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Guise of Anonymity posted:I hope someone can help. Here's my story: Contact the collection agency and say that the original creditor has been paid, and refer them back to the OC. Get a receipt or something from the hospital to confirm, or call their billing offices and have them speak to the collector.
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May 24, 2010 19:46
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Isn't it also a violation to try to collect a debt that you don't own, or is owned by someone else? I suppose it depends on how litigious you feel as to how you want to proceed.
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May 24, 2010 21:18
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For those of you looking for a credit reporting service that gives you a score and unlimited checks on it, crditcheckselect through experian is not too bad, and only $14.99/month. Here's the rub: if you sign up for a AAA Premier account, which is $120/year, you get it for free. So for less than the cost of the actual Experian service, you get credit monitoring, as well as all the perks that come with AAA (3 free tows, rental car, a bunch of crap) PLUS a free one year membership to Hertz Gold Club thing. Hey, we're all trying to save money, why not be smarter with it too.
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May 26, 2010 00:04
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Ghostnuke posted:Isn't it also a violation to try to collect a debt that you don't own, or is owned by someone else? I suppose it depends on how litigious you feel as to how you want to proceed. The OC may have sold the debt to the collector and written it off. While it may technically be a violation, it's weak broth for a lawsuit in these kind of situations.
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May 26, 2010 19:20
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Ok.. just curious on how hosed I am. I have a good amount of debt (something like 3-5K or so across a few cards) and a student loan I need to pay off from 1995/96 that's something like 1500$. I have ignored a shitload of letters and settlement offers coming my way, since if I didn't read em or touch em or worry about them, they didn't exist in my rainbow happy gumdrop land. I am unemployed, and I figure it's time to get my poo poo together and get my life rolling along (also turn 33 this year). I have debts on the credit report dating back to probably 2000 or so (haven't looked at a credit report lately), so I am assuming sending out a DV letter to each agency asking them to prove it's my debt is the smart thing to do. Following that, since I ignored a good decade or so of these letters from various agencies, how good/bad are my chances with a PFD letter to settle the ones that can prove that it's my debt? I fully acknowledge that I suck as a human being, and I did not do the responsible thing with any of this, but at the same time, gently caress it I want to get my life rolling along. Not currently being bothered by collection agencies on a daily basis and I don't even have a home phone, just a cell phone that the La attorney generals office calls monthly or so to see if I want to start paying off my debt for that loan. About the worst I get is letters in the mail every few weeks to months about debts. If it helps, I am in Louisiana. Thanks for the advice!
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May 27, 2010 09:18
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^^^^^^^^^^ If the debts are from 2000, they shouldn't be on your credit report anymore and you should seek removal. Pull your recent reports. If there is anything non student loan debt still on there from 2000, you are entitled to have it removed. The SOL on those long expired, both for purposes of lawsuits and for reporting on your credit reports. UNLESS they are for student loans. I'm not sure on the rules for student loans, but I know with Federal loans, they pretty much never expire (and can't be discharged through bankruptcy). I'm not sure if the same is true of private student loans. Any government student loans, you will have to deal with eventually, there's just no getting out of it.
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May 27, 2010 16:38
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Long story short, got into a bit of a pissing match with AmEx, got mad and let it slide - The account is over 8 months old and I got a letter from AmEx saying they sold it to a 3rd party. 3rd Party sent a dunning letter, and I fired off a certified verification letter per the recommendations in the thread. I got a reply from them 28 days later, but there is nothing in there except a 'Here you are!' cover letter and a bunch of statements. No references to them owning my debt at all. Should I sit on this or keep firing off letters demanding the full extent of what I asked for in my verification letter? (e.g. proof they own the debt, proof SOL is NOT expired, license to collect in my state, license number, reg. agent, the list goes on)
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May 27, 2010 17:06
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Depends on your purpose I suppose. You already said it's your debt, so there's no point in all that really unless you're trying to get them to slip up. You're not going to get very far when it is yours, unless you try for a PFD.
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May 27, 2010 17:10
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Ghostnuke posted:Depends on your purpose I suppose. You already said it's your debt, so there's no point in all that really unless you're trying to get them to slip up. You're not going to get very far when it is yours, unless you try for a PFD. Just what I had thought. I documented the times and dates of all phone calls and they weren't pricks, so I'm more inclined to negotiate than try and be an rear end about it. If I'm reading the rest of the thread correctly, I should try 10% of the original amount first then just go up from there?
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May 27, 2010 17:27
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Zephyris posted:Long story short, got into a bit of a pissing match with AmEx, got mad and let it slide - The account is over 8 months old and I got a letter from AmEx saying they sold it to a 3rd party. Read the FDCPA completly. It spells out what needs to be in a verification response and a print out has been proven time and again in court cases to not be sufficient. They need a signed application (or proxie like a signed reciept from a merchant) to show it is yours. They need to be able to prove that they are registered to collect in the state they operate, and they need to show that they are now legally able to collect on the debt. Without this, they didn't complete the verification request and any collection activity, reporting to CRAs, or any other contact besides the verification is a violation worth up to $1000. The CRA should remove the entry until the verification is complete, and if you prove to them that the collection agency hasn't verified with you, their continued listing of the tradeline is also a violation of the FCRA worth also up to $1000 a violation.
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May 27, 2010 17:28
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My previous landlord thought I damaged an apartment gate (I didn't) and had other disputes with me. They evicted me and charged me for replacing all the appliances in the apartment and all the carpet, for $2000, and sent it to collections within two weeks. The applicances were fine; a section of the carpet had some cigarette burns. Looking on an apartment review website there were several complaints from renters about the landlord doing similar things, but not as egregiously. I haven't taken any action yet. The collection agency is RDAC (Rent Debt Automated Collections). They tacked on an additional $2400 in fees. I haven't received a dunning letter from them. Should I dispute the charges on the credit report? I'm in no position to pay them anything for a while.
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May 29, 2010 09:04
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camels posted:My previous landlord thought I damaged an apartment gate (I didn't) and had other disputes with me. They evicted me and charged me for replacing all the appliances in the apartment and all the carpet, for $2000, and sent it to collections within two weeks. The applicances were fine; a section of the carpet had some cigarette burns. Looking on an apartment review website there were several complaints from renters about the landlord doing similar things, but not as egregiously. Dispute the collection charges on your report. Check the rental laws in your state; in many the landlord is required to give you an itemized list of damages that he's taking out of your security deposit or they can end up paying you three times your deposit. To be honest, I don't know what your recourse is if he's done that. I'm not sure what all applies to your situation, but for $2400 you may find it's worth sitting down with an attorney just for an hour. Depending on your state, it may be a violation for the collection company to tack on those kinds of fees.
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May 29, 2010 09:35
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NancyPants posted:Dispute the collection charges on your report. Check the rental laws in your state; in many the landlord is required to give you an itemized list of damages that he's taking out of your security deposit or they can end up paying you three times your deposit. To be honest, I don't know what your recourse is if he's done that. I'm not sure what all applies to your situation, but for $2400 you may find it's worth sitting down with an attorney just for an hour. Many cities have renter's rights groups that will offer free or cheap legal aid (this is especially prevalent in larger cities and areas around universities where lots of students rent).
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May 29, 2010 10:24
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camels posted:My previous landlord thought I damaged an apartment gate (I didn't) and had other disputes with me. They evicted me and charged me for replacing all the appliances in the apartment and all the carpet, for $2000, and sent it to collections within two weeks. The applicances were fine; a section of the carpet had some cigarette burns. Looking on an apartment review website there were several complaints from renters about the landlord doing similar things, but not as egregiously. At least in Michigan, landlords are required to give you a form where you list all the damages to the apartment that you notice when you move in, and anything that isn't listed there you can be held responsible for, even if it's old damage. Not sure where this man is trying to get away with charging you for appliances, but I know that I never would have evicted anyone over just an apartment gate. Especially not if their money was still coming in. My guess is those "other disputes" involved back rent or other money he's claiming you owe, and by selling a larger debt to the debt collectors he can recoup more expenses, since he probably otherwise gets pennies on the dollar. Not sure what the state of things are now, but there are usually lots of laws on the books to protect renters from practices like this, and in the future it can only help to make sure your landlord is following those procedures. It is relatively easy to get a boilerplate lease for your area that'll usually list all the things the lessor and lessee are responsible for in legalese... When looking over this thing it may seem that its all rules and regulations coming from the landlord, but a decent portion of your typical lease will have protections in it for you, and being aware of that can only help you avoid these sorts of problems later. Don't really know what to do about the collection now, but I know for me, it's not been an easy process to collect money that is owed by old delinquent tenants. I certainly wouldn't make things easier for them by not disputing debts or ignoring court dates if they come up, although I imagine if what you should owe is much less than that $2400 that it wont be worth their time and money to sue you.
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May 29, 2010 14:03
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Welp, it sounds like the company that contacted me a bit ago has sold it again to another one. Turns out my cell can record calls (in 60 second bursts, but better than nothing), so I'm going to try my luck to see if this company will be more willing to send me documentation to a proper address. Plus, if they try to take action against me in the US, I'll have proof that I notified them or at least tried to notify them of my correct location. I'm also going to request any further communication in writing and ask for an address to send the request to (I'm not available most of the time, so it really is best to do things in writing). Plan is to keep things short and to the point (especially since I'll have to call on my coffee break). Any advice or suggestions?
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May 30, 2010 01:39
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I have a question about collections in Michigan. I am trying to help my girlfriend out with a collection agency. A couple years ago she enrolled her son in a karate class. She said it was a black belt program and the the karate place said she had to pay $80 per month until her son was a black belt. She lost her job a while ago and could no longer afford the $80 so she took her son out of the class. This was October and she payed for that month including all monthly payments until then. Now she has a collections company saying she owes $217. I have already sent them a DV letter but I was wondering if a contract like this is even legal? Is there any place I can look for more info on a situation like this?
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Jun 2, 2010 04:37
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Laura-4-Lyfe posted:I have a question about collections in Michigan. I am trying to help my girlfriend out with a collection agency. A couple years ago she enrolled her son in a karate class. She said it was a black belt program and the the karate place said she had to pay $80 per month until her son was a black belt. She lost her job a while ago and could no longer afford the $80 so she took her son out of the class. This was October and she payed for that month including all monthly payments until then. Is there an actual contract she signed? I'm assuming there is. There is nothing illegal about a contract to commit to a service for an extended period of time (think about gym memberships, cell phones, and other similar "subscription" services). I will go out on a limb and also assume that the contract has a clause of some sort about cancellation fees, as that also seems to be common with subscription type contracts. It almost sounds like she is paying the cancellation fees (you said she paid for October, so if it was 80 per month since then, the amount she'd owe would presumably be much higher). Unfortunately for your friend, Michigan is extremely strict about its contract construction. If the terms are in the contract, the Courts are very likely to uphold it, as they very rarely will modify a contract, even if it doesn't seem like a fair contract.
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Jun 2, 2010 04:46
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Auracounts posted:Is there an actual contract she signed? I'm assuming there is. There is nothing illegal about a contract to commit to a service for an extended period of time (think about gym memberships, cell phones, and other similar "subscription" services). I will go out on a limb and also assume that the contract has a clause of some sort about cancellation fees, as that also seems to be common with subscription type contracts. It almost sounds like she is paying the cancellation fees (you said she paid for October, so if it was 80 per month since then, the amount she'd owe would presumably be much higher). Thanks for the response. I asked her for the original contract so I could read it over but she does not have it. I am hoping the letter I sent to the collections agency will either send them packing or get me a copy of the contract. I understand a gym membership, cell phone, or other time based contract but they have a limit on the time, 1 year, 2 years, etc. The way this is working out it sounds like the contract is unlimited. If the karate company was just going after a cancellation fee I could understand. They never sent a bill for a cancellation fee.
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Jun 2, 2010 05:31
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Laura-4-Lyfe posted:Thanks for the response. I asked her for the original contract so I could read it over but she does not have it. I am hoping the letter I sent to the collections agency will either send them packing or get me a copy of the contract. I understand a gym membership, cell phone, or other time based contract but they have a limit on the time, 1 year, 2 years, etc. The way this is working out it sounds like the contract is unlimited. If the karate company was just going after a cancellation fee I could understand. They never sent a bill for a cancellation fee. Yea, she's going to need to dig up the contract (which she can probably get if she wants to contact the gym, but I suspect she wants to see if the DV makes it go away first). The way it's described, it does sound unlimited, but I imagine it has some clauses in there for people who want to cancel, or never complete the courses. That's why I thought maybe they were going after cancellation fees of some sort. If she stopped paying in October, she'd owe them way more than 200 bucks by now if they were going for the original 80 per month. I will say this, though, even though I don't know much about the contract, I do know about contract law here and it doesn't favor the little guy. If the situation escalates, or seems as though it will escalate, into a litigation situation, it's in her best interest to try and resolve it short of that before she's on the hook for legal fees/court costs/interest (and the statute of limitations here for contract actions is 6 years, which runs from the time of the breach).
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Jun 2, 2010 05:46
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Auracounts posted:I will say this, though, even though I don't know much about the contract, I do know about contract law here and it doesn't favor the little guy. If the situation escalates, or seems as though it will escalate, into a litigation situation, it's in her best interest to try and resolve it short of that before she's on the hook for legal fees/court costs/interest (and the statute of limitations here for contract actions is 6 years, which runs from the time of the breach). Thanks again. Do you know why Michigan contract law is this way?
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Jun 2, 2010 06:07
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Laura-4-Lyfe posted:Thanks again. Do you know why Michigan contract law is this way? Hard to explain. It's not that they are so different from other states (most will uphold the written letter of the contract), but here our Supreme Court was rather conservative and strictly construes certain (most) laws. The only reason I'm really hammering away at how strict they are is because of rulings they made related to insurance contracts, but to be honest, even absent those rulings, some of which are a little harsh, they would likely uphold the contract anyway. When you add those later rulings about the insurance contract, it just solidified in my mind the probability that she can't get out of this contract. Courts just aren't in the business of modifying contracts after the fact, because they assume that the parties to it agreed to its terms and they don't want to usurp a person's ability to willingly enter into a contract with another (especially when a contract expresses the consequences for a breach).
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Jun 2, 2010 17:11
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I recently sent out two intent to sue letters. One firm relented and removed the item, the other never responded. So, as I said in the letter, I filed a law suit for small claims court today. My question is, what can I expect? I've never sued anyone or been sued before. Is there anything I need to know?
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Jun 3, 2010 00:10
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Ghostnuke posted:I recently sent out two intent to sue letters. One firm relented and removed the item, the other never responded. So, as I said in the letter, I filed a law suit for small claims court today. My question is, what can I expect? I've never sued anyone or been sued before. Is there anything I need to know? Print out EVERYTHING and be prepared to teach the judge/magistrate the law. You sometimes need to walk them through it, so make sure you can prove your case to someone else (I would use a friend) who knows nothing about the FCRA/FDCPA. This will remind you of what you need to print out and focus on. "Why should you get $1000?" **Show the statute that shows damages** "What did they do wrong?" ** Show the part of the statue as well as the proof you have ** etc.
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Jun 3, 2010 13:25
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Just got my notice of hearing today, the actual hearing isn't until July 1st. Since I've got almost a month to prepare, maybe you guys can help me out a little. I'll give you some of the details and we'll go from there. Previously in this thread I posted about how another person with my same name has a bunch of delinquent accounts showing up on my report. One of the accounts is a hard inquiry by a background screening company. They were trying to screen the other guy when he applied to live in an apartment complex here in town. I have never lived at this complex or applied to do so. I sent this company a letter stating this fact, and they replied by sending me copies of the other guy's lease. It's a standard form letter lease with "MY NAME" hand scrawled in the blanks. I sent them a second letter telling them that this "evidence" is insufficient, and that if they do not remove it from my report I would be filing suit. They never responded. What I have done to prepare so far is to print out all of the bills that are in my name at my current address going back years, and request my landlord to provide paperwork saying that I have lived there since whatever date it was. What I need help with is finding exactly what passage in the FDCPA or FCRA that spells out what law they broke. I feel like it should be pretty much a slam dunk since it's obviously not me that they were looking for, but I'd like to get every advantage that I can.
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Jun 4, 2010 20:14
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I have a delinquent debt from 2 1/2 years ago for a little under $650. It has passed through at least 2 collections agencies (I was ignoring it for a while.) After reading your thread I responded to the latest dunning letter with a validation request. I'm waiting for a response from the latest collection agency (Leading Edge); they have ten more days before the 30 day window expires. Yesterday, I got a letter from the old collection agency (MCM), who is apparently still trying to collect the debt after they sold it to Leading Edge. Is this something I can take advantage of? Should I ignore it and only deal with Leading Edge?
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Jun 5, 2010 18:37
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Han Solo posted:I have a delinquent debt from 2 1/2 years ago for a little under $650. It has passed through at least 2 collections agencies (I was ignoring it for a while.) After reading your thread I responded to the latest dunning letter with a validation request. I'm waiting for a response from the latest collection agency (Leading Edge); they have ten more days before the 30 day window expires. Yesterday, I got a letter from the old collection agency (MCM), who is apparently still trying to collect the debt after they sold it to Leading Edge. Is this something I can take advantage of? Should I ignore it and only deal with Leading Edge? I'm by no means the last word on this, but you should probably send MCM a validation request too. They have to show you they own the debt or it's a violation of collection practices.
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Jun 5, 2010 19:47
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Ghostnuke posted:previous post I think I've found it... FCRA posted:(f) Certain use or obtaining of information prohibited. A person shall not use or obtain a FCRA also posted:(1) In general. A consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report relating
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Jun 7, 2010 21:29
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Okay this thread has come my way when I needed it. I'm pretty ashamed to be in this situation, but lately I've decided to not be afraid of it and just do what I need to do so I can actually get on with my life. I'm way over my head in CC debt, though I'd rather not disclose how much (it's 5 figures). I also have about 30K in student loans that right now I am delaying with a temporary forebearance. I have a decent job, but almost all of my paycheck goes to household bills and credit cards, leaving me very little for food/gas. Invariably, I've fallen into the trap of paying all my bills in full every month and then using the CCs to survive. What's worse - once the student loans are in repayment, the amount I'd owe them on top of everything else actually exceeds my monthly income by about $200 BEFORE I buy food or any necessities. Part of the problem is that despite a nearly spotless payment history for two decades, Citibank, the card with the largest balance, raised my interest rate TWICE recently (and in the span of one year), once around the time of the bailouts and then 6 months later. That put my minimum payment at the edge of my limit. And of course they absolutely refuse to reduce it again. So now I've been hearing that my best option would be to stop paying on the card and force them to negotiate a lower payment/interest rate with me. What do you guys think? Is it worth the risk of stopping my payments and forcing Citibank's hand? How much risk am I really facing? I really don't want to default, just get things into a manageable structure so I CAN pay them back. I feel like I've run out of options - that as responsible as I want to be, and have tried to be, the situation has snowballed and I can't control it any more. And I really don't give a poo poo about my credit score - I've already written myself off as a bad credit risk, so I don't think anyone else should think differently! Anyway, I own my house and have a newish car I'm making payments on, with the intention of not needing another one for many years. Finally, I'm in Texas, which sounds like it mitigates the risk somewhat.
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Jun 7, 2010 21:35
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cocteau posted:I also have about 30K in student loans that right now I am delaying with a temporary forebearance. I'm not going to touch the other stuff, as it sounds like the CC's are still under the original creditor? With the student loans, try looking into consolidating either with the company they are through right now or start looking for student loan consolidators. I have a little more in student loans right now that I was paying $500/month for until I got them consolidated into $200/month payments. Obviously that stretches out the life of the loans and I usually pay more when I can. Buying a newish car doesn't sound like the greatest idea ever, either.
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Jun 7, 2010 21:40
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cocteau posted:So now I've been hearing that my best option would be to stop paying on the card and force them to negotiate a lower payment/interest rate with me. This may cause all of your other cards to raise their rates to 29.99 or what ever the penalty rate is, so keep that in mind.
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Jun 7, 2010 21:41
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Knightmare posted:I'm not going to touch the other stuff, as it sounds like the CC's are still under the original creditor? The CCs are all still in good standing with the current creditors, yes. As for the car, you're right, but I live outside of town and have a sizeable commute, and have had lots of issues with older cars, so I got something that I plan to keep well after the payments are done. I'm going to consolidate the loans - right now, apparently, about the only consolidator is the federal government, which I have mixed feelings about. And yeah, I'll admit it. I've made lots of foolish financial decisions in my life. Until recently I've been able to keep it all afloat, but now the house of cards is starting to wobble. LorneReams posted:This may cause all of your other cards to raise their rates to 29.99 or what ever the penalty rate is, so keep that in mind. That's why I ask. Things are tight enough now that I can't imagine things getting worse. Though Citi is already up to 25%, was 16% a year and a half ago. What if I just paid half of what I owe? I don't want to default; I just can't keep making the minimums and survive. And right now it's not even a question of budgeting since there isn't any left-over money (even if I do consolidate my loans, all that will do is eat up the $100-200 a month I have left after all my bills). I'm selling stuff and working on side income to get some additional cash flow, but about the only thing I could really change is the car, and that's not significant enough to make or break the equation (and I have to have a reliable vehicle anyway, no buses even run out here). cocteau fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jun 7, 2010 |
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Jun 7, 2010 21:50
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cocteau posted:I have a decent job, but almost all of my paycheck goes to household bills and credit cards, leaving me very little for food/gas. Invariably, I've fallen into the trap of paying all my bills in full every month and then using the CCs to survive. What's worse - once the student loans are in repayment, the amount I'd owe them on top of everything else actually exceeds my monthly income by about $200 BEFORE I buy food or any necessities. Ok this part explains it all. You are living outside your means. If you continue to do this, you will NEVER catch up. You need to start reducing the expenses in your life immediately. Cable TV? Gone. Cell Phone? Goodbye. Cut everything out that you possibly can. I am not talking about things that would not inconvenience you, I mean everything you cannot possibly live without. You are in a very dangerous situation, that, unless you change your lifestyle, you are going to lose it all. How do you possibly think you can afford to keep living this way? You already realize you are going to be -$200 every month very soon. Either find a better paying job, or start reducing your life.
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Jun 8, 2010 02:42
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IceWolfe24 posted:Okay this thread has come my way when I needed it. I'm pretty ashamed to be in this situation, but lately I've decided to not be afraid of it and just do what I need to do so I can actually get on with my life. Although IceWolfe24 has a good point, 25% on five figures is obscene. I'm assuming it's not the low five figures either, otherwise you probably wouldn't have such a tough time making ends meet. It's hard to imagine that the even 200 bucks a month you would save on that poo poo (cable, cell phones) would really make a dent in such a huge debt given the interest rate, and the drop in quality of life you get from living like a broke-rear end to keep forking money over to Citigroup without actually paying off your debt would be significant. Yeah, yeah, morals, pay what you owe, etc. Maybe you'll be in debt for just 16 years instead of 20, assuming you don't get laid off, have unplanned medical expenses or any other expenses. Without full amounts and your other expenses, it's hard to tell. One thing you can do is stop payments, let the CC company scream for a while while you save for a settlement, them pay them off right before your account is charged-off. Without knowing your total amount owed or your income, it's hard to tell whether this is the right choice for you. Being in Texas definitely benefits your cause. One of my best friends' fathers (in Texas) was in your situation and essentially walked out on 60,000$ worth of credit card debt and just waited out the SOL. He was judgment proof however - no bank accounts or assets in his name, and his wages couldn't be garnished due to state law, so nobody bothered to sue him even on such huge amounts because they knew they wouldn't get dick. This is completely anectodal though, and IANAL - plus if you own a house you have assets, so you'd better be careful. Know this though -- once you make that decision to stop paying, whether right or wrong, your credit is hosed and you can't go back. It can be repaired, but only with a lot of work, and a lot of waiting. Also, pay those student loans no matter what. That is the poo poo to worry about, not the unsecured credit cards.
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Jun 8, 2010 03:25
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antwizzle posted:It's really hard to tell what's better for you without a more complete financial picture. For example, is your student loan debt federal or private? Is your huge credit card debt with Citibank only, or is that just the major one? When you say you own your house, is it free and clear or do you have a mortgage? I have two CCs, Citibank and Discover. I'm not sure which is the greater evil - Discover is a smaller (but still sizeable) balance, with an even higher interest rate, but my payments are manageable (likely because I barely end up paying more than interest). My student loans are all federal loans, no private ones. And I have a mortgage, unfortunately. quote:Although IceWolfe24 has a good point, 25% on five figures is obscene. I'm assuming it's not the low five figures either, otherwise you probably wouldn't have such a tough time making ends meet. It's hard to imagine that the even 200 bucks a month you would save on that poo poo (cable, cell phones) would really make a dent in such a huge debt given the interest rate, and the drop in quality of life you get from living like a broke-rear end to keep forking money over to Citigroup without actually paying off your debt would be significant. Yeah, yeah, morals, pay what you owe, etc. Maybe you'll be in debt for just 16 years instead of 20, assuming you don't get laid off, have unplanned medical expenses or any other expenses. Without full amounts and your other expenses, it's hard to tell. Thanks for recognizing this. I love how people judge my lifestyle without knowing a thing about it. Yes, I made loving stupid mistakes, but I'm sincerely trying to work on it now. I'm working on cutting down my expenses all the time. My only "frivolous" expenses are a cell phone and a decent economical vehicle. I don't even have high speed internet, I rarely go out to movies, etc. The vast majority of my monthly income goes to my mortgage, utilities, and CCs. I'm also building up a freelance business on top of my job for additional income (pays better than retail!), but I don't expect it to be lucrative enough to get me out of the hole. quote:One thing you can do is stop payments, let the CC company scream for a while while you save for a settlement, them pay them off right before your account is charged-off. How much would be a reasonable % to expect them to hit me with for a settlement? quote:Being in Texas definitely benefits your cause. One of my best friends' fathers (in Texas) was in your situation and essentially walked out on 60,000$ worth of credit card debt and just waited out the SOL. He was judgment proof however - no bank accounts or assets in his name, and his wages couldn't be garnished due to state law, so nobody bothered to sue him even on such huge amounts because they knew they wouldn't get dick. This is completely anectodal though, and IANAL - plus if you own a house you have assets, so you'd better be careful. Honestly, the last thing I care about is my credit rating right now. As it is, I can't get a loan or a lower-balance CC because I have too much unsecured debt. If I can get out of debt, then I can work on repairing things, but at the rate I'm at now, I wouldn't loan myself money. And yeah, I agree with the bit about student loans - I'm not blowing those off, period. The thing is, I'm not wanting to walk out on the debt. If they would just charge me a humane interest rate, and bring down my payments accordingly so I could try to pay the cards off, I'd be happy. Right now, I'm at the point where I'm at least considering only paying 1/2 or 2/3 of my monthly payment to Citibank if I don't bail completely, since I just don't have what they now demand of me. Edit: could I really lose my house/car if I defaulted on my Citibank card? Does it help that there's another person on the mortgage that I'm not related/married to? This is the only real fear I have, because if I lost either, I'd really be hosed. cocteau fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Jun 8, 2010 |
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Jun 8, 2010 04:22
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cocteau posted:Thanks for recognizing this. I love how people judge my lifestyle without knowing a thing about it. Yes, I made loving stupid mistakes, but I'm sincerely trying to work on it now. I'm working on cutting down my expenses all the time. My only "frivolous" expenses are a cell phone and a decent economical vehicle. I don't even have high speed internet, I rarely go out to movies, etc. The vast majority of my monthly income goes to my mortgage, utilities, and CCs. I'm also building up a freelance business on top of my job for additional income (pays better than retail!), but I don't expect it to be lucrative enough to get me out of the hole. First off, I was not judging your lifestyle. I was going by the information that you provided, and posted what I thought was a step in the right direction for you. I have had problems in the past as well, and I am the last person to judge other peoples' financial problems. Sorry to have offended you with my opinion on your situation.
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Jun 8, 2010 15:13
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I'm not sure whether I should be elated or incredulous... I called Experian just to get the correct address to send my disputes and the lady who answered the phone transferred me to special services something or other. The person who answered there noticed that it looked like my account had been merged with someone else's and offered to remove all the offending entries right there and then! All I had to do was tell her which ones were not mine, and she took them right off (at least that's what she said). I'm really interested to see if it actually happens or not. The number for the special services whatever department is 877-870-5647 for anyone else who might be in the same boat.
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Jun 8, 2010 21:41
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I just moved into a new apartment and got a new land-line phone number. I have received several automated calls from an attorney's office/debt collector looking for someone who must have had this phone number in the past. Each time (they've called at least 3 times), I select the option corresponding to 'this person does not live here.' Today I received yet another call. Since they aren't getting the message, I typed up a cease and desist letter demanding that the telephone calls cease. if they call again after certified receipt of this letter, should I go ahead and file a FDCPA suit?
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Jun 8, 2010 22:19
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cocteau posted:Edit: could I really lose my house/car if I defaulted on my Citibank card? Does it help that there's another person on the mortgage that I'm not related/married to? This is the only real fear I have, because if I lost either, I'd really be hosed. In most cases, no. Unsecured debt is just that - unsecured. I can't think of any legal precedent that a judge would seize non-liquid assets (bank accounts, paychecks, etc) to satisfy a judgment in a personal debt case. I'm sure it's happened, but it's not something you should be terribly worried about, especially since you're in Texas. They could, I guess, put a lien on your home, but that means jack poo poo unless you sell the place. Call the credit card companies. Threaten to stop paying, and escalate to someone who can help. In most cases (coming from someone who worked for a major credit card company for a while and dealt with this sort of thing as my job) an open threat to stop paying will make them more willing to negotiate. In many of these cases, they'll shut down the card and lower (sometimes freeze) the interest if you agree to pay it off in X years. If they still refuse, your best option may be to walk away from the debt. Save for settlements (if you can) and be ready to have some fun with the debt collectors. Change your phone number, if you don't want them bothering you for a year or two. vibrantglow posted:I just moved into a new apartment and got a new land-line phone number. I have received several automated calls from an attorney's office/debt collector looking for someone who must have had this phone number in the past. Don't try a suit after one phone call - any judge will throw it out, and the collectors know it. A trail of 5-20 calls, though, that's a ticket to Free Money Land. As an aside: I've been considering starting more personalized, private debt relief help for goons through SAMart. The 'debt relief help' people on late-night/cable TV charge huge amounts and don't do anything terribly special (in fact, some have been known to actively gently caress over people and raise their debt while taking their cut) and I've had a few people email me for advice, not wanting to discuss their situations in the thread. If there's interest (and it's kosher to do) I'll probably start something in SAMart, so let me know!
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Jun 9, 2010 10:31
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I posted a thread about this, but a mod suggested I post here so: I have a few credit card debts which were sold off to collections agencies, I haven't really been able to pay them although I'd planned to so today I checked my credit report online to find out where and what the debts are so that I could contact the appropriate agencies and get it taken care of. I have 4 accounts that were placed into collections: $893 - Capital One: This was originally a $300 limit card which I was paying off regularly until I lost my job and there was no way I could pay it. It was charged off, went to collections at $300 and I guess interest hit it. $1,127 - HSBC RETAIL SERVICES: Another credit card, this one with a limit of $700 dollars. The card was charged off and sent to collections with $700 dollars on it. The interest after it was sent to collections is what got it to what it is now. $251 - LIMITED EXPRESS: A store credit card, $200 dollar limit. I had most of it paid off before I lost my job but I couldn't pay off the remaining balance and it was charged off to collections. $480 - National Grid: This was a utility bill that went to collections right when I lost my job. The first thing on my credit report is a judgment for the first account, Capital One. I'm pretty confused about this, I never got any letter saying I was being sued, no phone call, no nothing. The information listed is an identification number, the plaintiff (Capital One), the address and phone number of the County Clerk and that it was filed 10/22/09. Like I said I was never informed of this, the first time I'm hearing about it is now, on my credit report. That being said, I realize how stupid all of this is, how dumb I was to let everything go into collections, and I'm willing to deal with the consequences of my actions. It's just that I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do at this point. What does the judgment mean? Do I contact the County Clerk where the judgment is listed? Or the company that filed the judgment? I haven't had wages garnished or anything like that, so I'm really not sure what to do here. I really want to take care of this, whatever it takes. I'm just not sure where to start. If anyone can help me out even in the slightest, where I should go or what I should do, I'd really appreciate it. I just want to get my life under control.
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Jun 9, 2010 19:19
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I dunno if I'd use your service, CubsWoo, but I'd definitely take a look at what you offer. Specifically, if I sent you a copy of my credit report and got back info on the best way to increase the score. Some of the rules surrounding FICO seem a bit confusing and contradictory, so having someone who knows them and can give me a road map would be helpful.
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Jun 9, 2010 19:56
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