Unauthorized increase in credit limit

mrmath

Hi,

A about 10 years ago, I co-signed for a credit card in a friends name with a $2,500 limit to be sent to her house with the hope that it would help increase her credit rating.

Yesterday, I found out that she owes $18,000+ on the card and the limit is $24,400. On top of that she is paying 19.999% interest on the account.

My point of view is that I've lived at my current location for 22 years and she has lived in her current location for 10 years. I never received a single statement at my house and I never used the credit card. There is no reason for them to believe I was on notice (in fact I forgot about the card completely) about the increase in limit.

She may want to file for bankruptcy, and I think, to the extent I am liable for this debt, it should be $2,500 -- the rest should be discharged in bankruptcy without affecting my credit rating.

What do you guys think?

gordikin

I think you could possibly be liable for the whole debt. Do you mean £ not $..or are you not from the UK?

dzug1

Given that you are presumably in the US (use of $ currency) I doubt if anyone on this UK site can offer much help. Even in the US I suspect law may differ between states.

In the UK you would either be potentially liable for the full amount (if you signed as guarantor) or not at all (if you were just an authorised signatory)

mrmath

I'm sorry, I did not realize this was a UK site, I'm located in California. I'll find another site, but I appreciate the replies

Tixy

Hope you find an answer somewhere else. We don't have co-signed credit cards here in the UK but hope you can find a US site as good as this one!