Hello people,
I am new here but, I wanted advise from some experts on my problem. I wanted to know if I could be sued or held responsible for a debt as a Authorized user on a credit card account in Ontario Canada. I searched this site but haven't been able to find my exact circumstances. The primary cardholder is an ex of mine who moved out of the country without paying off her debt, some of which were probably mine. However, I gave her cash because she said she needed it before she left. Anyway the real question is, can the lawyer even track me, or would I even be held responsible for a debt that I didn't know about till recently after opening one of her mails that concerned me? Oh also, do they have to directly sue me with a letter in my name or can they do it in hers, and still hold me responsible?

Thank you in advance :)

If you are a secondary card holder you are responsible for the debt if they can't find the primary card holder. If they have your SSN#, they can track you. Yes, the letter will come in our name only.

While my son was going to college, I assigned him one of my cards in his name, for books and supplies which you can only do through the credit card company. As soon as he was done with college the credit card in his name was cancelled. I didn't want any debt assigned to him that I incurred if something happened to me.

Thank you for your quick reply.

The answer lies in the cardholder agreement.

In some cases only the account holder is responsible and not the authorized users (ie. Corporate cards, parents who issue an "in case of emergency" card for their teens).

In other cases both parties are responsible.

Generally an authorized users is not responsible for the debt, because they did not sign the application. However, the card holder can sue you for any charges you made and did not repay.

Thank you again everyone :)
I left the lawyer a message asking if I held any responsibility at all and hopefully when they get back to me I'll find out.

Hello Leo:

On the matter of whether they can track you down...

They might not be able to. I don't know how well you protect your privacy. But, if they do, you're going to lose bigtime – biggertime even, than you could settle for now.

What I mean by that is the credit card company will eventually sell the debt, and it may be sold again, and then even again. Some bottom feeder may eventually take the time and spend the money to go to court to get a default judgment against you. With the judgment, they can attach your bank accounts and garnish your wages. The judgment will probably be two - maybe three times as much as you now owe. Your life will be miserable.

I don't know if you owe the whole bill or just your portion. In fact, I don't even know if you legally owe your portion since you didn't sign an agreement. But, if you don't confront it now, your chances to address it in the future will be significantly diminished.

So, I ask you, do you feel lucky?

excon