Am I responsible for a debt if someone pays with thier credit card and later says they didnt authorize it.

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Am I responsible for a debt if someone pays with thier credit card and later says they didnt authorize it.

A share of a household bill (in my name)was paid by a livein with his credit card and later moved out. Now I got a bill for the charges and he told his credit card provider that he didnt authorize the payment. This was a year ago.

Asked on May 9, 2009 under Business Law, Wisconsin

Answers:

B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 14 years ago | Contributor

If the bill is in your name, it's your obligation to pay it.  You would have to go after the person who undid his credit card payment yourself, for the money.

The credit card company's action is a bit surprising, if it withdrew the payment a year after it was made.  But you don't really have any way to fight that.

If you decide to have a lawyer help you with this, one of the questions he or she is likely to ask, is how long before moving out did this person originally make the payment.  Another question is, was this payment made just to help you out, or was that part of what the person had agreed to pay so that you would let him live in the place (which I am assuming was in your name just like the bill).

If that payment was more or less a rent substitute, the person was cheating you by undoing the payment.  If you can prove all these facts to the satisfaction of a court, you should be able to win the case.


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