There is likely a repossession clause in your terms and conditions. Essentially making the jewlery a secured credit item. They can request you to reaffirm, but you do not have to. They can however repossess the jewlery if they could find it, or they could sue you for it/its value. Your lawyer should be able to explain all this?
Unlike mortgages and auto loans, threats to seize the collateral behind credit card loans are rarely carried out, according to the National Consumer Law Center and other experts. Repo men need a court order for the sheriff to enter your home, and it is difficult to resell people's used possessions. "To be frank, nobody wants the stuff back," said Daniel Kreis, director of portfolio management with bank industry consultant First Annapolis. However, the threat of repossession is more valuable as a collection tactic than the used goods themselves. Collectors use the legal claim as leverage to obtain a settlement check, consumer lawyers say, and debt-strapped households may pay rather than risk losing the fridge, TV or a laptop used for work. Whether repossession threats are serious "depends on the dollar amount -- they probably could give you some trouble on it," said Jay Nixon, a bankruptcy attorney in Wisconsin. He recommends that clients offer to pay the market value of the used item, a fraction of the demanded amount. Although the likelihood of repossession is low, a collector could push civil action or even criminal theft charges, for ignoring claims on secured property. While it drops the security interest, the new Best Buy card agreement adds a mandatory arbitration requirement. The clause means you must take a dispute to a private arbitration company rather than court, and bars you from joining forces with other consumers in a class action. The overview of terms in card agreements is made possible by new regulatory requirements. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires consumer credit card agreements to be posted publicly, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes template agreements for consumer cards on its website. There are exceptions for limited, market-testing cards and special purpose cards with fewer than 10,000 accounts, which don't have to file.
