In many cases, a credit card dispute will be resolved after you contact the credit card company. However, if the company does not respond to your dispute or refuses to remove the disputed charge, there are steps you can take beyond raising your complaint to the company.

Complain to OCC. Most credit card companies are national banks, which are regulated by a federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. While the OCC’s main mission is to protect the economic health of national banks, they do have a division that assists consumers. You can file a complaint with the OCC at the following address:

Office of the Comptroller of Currency
Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street
Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010
FAX: 713-336-4301

You should also send a copy of your complaint to your state Attorney General.

Bringing a Legal Action. Federal law permits you to sue the credit card company if it does not follow the dispute procedures discussed above or takes some action forbidden by law (such as reporting a disputed amount as delinquent to a credit bureau). Your right to sue may be limited by a mandatory arbitration provision, which most credit card companies have added to their credit card agreement. In that case, you are required to use a private company to resolve your claim. The existence of such a clause does not prevent you from filing a suit in court, but it may give the credit card company the right to halt the action and move it to arbitration.

There are important and very real disclaimers attached to the information provided here, including a reminder that this site is not intended to provide state law information for any state other than Alabama and that the information provided is not intended as, and can not be a substitute for, legal advice addressing your specific situation.

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