark
|
| |
| |
Mark James wrote:
I have been divorced for about 3 years and we had a Discover card account in
her name and I was an authorized user. Since I had made most of the
purchases on this account I agreed to pay it in the divorce papers. And I
did in fact pay off the entire balance of the account. Lately though my ex
is being a complete ass and i have noticed that she never changed the online
passwords to access the account and she still has me listed as an authorized
user. My question is this, I would like to get some very expensive revenge
on my ex and if I charge a lot of money to the card and refuse to pay for it
can she legally hold me responsible for the charges criminally or civil
either one? Discover card policy states that the account holder is
responsible for all charges made by any authorized user. Any advice on this
would be appreiated. I live in the State of Tennessee if that is important
to know for what laws are applicable.
Mark
The decision might be up to how a district attorney interprets things.
No matter what the Discover record says, do you really think you're
still authorized by the account holder to charge on it? I can't speak
for TN, but in Texas, credit card abuse is a felony. I wouldn't hesitate
to take such a case to the DA for consideration of prosecution. Your
revenge might be expensive indeed.
--
Gerald Clough
"Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."
|
| |
| |
In article <rh0791pig59ra2k032psu8po75lp3brre4@4ax.com>,
"Mark James" <mj9287@charter.net> wrote:
I have been divorced for about 3 years and we had a Discover card account in
her name and I was an authorized user. Since I had made most of the
purchases on this account I agreed to pay it in the divorce papers. And I
did in fact pay off the entire balance of the account. Lately though my ex
is being a complete ass and i have noticed that she never changed the online
passwords to access the account and she still has me listed as an authorized
user.
If you took her car and wrecked it, there would be no question
that you caused the damages and would be responsible. The same
goes with the credit card...she is the owner of the account. If
you cause her damages, she can sue to recover it. Since you say
that you hacked into the account (ie, you used her password without
her approval), you likely could be charged with computer fraud
as well as regular old fraud.
-john-
--
======================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
======================================================================
|
| |
| |
Mark James wrote:
I have been divorced for about 3 years and we had a Discover card account in
her name and I was an authorized user. Since I had made most of the
purchases on this account I agreed to pay it in the divorce papers. And I
did in fact pay off the entire balance of the account. Lately though my ex
is being a complete ass and i have noticed that she never changed the online
passwords to access the account and she still has me listed as an authorized
user. My question is this, I would like to get some very expensive revenge
on my ex and if I charge a lot of money to the card and refuse to pay for it
can she legally hold me responsible for the charges criminally or civil
either one? Discover card policy states that the account holder is
responsible for all charges made by any authorized user.
Sure, she may be legally responsible to Discover to pay off the new
balance you plan to run up, but _you_ would also be ethically and
equitably responsible to _her_ to make the payment for charges you
incur for your own benefit, or to reimburse her if she pays it to keep
them from ruining her credit. And its possible she could sue you not
only for reimbursement of the amount you run up, but for additional
damages as well.
Chances are, if you do what you're thinking of doing, you risk both
criminal and civil liability for fraud, theft, conversion, intentional
infliction of emotional distress, unauthorized use of a credit card etc
etc... Even though she has not yet notified Discover that you are no
longer an "authorized user", you can't in good faith take advantage of
that since _you_ know you are no longer an authorized user of her
account. That's the part that matters. And it's not just a case of
a good faith mistaken assumption that it would really be okay with her
for you to continue to share the account -- that's not what you're
suggesting, you want to use it as a weapon to get back at her, which
goes a long way toward proving your malicious rather than innocent
intent if she wanted to claim punitive damages on top of her actual
losses.
Didn't you already know the answer?
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
|
| |
| |
about 3 years and we had a Discover card account
in
her name and I was an authorized user. Since I had made most of the
purchases on this account I agreed to pay it in the divorce papers.
My question is this, I would like to get some very expensive revenge
on my ex and if I charge a lot of money to the card and refuse to pay for
it
can she legally hold me responsible for the charges criminally or civil
either one?
The divorce judge certainly could. More to the point, since you have
admitted in a public forum accessible to her and her lawyer, should such
charges appear on her card, the state would know who to prosecute for fraud.
|
| |
| |
|
