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THESE SOCKS?
Sep 27, 2004
edit: I found the answer a few pages back. Thanks!

THESE SOCKS? fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Apr 20, 2011

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Leif.
Mar 27, 2005

Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester
Hypothetical question: if a debt is still held by the original creditor, but they hire a collections agency to try to get you to pay (but the CA does not own the debt, it's still with the original creditor), a) can the CA threaten to report it on your credit report, and b) can the CA itself actually report it, despite not being the owner of the debt?

Was trying to figure out how that would work. It would seem to me that a CA shouldn't be allowed to report a debt that it doesn't actually own, as they're not the creditor. But at the same time, it would be a moot point right, because they can just send everything all pretty and packaged up to the OC, who can sign it and mail it to the credit reporting agencies directly?

Devil Bird Thing
Mar 12, 2001

Pardon me, do you have a moment to speak about our Lord & Savior, Devil Bird Thing?
Capital One question:

Stepped away from payments on a $2000 in August 2010. They've proceeded to do the normal calling routine to no avail, blah blah blah. Last week, though, I'm pretty sure they crossed the line.

I live in an apartment complex and it seems they took my address and cross-referenced it somehow. They called a neighbor two doors down from me (to whom I have no connection). They first asked the neighbor to speak to me, then gave them a "message" to deliver to me. How in the hell can that be anything close to legal? Do I have any recourse?

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.

Zen Dudeism posted:

Capital One question:

Stepped away from payments on a $2000 in August 2010. They've proceeded to do the normal calling routine to no avail, blah blah blah. Last week, though, I'm pretty sure they crossed the line.

I live in an apartment complex and it seems they took my address and cross-referenced it somehow. They called a neighbor two doors down from me (to whom I have no connection). They first asked the neighbor to speak to me, then gave them a "message" to deliver to me. How in the hell can that be anything close to legal? Do I have any recourse?

Believe it or not, this is legal. It's totally designed to humiliate you because even though the agency can't say what the business is about, it's obvious that it's a debt collection. Regardless, they are only allowed to only tell your neighbor who they are and whom they represent ("I am with Acme Bank and I'm trying to locate Zen Dudeism"). If they reveal your account number, that you have a delinquent debt, or other details of the delinquency, then it crosses a line.

This person can ask them to stop calling, and they are legally obligated to do so. But can it be proven if it isn't in writing?

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

Diplomaticus posted:

Hypothetical question: if a debt is still held by the original creditor, but they hire a collections agency to try to get you to pay (but the CA does not own the debt, it's still with the original creditor), a) can the CA threaten to report it on your credit report, and b) can the CA itself actually report it, despite not being the owner of the debt?
Yes, and yes.

There's nothing in the FCRA or FCDPA that prevents the CA from reporting the debt (or saying they will report the debt), as long as they own the debt or have been contracted by the creditor to collect the debt.

quote:

Was trying to figure out how that would work. It would seem to me that a CA shouldn't be allowed to report a debt that it doesn't actually own, as they're not the creditor. But at the same time, it would be a moot point right, because they can just send everything all pretty and packaged up to the OC, who can sign it and mail it to the credit reporting agencies directly?
The rationale from their perspective is that it's twice as bad for the consumer. You had one negative, now you have two.

In theory having multiple entries for the same debt doesn't hurt more than having just one. That theory is expressed by FairIsaac, who own the FICO formula, and won't tell you how a FICO score is calculated.

In real life, let's assume you somehow managed to get an actual human being to look at your credit report for a credit application. Do you suppose they'd sort through the different amounts, different companies, and different account numbers that have stacked up over time where one CA stopped and another began, to decipher whether three entries should really be one? Or do you think it's more likely they're going to say "deadbeat", deny you, and keep their job because they didn't issue a potentially bad loan?

For the other 90% of applications, do you think they're running your credit through Watson, or some lovely program that was hammered out by malnourished Filipinos in the 90's who were locked in a basement with an ISDN line and a dream?

Zen Dudeism posted:

Capital One question:

Stepped away from payments on a $2000 in August 2010. They've proceeded to do the normal calling routine to no avail, blah blah blah. Last week, though, I'm pretty sure they crossed the line.

I live in an apartment complex and it seems they took my address and cross-referenced it somehow. They called a neighbor two doors down from me (to whom I have no connection). They first asked the neighbor to speak to me, then gave them a "message" to deliver to me. How in the hell can that be anything close to legal? Do I have any recourse?
This is why your DV should always, always, always include an accurate mailing address, and notice that it's always inconvenient to talk on the phone. If you've told them how to contact you, they have no legitimate reason to talk to your neighbors. But ff they're not able to contact you, they can call neighbors to try and "locate" you. There are rules that govern this though, which I've posted below.

Collectors know this, and bank on it. By and large, the Baby Boomer generation and older will absolutely lose their poo poo if they so much as think a CA is after them. Having a neighbor called by a CA would be mortifyingly shameful to many, if not most. And a typical reaction to that is "Make it go away. Whatever it takes."

In Maxed Out*, two up-and-coming CA's have the balls to brag about it. You can watch it below.

If they told your neighbor that they were calling from ABC Collections and the message was "You owe us $2,000", and your neighbor was willing to attest to that, you could probably rack up $2,000 in violations... or offer to settle for the outstanding balance and deletion.

Drewski posted:

Regardless, they are only allowed to only tell your neighbor who they are and whom they represent ("I am with Acme Bank and I'm trying to locate Zen Dudeism"). If they reveal your account number, that you have a delinquent debt, or other details of the delinquency, then it crosses a line.
Not necessarily. Saying "I am with Acme Bank" is a potential violation. The person they're calling needs to ask explicitly.

Let's ask the FDCPA

quote:

:
TITLE 15, CHAPTER 41, SUBCHAPTER V, § 1692b
Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall—
(1) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer;
(2) not state that such consumer owes any debt;
(3) not communicate with any such person more than once unless requested to do so by such person or unless the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and that such person now has correct or complete location information;
(4) not communicate by post card;
(5) not use any language or symbol on any envelope or in the contents of any communication effected by the mails or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business or that the communication relates to the collection of a debt; and
(6) after the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with regard to the subject debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney’s name and address, not communicate with any person other than that attorney, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to communication from the debt collector.

Now, to my asterisk...

*I know I've pimped this movie out before, but holy gently caress, does it get more relevant as time passes.

Even if your only debt in the world is the quarter you borrowed from someone at work to get a Kit Kat out of the vending machine, watch this movie.

Even if you think Elizabeth Warren is an alarmist hippie who couldn't possibly be the most psychic person in the goddamn world, since this was made six years ago and she correctly predicted everything, watch this movie.

Stream it for free if you have Netflix. Stream it for free if you have Amazon Prime. Redbox might have it for a buck. Steal it from Walmart if you really need to. But it's so worth the time.

Trailer (with bragging CA's): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiOVNWoWTAU

COMPUTER SECRETS
Oct 6, 2003

Pig Sooie
I received a letter about a debt and I replied with a verification request. In that letter I also requested that they contact me only by mail, and not to call. A few months later, I began receiving calls from a law firm trying to collect the debt and now they are suing me on behalf of the original company. Do those phone calls from the law firm violate my original request?

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

COMPUTER SECRETS posted:

I received a letter about a debt and I replied with a verification request. In that letter I also requested that they contact me only by mail, and not to call. A few months later, I began receiving calls from a law firm trying to collect the debt and now they are suing me on behalf of the original company. Do those phone calls from the law firm violate my original request?
If they were calling to try to collect the debt, they knew (or had sufficient reason to know) that calling you was inconvenient. So, maybe.

GobiasIndustries
Dec 14, 2007

Lipstick Apathy
Edit: wrong thread, nothing to see here...

GobiasIndustries fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Apr 22, 2011

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.
I got a signed notification back from the credit agency I sent the pay-for-delete letter too. They didn't print their name though, I just got a signature with a check mark in the "Agent" box. Is that good enough for me to validate that someone received the letter?

edit: the green postcard delivery receipt thing from the USPS.

Drewski fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Apr 21, 2011

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

Drewski posted:

I got a signed notification back from the credit agency I sent the pay-for-delete letter too. They didn't print their name though, I just got a signature with a check mark in the "Agent" box. Is that good enough for me to validate that someone received the letter?
Yes.

Name or not, you've proven that a letter was sent, and that someone was able to convince the postal carrier that she or he is the proper recipient.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

What exactly does the SOL limit? I understand you can still be sued outside the SOL and it's up to you to defend yourself by letting the judge know it's outside the SOL and therefore a waste of time.

I'm confused about people talking about things on their credit report that are outside the SOL. Doesn't the SOL limit reporting as well? For something outside the SOL in your state, can't you just contact the reporting agency and tell them, "This is outside the SOL, take it off"?

When referring to first delinquency as the SOL countdown timer, that's the date of first delinquency as reported by the creditor and not a charge-off date, right?

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

NancyPants posted:

What exactly does the SOL limit? I understand you can still be sued outside the SOL and it's up to you to defend yourself by letting the judge know it's outside the SOL and therefore a waste of time.
That's what it limits. After the SOL, the debt is no longer (legally) collectable, as long as you defend yourself.

quote:

I'm confused about people talking about things on their credit report that are outside the SOL. Doesn't the SOL limit reporting as well? For something outside the SOL in your state, can't you just contact the reporting agency and tell them, "This is outside the SOL, take it off"?
Tons of people posit that updating reports constitutes continued collection activities.

On the other hand, the FCRA says that negative information can't stay on for more than 7 years + 180 days. If lawmakers wanted the information off at the SOL sunset - but not to exceed 7 years + 180 days, that's what they would have said.

quote:

When referring to first delinquency as the SOL countdown timer, that's the date of first delinquency as reported by the creditor and not a charge-off date, right?
For SOL, it varies by state. For credit reporting, it's based on the DOFD.

So, let's say you were two months late on your Discover card in April 2004, and haven't been late since. That doesn't mean you can skip out on your bill now, and claim that the DOFD was past the SOL (assuming the SOL is seven years or less where you live)

The chargeoff date isn't relevant to the SOL or DOFD.

On an unrelated note...
Looks like collectors are sniffing around Facebook:
http://mashable.com/2011/04/20/facebook-debt-collector/

jet sanchEz
Oct 24, 2001

Lousy Manipulative Dog

TWiNKiE posted:

I'll preface this by saying I know absolutely nothing about Canadian law. This is just intended to give you a possible starting point based on my understanding of US estate law.

In the US, your father's assets would go in to an estate. If the estate has enough money to pay for the debts, great. The executor or probate court pays the bills. If there's a will, whatever's left over is typically distributed the way the will says. Otherwise, it goes to your mother / father's new wife, or your family can fight over who gets what in court.

If there's not enough money in the estate, underlying assets (the property that the taxes were levied on, for example) are liquidated, usually in an auction.

At no point though, are surviving family members on the hook for outstanding debts -- except in cases where there was a joint account with a surviving person, or when a survivor wants to assume an asset (e.g., if you want to live in his house, you're responsible for taxes / liens).

I have an update on this: all of the cards have agreed to a lesser amount,some as low as a third of the unpaid debt, and are in the process of sending me settlement agreements. That is good news and my family and I are happy about this.

Today I received the settlement agreement letter from Capital One and everything seems fine but there is no mention of the matter being closed. The word "settlement" is used in the letter but I don't think that is enough----is there a form online I can fill out and fax that is clear cut saying "This matter will be closed and no further action will be taken against the estate of Joe Blow"?

Thanks again guys, this thread has been very helpful during a difficult time for me.

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.

TWiNKiE posted:

If you're 110% sure that this originally went in to collections in 05/2004, I'd wait it out. Once it's off of your reports, if any CA contacts you about the debt again, tell them to gently caress off and die.
Of course. He's got you on the phone, and talking about a debt that's so old, it's probably well beyond the legal SOL, and the only leverage they could possibly have against you vanishes in a matter of weeks. I can't say I blame the guy.

It's rare I get to say this, but: Stop calling. Don't write. Don't answer their calls. This will go away soon.

Hi TWiNKiE, sorry to bring up an (moderately) old issue...

I got a letter today dated 31 March. It looks like the Palisades collection people sold off this debt that is going to pass the statute of limitations at the end of this month to Leading Edge Recovery, who sent me a letter about my debt.

"Your delinquent account has been placed with our company for collection. We have been authorized by our .........

Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume the debt is valid. If you blah blah blah blah".

So this letter is dated 31 March. 30 days is exactly the date the statute of limitations expires. Do I respond and dispute the debt? Or do I just wait until May, then if they try to collect again I write them a letter mentioning that the statute of limitations has expired on this debt, and if they continue to contact me I will exercise my legal rights in accordance with Fair Credit Reporting Act law?

Drewski fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Apr 22, 2011

youknowthatoneguy
Mar 27, 2004
Mmm, boooofies!
Quick question. So I sent out the debt verification letter and got back a nice healthy packet of stuff. Mostly old statements from Chase. Everything is there and it is obviously verified. What I am asking is what is the best way to start payments with them that don't amount to insane monthly payments? The very few times I talked to them on the phone, they would ask for up to 500 a month, which just is not feasible at the moment.

Basically what is the best way to word things to ask them for reasonable payments and a pay for delete option upon completion of these payments.

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

Drewski posted:

Hi TWiNKiE, sorry to bring up an (moderately) old issue...

I got a letter today dated 31 March. It looks like the Palisades collection people sold off this debt that is going to pass the statute of limitations at the end of this month to Leading Edge Recovery, who sent me a letter about my debt.

"Your delinquent account has been placed with our company for collection. We have been authorized by our .........

Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume the debt is valid. If you blah blah blah blah".

So this letter is dated 31 March. 30 days is exactly the date the statute of limitations expires. Do I respond and dispute the debt? Or do I just wait until May, then if they try to collect again I write them a letter mentioning that the statute of limitations has expired on this debt, and if they continue to contact me I will exercise my legal rights in accordance with Fair Credit Reporting Act law?
I'd DV them anyway. If they validate, you have everything you need to tell them it's past the SOL. If they don't, you'll have stalled them to the SOL.

The rationale is twofold: First, you want them to know you're responsive, so they won't be as quick to haul you in to court. Second, you want to make sure your ducks are in a row if they report the debt to the CRA's.

So let's say you send your letter that says "don't call me, but you can write me" and they start calling you without properly validating, and poo poo on your credit report. That's when you fire back with a letter telling them the debt's past the SOL, they've violated by calling you without validating, and you're willing to settle out of court... $500 to you and deletion.

Boofchicken posted:

Quick question. So I sent out the debt verification letter and got back a nice healthy packet of stuff. Mostly old statements from Chase. Everything is there and it is obviously verified. What I am asking is what is the best way to start payments with them that don't amount to insane monthly payments? The very few times I talked to them on the phone, they would ask for up to 500 a month, which just is not feasible at the moment.

Basically what is the best way to word things to ask them for reasonable payments and a pay for delete option upon completion of these payments.
Send them a letter with a settlement offer. Make it a sum paid off in X months, so that they can't tack on interest and fees.

If they're asking for $1,000 (just to keep the math easy for this example), offer to pay $800 in four monthly installments of $200 paid via money order, beginning within 7 days from your receipt of their acceptance.

"And to further ensure that this agreement is mutually beneficial, (company name) agrees to remove this tradeline from any consumer reporting agency which may have knowledge of said account, upon completion of the proposed payment schedule."

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

TWiNKiE posted:

Tons of people posit that updating reports constitutes continued collection activities.

On the other hand, the FCRA says that negative information can't stay on for more than 7 years + 180 days. If lawmakers wanted the information off at the SOL sunset - but not to exceed 7 years + 180 days, that's what they would have said.
For SOL, it varies by state. For credit reporting, it's based on the DOFD.

These two statements don't really contradict each other unless I misunderstood you. Does the FCRA make a distinction between reporting of credit/debt and the collection of it?

If you can successfully defend yourself against collection because a claim is outside the SOL, can't you defend against reporting as well, or is it not set up that way? I'd think if a creditor took you to court and you showed up, told the judge, "Hey, Your Honor, this poo poo head apparently can't work a calendar because this has passed the statute of limitations and the law says I don't owe him a dime," you could also write a creditor and tell them, "Hey, poo poo head, learn to work a calendar. This debt is past the SOL, stop reporting it."

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.

NancyPants posted:

These two statements don't really contradict each other unless I misunderstood you. Does the FCRA make a distinction between reporting of credit/debt and the collection of it?

If you can successfully defend yourself against collection because a claim is outside the SOL, can't you defend against reporting as well, or is it not set up that way? I'd think if a creditor took you to court and you showed up, told the judge, "Hey, Your Honor, this poo poo head apparently can't work a calendar because this has passed the statute of limitations and the law says I don't owe him a dime," you could also write a creditor and tell them, "Hey, poo poo head, learn to work a calendar. This debt is past the SOL, stop reporting it."

You certainly can and should write a creditor. In fact, you should write them a letter telling them to stop immediately and to remove any listings they have put into your credit report within (x) days. At the same time you should dispute the items on your credit report explaining that the debt is past the SOL. If they continue to try to collect after you notified them that this debt is past SOL, that they are in violation of the FDCPA, and now they're SOL :)

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

NancyPants posted:

These two statements don't really contradict each other unless I misunderstood you. Does the FCRA make a distinction between reporting of credit/debt and the collection of it?
The FCRA in and of itself, doesn't really have much to do with collection. That's the FDCPA.

Remember:
FCRA = Fair Credit Reporting Act
FDCPA = Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

They're different things, and your state most likely has additional laws that touch both acts.

quote:

If you can successfully defend yourself against collection because a claim is outside the SOL, can't you defend against reporting as well, or is it not set up that way?
Which SOL are we talking about? Technically, the "SOL" in the FCRA says that negative information has to be removed within 7 years + 180 days.

That's separate from any state SOL on the debt, which stipulates how long the creditor has to make a claim against you in court.

quote:

I'd think if a creditor took you to court and you showed up, told the judge, "Hey, Your Honor, this poo poo head apparently can't work a calendar because this has passed the statute of limitations and the law says I don't owe him a dime," you could also write a creditor and tell them, "Hey, poo poo head, learn to work a calendar. This debt is past the SOL, stop reporting it."
There are multiple schools of thought on this, with the biggest two being:

1) Reporting negative information on a consumer report is "continued collection activity", and should not be permissible when the creditor knows (or has reason to know) that the debt is no longer collectable under the statue of limitations laws in the debtor's state.

2) The FCRA is clear, and distinct from a state's statute of limitations. While a debt may no longer be collectable, a creditor has a right to effectively "warn others". Further, crossing the statute of limitations does not make the past history of negative information invalid.

Now... the Federal Trade Commission released an opinion letter (I posted it a few pages back) where they said they consider continued reporting to be continued collection activity. However, that's a matter of opinion, not a matter of law.

As far as a judge would be concerned, it's up to him (or her) to make the decision, because the laws are somewhat vague on the topic. For instance, is it reasonable to believe that the government would have envisioned consumer reports being used for everything from renting an apartment to getting a job or car insurance almost forty years later? If they did, were they intentionally vague? If they didn't, would they want the law to give broader recognizance to the rights of the consumer, or to the rights of the collectors? :iiam:

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

TWiNKiE posted:

The FCRA in and of itself, doesn't really have much to do with collection. That's the FDCPA.

Remember:
FCRA = Fair Credit Reporting Act
FDCPA = Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

They're different things, and your state most likely has additional laws that touch both acts.
Which SOL are we talking about? Technically, the "SOL" in the FCRA says that negative information has to be removed within 7 years + 180 days.

That's separate from any state SOL on the debt, which stipulates how long the creditor has to make a claim against you in court.
There are multiple schools of thought on this, with the biggest two being:

1) Reporting negative information on a consumer report is "continued collection activity", and should not be permissible when the creditor knows (or has reason to know) that the debt is no longer collectable under the statue of limitations laws in the debtor's state.

2) The FCRA is clear, and distinct from a state's statute of limitations. While a debt may no longer be collectable, a creditor has a right to effectively "warn others". Further, crossing the statute of limitations does not make the past history of negative information invalid.

Now... the Federal Trade Commission released an opinion letter (I posted it a few pages back) where they said they consider continued reporting to be continued collection activity. However, that's a matter of opinion, not a matter of law.

As far as a judge would be concerned, it's up to him (or her) to make the decision, because the laws are somewhat vague on the topic. For instance, is it reasonable to believe that the government would have envisioned consumer reports being used for everything from renting an apartment to getting a job or car insurance almost forty years later? If they did, were they intentionally vague? If they didn't, would they want the law to give broader recognizance to the rights of the consumer, or to the rights of the collectors? :iiam:

So how would I find out for sure what my state says is the SOL as far as collection and reporting? I know how to work Google, but I wouldn't really go into court/take someone into court based on some law I found online that might not even be typed correctly.

Or is there a resource online that has laws posted and is trustworthy?

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.

NancyPants posted:

So how would I find out for sure what my state says is the SOL as far as collection and reporting? I know how to work Google, but I wouldn't really go into court/take someone into court based on some law I found online that might not even be typed correctly.

Or is there a resource online that has laws posted and is trustworthy?

Which state are you in?

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Drewski posted:

Which state are you in?

Iowa. I know I can look online, but my concern is that I'm going to find posting for statutes that aren't transcribed properly or something.

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

NancyPants posted:

So how would I find out for sure what my state says is the SOL as far as collection and reporting? I know how to work Google, but I wouldn't really go into court/take someone into court based on some law I found online that might not even be typed correctly.

Or is there a resource online that has laws posted and is trustworthy?
It'll vary by state. (For example, in my state, it's all at http://michiganlegislature.org)

This is a pretty good resource that should point you to the right place, if nothing else:
http://whychat.5u.com/

Edit: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IowaLaw.html

TWiNKiE fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Apr 24, 2011

Leif.
Mar 27, 2005

Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester

TWiNKiE posted:

I'd DV them anyway. If they validate, you have everything you need to tell them it's past the SOL. If they don't, you'll have stalled them to the SOL.

The rationale is twofold: First, you want them to know you're responsive, so they won't be as quick to haul you in to court. Second, you want to make sure your ducks are in a row if they report the debt to the CRA's.

So let's say you send your letter that says "don't call me, but you can write me" and they start calling you without properly validating, and poo poo on your credit report. That's when you fire back with a letter telling them the debt's past the SOL, they've violated by calling you without validating, and you're willing to settle out of court... $500 to you and deletion.
Send them a letter with a settlement offer. Make it a sum paid off in X months, so that they can't tack on interest and fees.

If they're asking for $1,000 (just to keep the math easy for this example), offer to pay $800 in four monthly installments of $200 paid via money order, beginning within 7 days from your receipt of their acceptance.

"And to further ensure that this agreement is mutually beneficial, (company name) agrees to remove this tradeline from any consumer reporting agency which may have knowledge of said account, upon completion of the proposed payment schedule."

I'd also suggest sending the DV towards the latter half of the 30 day period, to minimize the amount of time that they have to respond. The letter sounds like the standard one they send out, which would imply to me that they aren't necessarily paying attention to the fact you're nearing the SOL. You don't want to clue them in while they are still able to do anything of substance about it. If you want to really be a dick, send it at the 28 day mark via Fedex overnight.

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.

Diplomaticus posted:

I'd also suggest sending the DV towards the latter half of the 30 day period, to minimize the amount of time that they have to respond. The letter sounds like the standard one they send out, which would imply to me that they aren't necessarily paying attention to the fact you're nearing the SOL. You don't want to clue them in while they are still able to do anything of substance about it. If you want to really be a dick, send it at the 28 day mark via Fedex overnight.

Well the letter was dated 1 April and I received it 22 April. I've already got a letter prepped, and I specifically took out any reference to the SOL. I'll drop it certified 2 day tomorrow ("Your Honor, I tried in good faith to respond to their request; it's not my fault they were unwilling to accept the letter. Here's my receipt").

When I first received my credit report I thought the SOL expired on 1 May but I had done a little more research and it's a contract in California, which has a SOL of 4 years. The 1 May 2011 is the date this "falls off" my credit report. So this hasn't been collectible for 3 years. I think.

NancyPants posted:

Iowa. I know I can look online, but my concern is that I'm going to find posting for statutes that aren't transcribed properly or something.

http://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/ACO/IC/LINC/Chapter.614.html

I'm pretty sure this is the law you should refer to, specifically Chapter 614.1.4-5.

Drewski fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Apr 24, 2011

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.
edit: double post?

Kilo147
Apr 14, 2007

You remind me of the boss
What boss?
The boss with the power
What power?
The power of voodoo
Who-doo?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of the Boss.

Macys is going batshit on the phone, calling from 2 or 3 locations using different numbers, different CID names, and at this point, 10 days past payment due, an average of 5-10 times a day. they won't bargain, they won't help me out, they won't do jack poo poo other than read the same goddamn lines since before I skipped a payment.

Debt collectors can;t legally call more than 3 times a week in Washington State. Does that apply to the OC as well? If so, that's upwards of 25 violations a week.
http://www.ehow.com/list_7175851_credit-debt-rights-state-washington.html
http://www.atg.wa.gov/askcolumn.aspx?id=13558
http://www.atg.wa.gov/ConsumerIssues/Credit/CollectionAgencies.aspx
http://www.atg.wa.gov/BlogPost.aspx?id=22150
http://www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Home/Safeguarding_Consumers/Brochures/December_08_Updates/debt_collection_repo_12-08.pdf

Kilo147 fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Apr 26, 2011

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

7thBatallion posted:

Debt collectors can;t legally call more than 3 times a week in Washington State. Does that apply to the OC as well? If so, that's upwards of 25 violations a week.
Complain to your Attorney General and find out.

You don't have much to lose at this point.

I have no idea how it works in Washington, but in Michigan, you can file a complaint online. If the AG office knows who to contact via e-mail, you can sometimes get things resolved in a business day. Otherwise, they send a "What the gently caress is going on here?" letter to the company. When the company responds, the AG sends you a copy of what they said, along with what the AG is going to do about it.

The company responses are almost always one of two things:
1) "OH GOD NO! We're sorry. We'll stop. This isn't our fault, but we feel terrible about it."
2) "gently caress you. We're not breaking the law. But we're going to stop doing whatever it was that got your resident upset to get you to leave us alone."

The AG response is usually:
1) We don't determine legality on everything. If you think you have a case, here's how to sue them.
2) They weren't doing anything illegal. Get over it. Call the BBB. Whatever. Nobody cares.
3) OH SNAP! poo poo JUST GOT REAL, SON! Wanna be a witness? (P.S., this is why many CA's will ask you to sign a waiver if you settle with them when threatening to take them to court for violations.)

Gray Stormy
Dec 19, 2006

EDIT: Thought maybe a separate thread was more appropriate.

Gray Stormy fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Apr 28, 2011

Pfhreak
Jan 30, 2004

Frog Blast The Vent Core!
Just got a bill from Puget Sound Energy with a small (<$40) amount from a previous residence in 2007. Apparently they never got my forwarding address or the bill got pitched by an old roommate. In any case, I'm fine paying it, but it's gone off to collections.

I've never heard from the collections agency, and as far as I know it's never shown up on my credit.(As of Nov 15th, 2010).

Is my best course of action to just pay the energy company? Should I bother calling the credit agency? (Ie, by calling them am I at risk of them damaging my credit?)

Drewski
Apr 15, 2005

Good thing Vader didn't touch my bike. Good thing for him.
well, looks like it's been two weeks since I sent off my original set of letters. I hope I hear something soon, but honestly I kind of doubt I'll get any good responses.

Drewski fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Apr 30, 2011

Reene
Aug 26, 2005

:justpost:

I just got a random settlement offer in the mail for a Verizon account in California (I currently live in Kentucky). Problem is, I've never had a Verizon account in my life and the phone number on the letter has never been mine. They're saying the debt is for 136 dollars and they're offering to settle for 68.

I called (perhaps a dumb idea) and asked them what the deal was and said it isn't me. The woman on the phone said they'd review the account, but she had a rough record of my moving history and they say they've been sending letters for "a long time" so I don't know what the deal is.

Should I go ahead and send a DV letter in response to this, would that do anything at this point if they've been trying to contact me? If they end up suing me how would that even work. I am moving across the country in a week (to Oregon) also which just complicates things.

Reene fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Apr 30, 2011

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Reene posted:

I just got a random settlement offer in the mail for a Verizon account in California (I currently live in Kentucky). Problem is, I've never had a Verizon account in my life and the phone number on the letter has never been mine. They're saying the debt is for 136 dollars and they're offering to settle for 68.

I called (perhaps a dumb idea) and asked them what the deal was and said it isn't me. The woman on the phone said they'd review the account, but she had a rough record of my moving history and they say they've been sending letters for "a long time" so I don't know what the deal is.

Should I go ahead and send a DV letter in response to this, would that do anything at this point if they've been trying to contact me? If they end up suing me how would that even work. I am moving across the country in a week (to Oregon) also which just complicates things.

Can you pull your credit report and see if it's even showing up on there?

Reene
Aug 26, 2005

:justpost:

I went and pulled up my credit report. The only company that would give me one is Equifax, the other two said they couldn't pull it up. I know gently caress all about credit so I'm not sure if that's normal or not.

Per Equifax, there are two closed accounts associated with the CA. One says $136 dollars, the other says $596. It says they were opened in 2009, and the person on the phone said the debt was from 2007. I have no clue what the $596 could be; I've never had a credit card, never taken out anything except student loans, and I've never had an account with anyone except Sprint (and that's paid in full).

Reene fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Apr 30, 2011

DarkHorse
Dec 13, 2006

Nap Ghost
You should be able to access all three unless you've viewed them within the past year. Did you go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp and not one of the knock-off sites that try to charge you for it?

If you got an error it's possible you've been a victim of identity theft, at which point it might be worth paying to check your credit more often. In any case, get a good idea of what's being associated with you and object to any that aren't yours.

Reene
Aug 26, 2005

:justpost:

Yeah, it was through that site, and no, I haven't looked at them in the past year. I think I recall trying to check before and being unable to for some reason.

So should I send a DV letter at this point? I can't think of many other options.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Reene posted:

Yeah, it was through that site, and no, I haven't looked at them in the past year. I think I recall trying to check before and being unable to for some reason.

So should I send a DV letter at this point? I can't think of many other options.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if it doesn't show up on your reports, the debt basically doesn't exist. I don't think it would be necessary to send them a DV letter in that case.

If it does show up on your report and you don't believe you own the debt, absolutely send them a DV letter and do it certified mail with a return receipt.

Subderisorious
Feb 23, 2011
I need some financial advice. I'm in college and ran up an obscene amount of debt. Long story short, I was dealing with some serious depression a few years back, and every time I hit a low, I bought stuff I couldn't afford. I'm now close to $20k in debt over 5 different cards and only make $30/week at my current job. When I opened the accounts, I made quite a bit more money and the interest was significantly lower. I'm not trying to make excuses, I know I hosed up, I'm just trying to explain that I didn't go in with bad intentions. I graduate soon but don't have any sign of a REAL job yet. I'm also scared to apply to jobs because they might check my credit.

One of my cards I stopped paying on over a year ago. The other four I stopped paying last Fall. When I called up the first card company (Chase, ugh), the woman on the phone literally made me cry by accusing me of being a scumbag liar who is just out to get a better deal. I also have massive anxiety so I've been too scared to actually deal with anyone. I keep getting calls and letters but I've just been avoiding all of it. :( Not the best approach but it's extremely difficult for me to even THINK about talking to someone. I'm also incredibly embarrassed.

I've talked to a parent about this and they suggest talking to a credit counseling agency. But if I can barely afford food, how could I possibly work out a deal?

I also looked into a local low-income bankruptcy clinic but I didn't qualify because even though I make $1,000/year, my parents claim me on their taxes so I can stay on their insurance. Financially though, they pay my car insurance and occasionally give me money for food, but that's about it. I'm able to pay rent because of my financial aid package from the college.

So I'm lost as to what to do and would love if someone could give me direction. Do I start by sending off that letter mentioned in the OP? Is bankruptcy a better option? :( Are there ways to declare bankruptcy without paying thousands of dollars to a lawyer? I bought this book from amazon but it seems a bit over my head and I'm not even sure Chapter 7 is the one I'd want. I'm so overwhelmed and stressed out. This has been weighing on me for YEARS and I finally want to take care of it. I've had to stop answering my phone and my voicemail is constantly full from all the debt collectors. Any advice is appreciated.

Subderisorious fucked around with this message at 20:34 on May 1, 2011

TWiNKiE
Nov 18, 2002

Daah, I heard that!

Subderisorious posted:

I need some financial advice.
You make $30/week?

Even at minimum wage, that's not quite four hours' work.

And since you've been in default for less than a year, you have no realistic shot at anything but PFD (with nothing to fulfill the "P" part). If that's the case, and you have no immediate hope of getting more work, you might as well declare. You've got no money coming in. You've got no assets you're trying to maintain. Your credit's trashed, and it's not going to get better anytime soon. Your downsides to declaring are few.

Since it's all credit card debt, it isn't going to be complex, and you can probably find a lawyer to do it for under $1,000.

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Subderisorious
Feb 23, 2011
I'm a full-time student so I work very few hours a week at $8.50/hour. This week I worked 5.5 hours, last week I worked 2.

But, ya, that's what I assumed. Are there any tricks to finding a lawyer? I wouldn't even know how to begin to find someone who specializes in this. And maybe does a payment plan....

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