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    ACM's Avatar
    ACM Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Feb 12, 2008, 07:22 PM
    Under age Credit Cards
    To make a long story sort of short, I live in Ontario, Canada and when I was 16 I applied for an AMEX card and got it. I lied on my application about how much I made, how old I was and said I was self employeed. This was during the dotcom boom so I guess they were just handing these things out because a few months later I had my brand new card with a $5000 limit.
    Anyway I eventually charged up more then I could afford and stopped paying. My balance is around $3900. The account was closed in 2000 but not reported on my credit report for another 5 years. When I realized the account was on my credit reports I successfully had it removed from one company(transunion) by faxing them 2 pcs of photo ID with my actualbirthdate on it (both transunion and AMEX were still using the birthdate I falsely gave on my credit application . When I contacted Equifax I told them the same thing and they investigated, buy by then AMEX had switched my birthdate to be correct and equifax said they would not remove it since all the information was correct even though a 16 year old can't have a credit card with no co signer. Just weeks after I got Transunion to amend my credit report I got a notification from AMEX saying they sold my debt to someone else. Shortly thereafter a collection agency sends me a letter saying to contact them.

    My question is am I legally responsible for this debt even though the credit agreement I signed should be invalid because I was only 16(no cosigner)? What would happen if it went to court? And lastly how can I get Equifax to remove this debt?
    ScottGem's Avatar
    ScottGem Posts: 64,966, Reputation: 6056
    Computer Expert and Renaissance Man
     
    #2

    Feb 12, 2008, 07:50 PM
    Well the good news is that you probably can't be held to the debt. The bad news is you could be prosecuted for fraud. You need to worry more about that then what's on your credit report.
    this8384's Avatar
    this8384 Posts: 4,564, Reputation: 485
    Ultra Member
     
    #3

    Feb 19, 2008, 09:54 AM
    Scott's right; that's fraud. You're going to be in a heap of crap if that goes to court because even though you were only 16, you still lied.

    You're better off paying the bill rather than trying to clear it off your credit over a technicality. If you keep fighting it, they're going to dig deeper and you're just going to have bigger problems.

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