Quick Questio re: Cheque Received

CurlySue2017

My last few threads have been about my OH's DRO, which is now over and done with and we are working on tidying up his credit report and hopefully starting to improve it. The other day completely out of the blue, he received a letter from a bank advising him that they had charged interest and fees when they shouldn't have and will be sending a cheque to refund the charges. Now this relates to a very old joint account that he held with his ex-wife and they have said in the letter that they are splitting the refund equally between the two of them and sending a cheque to each of them (it doesn't actually specify who the other person is, but he knows who this account was joint with).....so far no real concerns.

However, at the bottom of the letter in all the blurb, it says to contact Lowell if he has any questions - which tells me that this account was once in debt and handed to Lowell for collection. But he and his ex are divorced and the account was transferred into his ex-wifes sole name years ago, so this has set alarm bells ringing.

I should also mention that this bank is the same bank that he had debts with that were covered in his DRO, although this is a separate account.

So the question is - if he banks this cheque, would that then open him up to being liable for any debt on this account?

Of course the money would be handy, but if it is going to open a can of worms when one has just been sealed, he would rather do without the money!

sourcrates

To be deemed liable, the debtor must acknowledge any alleged debt, in writing, or by making a payment.
Banking a cheque from the same creditor neither acknowledges any alleged debt, nor makes them liable for any debt the creditor may deem is owed, so he is perfectly safe to enjoy his windfall.

CurlySue2017

Thankyou once again!!