Household HSBC Watch

Both the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service visited our website today. The IRS researched 1099 C (cancellation of debt) while the DOJ researched ‘HSBC Consumer Alert’. Since both areas are fully researched and documented by our staff we have material dating back to the old days when HSBC Finance was called Household International.

Thanks to our trend analysis it would not surprise us if HSBC North America was somehow struck by more identity theft and fraudulent accounts than what’s been disclosed. The signs are there but it is just speculation at this point. We are not making any statement to that effect. Remember, we receive emails and phone calls from customers around the country. Some people have never been customers, but they find HSBC on their credit reports. We also received insisder information about HSBC approval of Best Buy credit card accounts without valid identification - a violation fo the Patriot Act.

Let’s monitor the situation and see what happens. Household International, once the biggest predatory lender in the United States, was purchased by HSBC in October 2002, and the deal was finalized in early 2003. Household, however, was practicing predatory lending in the credit card market too. It continues to this day. Here is a report received two hours ago.