Capital One Venture issue, need help

[RoverC]

Ok, so my friend has a C1 Venture card.

He is the authorized user, but they always ask his income never the primary

Has had it since 1996, almost always on time, current now, though close to its limt, which is usual Its one of only a few cards and his oldest and highest limit ($10k) His scores are sub 600 due to util only.

So he just got a letter stating that Cap 1 doesnt have the primary's birthday on file and they need her to call into Cap 1 and give that info.

Well I think that not true, how could they not know her bd for 28 years?

But the issue is, she passed away like 20 years ago, so no way she can call in, and shed be like 101 if she was still alive

He doesnt want to lose the card, but is afraid when he tells them shes passed they will close it

They claim if she doesnt contact them by Jan 5 they will close the account.

So anyone ever dealt with this situation or have thoughts on what to do?

He tried calling in, but they wont take his word, want to speak with her. Cant do it online either.

Suggestions on what to do or what is the likely outcome?

Someone at C1 to actually speak to about this?

Is there a better place to post this?

[JoeRockhead]

It sounds as though she was the primary, and only account holder on the account. Some older credit cards had the ability to have joint account holders. They likely do have her DOB, have done the math and want to verify her information. Without it, the account will be closed. Trying to keep it open without committing fraud/ID theft isn't going to happen. 

[ptatohed]

So your friend has been fraudulently using a deceased persons credit card for 20 years and wants to continue doing so?  

[visionsdivine]

You probably shouldn't have been keeping a deceased person's account, but since the genie is already out of the bottle and isn't going back in, I'll answer what I would personally do in the same situation:

I would close my authorized user card so that it would quit reporting to the bureaus. And then I would just let the nearly maxed out account just go to collections since they can't collect on a diseased person and probate on the estate probably closed decades ago. The account closure and credit hit are inevitable, so this would just minimize the damage.

[RoverC]

It must have been a joint account? as he says they never once asked for her income over the years, just his. So not sure if its a joint account or hes a auth user.

Would they ask yearly to verify income etc if only an auth user and never the primary?

I would assume if just authorized he could let it close, but still will report lates, etc to his CR wont it?

If hes a joint account holder then what? Would they keep it open possibly?

If someone has any joint acct and one dies, should the card be closed or the bank just notified or?

Thanks

[Jnbmom]

What does his credit reports say . It would show under responsibility if he was an authorized user pretty simple to find out .

Since she's been gone for 2O years I suggest he pay it off and let them close it, the cat is probably out of the bag here.

[NoHardLimits]

---

@visionsdivine wrote:

You probably shouldn't have been keeping a deceased person's account, but since the genie is already out of the bottle and isn't going back in, I'll answer what I would personally do in the same situation:

I would close my authorized user card so that it would quit reporting to the bureaus. And then I would just let the nearly maxed out account just go to collections since they can't collect on a diseased person and probate on the estate probably closed decades ago. The account closure and credit hit are inevitable, so this would just minimize the damage.

---

Does the friend have a unique card number different from the Grandmother's?  Capital One authorized users normally have separate card numbers, so Capital One can determine whose card is being used.  If they find out Grandma died 20 years ago, but the friend kept using an AU card with a distinct card number, could C1 attempt to collect on the debt from him because it's considered fraud?

[FicoMike0]

Roflol, you can't make this stuff up!

If you really are just an au, close your card. Let them go after grandma for the balance. 

Ps, when they contact you about using a dead persons card, act all upset. "What, grandma's dead! I wondered why she hadn't called in about 20 years." Ask them if it's too late to send flowers 💐.

[pip3man]

Gotta be trolling cos something bout this post is fishy and riddled with so much inconsistencies I'm not sure how no one picked up on it. You mentioned ur friend has had a Cap1 Venture card since 1996 but how is that possible when this card was only launched sometime around 2015?

Secondly, Capital One NEVER request the income of an authorized user, that's exclusively for the primary account holder besides there will be no basis for them to ask for this information unless when requesting a CLI which an AU simply can't do.

Thirdly, Capital One will not send mailings intended for a primary account holder to the authorized user's address. As a matter of fact, all communications for both primary and AU goes straight to the account owner's address including replacement cards.

Additionally, Capital One will not ask a cardholder to call in to provide their birthdate info. In situations like this, Capital One will actually request documentation for proof of identity/date of birth. Cos if that was really the case, anyone can just call in and pretend to be the cardholder and provide them a date of birth which corroborates what you said that when he called in "they wouldn't take his words". I mean how will they ask them to call in to provide the details yet they did so but they aren't buying that?

Also, what would've prevented the AU from calling in and speaking in a female voice or ask an actual female friend/relative to call and pretend to be the account holder and provide them the details? I mean there's no way they could verify the voice of the account owner. That just tells me things happened the other way round. Documents were requested by C1 and individual tried to call in to provide the details but they wouldn't accept it.

Also if this person passed away 20 yrs ago, now in that same timeframe, how has the account been managed - in terms of linking external bank accounts for card payments, getting replacement cards after expiration, receiving card statements, rewards redemption etc. cos AU sure don't have that level of capability?

Based on everything I know with Capital One's policy, most likely this person had fraudulently used the deceased (possible relative) info to obtain a credit card that they've been using for quite some time now and eventually Capital One has caught on and now wants to complete an identity verification. And on the other hand, the person does not have the necessary documentations to validate the account cos the owner is deceased. As far as the likely outcome, I mean they already told you - if no contact is made by Jan 5th the account will be closed. There's no other way around that and the Executive office wouldn't be of any help so this is pretty much a lost cause.

[pip3man]

Gotta be trolling cos something bout this post is fishy and riddled with so much inconsistencies I'm not sure how no one picked up on it. You mentioned ur friend has had a Cap1 Venture card since 1996 but how is that possible when this card was only launched sometime around 2015?

Secondly, Capital One NEVER request the income of an authorized user, that's exclusively for the primary account holder besides there will be no basis for them to ask for this information unless when requesting a CLI which an AU simply can't do.

Thirdly, Capital One will not send mailings intended for a primary account holder to the authorized user's address. As a matter of fact, all communications for both primary and AU goes straight to the account owner's address including replacement cards.

Four, Capital One will not ask a cardholder to call in to provide their birthdate info. In situations like this, Capital One will actually request documentation for proof of identity/date of birth. Cos if that was really the case, anyone can just call in and pretend to be the cardholder and provide them a date of birth which corroborates what you said that when he called in "they wouldn't take his words". I mean how will they ask them to call in to provide the details yet they did so but C1 isn't buying that? What stopped the AU from calling in and speaking in a female voice or ask an actual female to call and pretend to be the account holder and provide them the details? I mean there's no way they could verify the voice of the account owner. That just tells me things happened the other way round. Documents were requested by C1 and individual tried to call in to provide the details but they wouldn't accept it.

Also if this person passed away 20 yrs ago, now in that same timeframe, how has the account been managed in terms of linking external bank accounts for card payments, getting replacement cards after expiration, receiving card statements, rewards redemption etc. cos AU sure don't have that level of capability?

Based on everything I know with Capital One's policy, most likely this person had fraudulently used the deceased (possible relative) info to obtain a credit card that they've been using for a while now and eventually Capital One has caught on and now wants to complete an identity verification. But on the other hand, the person does not have the necessary documentations to validate the account cos the owner is deceased.

As far as the likely outcome, I mean they already told you - if no contact is made by Jan 5th the account will be closed. There's no way around that.