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Trillian posted:1. They don't have to respond within 30 days. I assumed he had green cards...why would you do it any other way?
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Jul 26, 2012 16:12
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Like I said, sending CM was my initial plan, but the people called me and said they would send me verification. I'm not particularly worried about it because one company has already dropped it when asked to verify. In all honesty I wish I had mailed a letter, just so I could sue them without a second thought if it ever crops up on my report again. E: I suppose I could still mail a letter so that I actually have proof of some sort, but it would be outside of the 30-day window and what if that encourages them to pretend I never asked the first time around Redfont fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jul 26, 2012 |
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Jul 26, 2012 17:13
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Redfont posted:Like I said, sending CM was my initial plan, but the people called me and said they would send me verification. I'm not particularly worried about it because one company has already dropped it when asked to verify. Stop talking to them on the phone and mail a debt validation request. You essentially have not requested validation.
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Jul 27, 2012 07:11
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About a month ago I disputed a ton of stuff on my credit report with all 3 bureaus. The amount of incorrect info, along with duplicate entries (same account, different collectors, not showing the debt had been sold off to another collector), was pretty shocking. More shocking was the amount of poo poo that had been re-aged, with recent activity reported... along with having 3 SSN's listed for me on one bureau (typo in 1 digit). How long does that whole process normally take? The only things I've received have been a couple of letters from the same collector (different debts) saying they would investigate the dispute, and an email from TransUnion saying they'd also investigate. Nothing from Experian or Equifax, either in writing or email.
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Jul 29, 2012 12:01
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Whelp guys tomorrow is the big day. I have to appear and answer to a judge as to why I am such a shithead and don't pay on the loan that I can't afford. The loan in question is about $5k (unsecured) from a credit union. I am talking with an attorney later today but would love to hear any input on what I might be able to expect or how to improve my odds of not getting hosed in some hilarious manner. fun! 
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Jul 30, 2012 17:31
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Is it the credit union suing you? If so, the judge doesn't care why you can't pay. All they care about is whether it's true that you owe it. So the questioning may go something like: "So cr0y, is it true that you owe this debt?" "Yes, but..." "Ok, judgment for Plaintiff. Next case is for...."
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Jul 30, 2012 18:09
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woozle wuzzle posted:Is it the credit union suing you? If so, the judge doesn't care why you can't pay. All they care about is whether it's true that you owe it. So the questioning may go something like: You are skipping the step where the plantiff askes for repayment terms to be enforced. This is usually where you can speak to your ability to repay and why it's always good to go to court instead of blowing it off. Default judgments will go straight to garnishment and property liens as you are not there to dispute it.
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Jul 30, 2012 18:21
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woozle wuzzle posted:Is it the credit union suing you? If so, the judge doesn't care why you can't pay. All they care about is whether it's true that you owe it. So the questioning may go something like: If it's in JP Court or similar small claims court, the judge may have mercy on your soul and lower the judgement amount. General advice is to have your attorney show up (and you don't). That way they actually are required to have evidence to prove you owe the debt. Otherwise they can just ask you under oath. If it's the original creditor, they probably have all the evidence they need sadly.
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Jul 30, 2012 18:24
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LorneReams posted:You are skipping the step where the plantiff askes for repayment terms to be enforced. This is usually where you can speak to your ability to repay and why it's always good to go to court instead of blowing it off. I didn't exactly forget, since that's not remotely close to how it works here (VA). So it depends on where they're located. But either way, the judge doesn't care why the defendant couldn't pay, which was my point. Roger_Mudd posted:If it's in JP Court or similar small claims court, the judge may have mercy on your soul and lower the judgement amount. woozle wuzzle fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Jul 30, 2012 |
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Jul 30, 2012 18:25
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woozle wuzzle posted:Again, I guess it depends on where you are. In VA there's no hope of that unless the debt was VERY unreasonable or unconscionable. How would that even work? Wouldn't the creditor appeal, rather than accept across the board cuts? There is a judge here that routinely chops 20-30% of the debt off. The judge used to be a debt collection attorney. I guess the creditor could appeal but it's unlikely given that A) the representation agreement (the creditor and law firm representing them) probably doesn't cover appeals B) why piss off the judge with an appeal when he sees tens of your cases a week C) Hiring an appeals firm would cost more than the value of any claim they might receive. Cap One is doing a "test" here in our jurisdiction and suing people for 2-3k when the initial credit card had a $500.00 limit.
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Jul 30, 2012 18:43
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So after I lose tomorrow what happens? Is the collection process seperate? Do they immediately start repo'ing my stuff?
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Jul 30, 2012 19:44
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cr0y posted:So after I lose tomorrow what happens? Is the collection process seperate? Do they immediately start repo'ing my stuff? In my state, they'll serve you with additional discovery. They'll ask you where you bank, what assets you have, where you work, etc. Folks have ended up in jail in some states due to not responding to post judgement discovery. You should be familial what what, if anything, in your state is exempt from collections. Goggling "STATE exemptions list" should get you there. Or you could just go talk it over with an attorney.
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Jul 30, 2012 19:50
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Depending on how bad your overall financial picture is, you might want to discuss Chapter 7 with a BK attorney. It can remove a lot of the stress in your life. (assuming your current financial position causes you stress). Roger_Mudd posted:Cap One is doing a "test" here in our jurisdiction and suing people for 2-3k when the initial credit card had a $500.00 limit. You're in Texas right? How does this play out? I have an old car repo that's past SOL.. The balance on it should have been at most 11K (and even then I dispute that number), but I'm sure by now it's up to 17K with made up fees and interest. In pretend land, if I were to get sued would a judge knock it down to the original 11K or would they win the whole 17K?. On a fun side note the current holder of the debt sent me a settlement letter for 10% of the made up balance. 1600 cash to settle 16K of debt. Of course I recognize you are not my lawyer and you are not giving me legal advice.
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Jul 30, 2012 20:15
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skipdogg posted:I have an old car repo that's past SOL.. Why would you pay anything and not just ignore it...unless you are trying for a pay for delete?
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Jul 30, 2012 20:35
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cr0y posted:So after I lose tomorrow what happens? Is the collection process seperate? Do they immediately start repo'ing my stuff? All answers hinge on where you're located. Which could be Brazil for all we know. So like.... where are you... Roger_mudd, I have an unrelated question that might be helpful to the thread: Have you dealt wit Bass & Associates before? They seem to be the general collection firm for Best Buy. They assert that all Best Buy cards are secured and they demand all the purchased property back after a bankruptcy, which seems like total crap. I always demand proof of the contract, and they usually vanish. But I've got a case now where they're chirping quite a bit, and they have produced a goofy credit application that says they get a PMSI. How far have you gotten with them before?
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Jul 30, 2012 21:28
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skipdogg posted:You're in Texas right? How does this play out? I have an old car repo that's past SOL.. The balance on it should have been at most 11K (and even then I dispute that number), but I'm sure by now it's up to 17K with made up fees and interest. In pretend land, if I were to get sued would a judge knock it down to the original 11K or would they win the whole 17K?. On a fun side note the current holder of the debt sent me a settlement letter for 10% of the made up balance. 1600 cash to settle 16K of debt. The great legal answer: "it depends". If the SOL has expired and if they were to sue you, you would have a defense based on the SOL. The judge wouldn't give them anything. As your debt gets older and older and resold and resold, it gets cheaper and cheaper to buy. The company that offered you $1600.00 for the debt probably paid $340.00 (or around 2-5 cents on the dollar). The judge could reasonably do what ever he/she wants. Usually, but not always, they chop off crazy amounts of interest and legal fees (depends what evidence they have and what theory of recovery they are seeking) (see previous post about suit on debt v. breach of contract, etc.).
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Jul 30, 2012 22:00
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I am in Pennsylvania.
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Jul 30, 2012 22:04
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woozle wuzzle posted:Roger_mudd, I have an unrelated question that might be helpful to the thread: Have you dealt wit Bass & Associates before? They seem to be the general collection firm for Best Buy. They assert that all Best Buy cards are secured and they demand all the purchased property back after a bankruptcy, which seems like total crap. I always demand proof of the contract, and they usually vanish. But I've got a case now where they're chirping quite a bit, and they have produced a goofy credit application that says they get a PMSI. How far have you gotten with them before? I haven't dealt with them yet but the general consensus on most list serves (NACBA, etc.) seems to be that they are all bark and no bite. I'd fight'em just for fun, your client doesn't really have anything to lose at this point. Do they really want that 8 year old CRT tv?
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Jul 30, 2012 22:06
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Good idea  I'll write back that I have informed my client to drop off his used DVD of Little Nicky to his nearest Best Buy, c/o Bass & Associates.
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Jul 30, 2012 23:00
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So I have been irresponsible and let a bank account lapse and I owe $120. I have received numerous letters and phone calls and have ignored them well past the 30 days. I have no good reason to have not paid but that is besides the point. I want to mitigate the effect this will have on my credit, what would be the best approach? I have no problem paying the money. Is it better to: Call bank of america directly to pay owed debt. Call debt collector and negotiate (I know they bought this debt for much less than $100) Is obtaining a pay to delete would even be possible in my situation?
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Aug 1, 2012 00:56
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peace ottering posted:So I have been irresponsible and let a bank account lapse and I owe $120. I have received numerous letters and phone calls and have ignored them well past the 30 days. I have no good reason to have not paid but that is besides the point. I am no expert but I believe if it has already gone to a collector the bank has no interest in the debt anymore since it's off their books and the DCA owns the debt now. I also heard that failure to pay a negative balance on a checking account was a criminal offense or was that just some shithead BofA employee that I ran into online? My question: I have the option of getting a secured credit card from my bank (I give them $500 or whatever and I have that as a line of credit. I have heard mixed theories on how good of an idea this is if I can't get a decent credit card because of a poo poo credit score. Anyone have any thoughts?
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Aug 1, 2012 22:30
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cr0y posted:I also heard that failure to pay a negative balance on a checking account was a criminal offense or was that just some shithead BofA employee that I ran into online? Writing a check against an account that dosen't have the funds is what they may have been refering to.
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Aug 1, 2012 22:32
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Bouncing a check is illegal? 
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Aug 1, 2012 23:39
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cr0y posted:My question: I have the option of getting a secured credit card from my bank (I give them $500 or whatever and I have that as a line of credit. I have heard mixed theories on how good of an idea this is if I can't get a decent credit card because of a poo poo credit score. Anyone have any thoughts? cr0y posted:Bouncing a check is illegal?
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Aug 2, 2012 01:44
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I'm sure every state is slightly different, but in general you have to really have a run of bad checks (or a noticable $ amount) to get in criminal trouble. Simply bouncing a check is not a criminal offense, but "knowingly" bouncing a check is. It's tough to prove, because it's reasonable to screw up and get a negative account balance. People do get prosecuted for bad checks, but it's usually cases where the person really did go out attempting to defraud a bank. The vast majority of criminal threats on negative bank balances is a load of horsecrap.peace ottering posted:So I have been irresponsible and let a bank account lapse and I owe $120. Having negative balances with banks can hurt your ability to work with other major banks, apart from your credit score. They use an internal Check System thing, so if some one went on a spree of bad checks they'd get caught same-day to minimize the damage. The same system makes it hard for you to open new accounts with a lingering negative balance. But I think it also fixes pretty quickly if you take care of it. I'm not an expert in the Check System thing at all, but I know it exists.
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Aug 2, 2012 01:52
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Capt. Morgan posted:Yes, writing a check that does not have the funds could be considered fraud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque_fraud
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Aug 2, 2012 02:08
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woozle wuzzle posted:Having negative balances with banks can hurt your ability to work with other major banks, apart from your credit score. They use an internal Check System thing, so if some one went on a spree of bad checks they'd get caught same-day to minimize the damage. The same system makes it hard for you to open new accounts with a lingering negative balance. But I think it also fixes pretty quickly if you take care of it. I'm not an expert in the Check System thing at all, but I know it exists. You're thinking of ChexSystems and it is indeed a problem to be in their bad books. I am not actually sure if paying off a written-off account will clear you. For that reason I would try to talk to the bank directly.
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Aug 2, 2012 04:22
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Well, disputed a ton of stuff on all 3 CRB's. TransUnion just responded via email. 11 disputed items deleted. 8 of them updated with new information, but the amounts didn't go up and the dates on a couple of them actually got rolled back (in one case, by a year, which puts it outside the SOL for Texas). Only 1 remained the same. I'm sure it's totally a coincidence that my phone has started ringing off the hook with "Blocked number" showing on caller ID and people that can't pronounce my name.  Thankfully it's easy to block anonymous calls on a smart phone.Trillian posted:You're thinking of ChexSystems and it is indeed a problem to be in their bad books. I am not actually sure if paying off a written-off account will clear you. For that reason I would try to talk to the bank directly. ChexSystems now removes all information after 5 years, according to the letter I got from them. I'm finally off of their books. And no, paying off an account will not remove you from ChexSystems. You're stuck finding a bank or CU that doesn't use them. I know USAA does NOT use them, if you don't mind an online bank. Their free checking account really is free, including ATM fee rebates and free checks (if you actually have a need for printed checks). However, if you order checks from Deluxe, that gets reported to ChexSystems.
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Aug 3, 2012 14:03
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some texas redneck posted:ChexSystems now removes all information after 5 years, according to the letter I got from them. I'm finally off of their books. USAA? The military credit union? I am in ChexSystems (still to the best of my knowledge, this happened in probably 2008 or 2009), I have something like $120 I owe a credit union in overdrawn checking account fees, but somehow I've gotten an account with Wells Fargo anyway. However, another local credit union has some alliance with the credit union I owe and wouldn't take me unless I repaid the other credit union.
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Aug 7, 2012 07:06
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Has anyone dealt with Continental Legal Network? Long story short: my girlfriend changed jobs within her company, and her old phone number was contacted by someone from these guys claiming an unpaid debt, and that they're pursuing a restraining order (?). To be fair, my girlfriend is in debt, and while I don't know if she's behind on anything, I do know she's at least communicating with all known creditors. Some quick research tells me that this is an out and out scam: http://www.collectorsexposed.com/collectors/index.php/topic/2397-continental-legal-support/page__st__20 http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-603-856-0338/4 Now, maybe they are legit, but I haven't found anything to indicate that. We just want these calls to stop after the first one, especially since they're going to her workplace and to a coworker's phone. Are we best off ignoring them, reporting it to the Texas AG, or is there a better route?
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Aug 8, 2012 00:34
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Shooting Blanks posted:Has anyone dealt with Continental Legal Network? I'd have to check when I get to work tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure that's the same company that was blowing up our front desk phone at work the other day. Like, calling from 4 different phones at once, to reach someone that had no idea what in the hell they were talking about, trying to collect on a payday loan she had never heard of. It was so bad that they couldn't answer actual phone calls. Luckily one of the local police officers stopped by when it was happening, and he did some research, gave them a call himself, and they stopped immediately.
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Aug 8, 2012 01:35
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Oh man this thread is still a thing. So basically, my Mom called me saying that PECO (electric utility company in PA), suddenly called her about a $700 debt. The debt was from an apartment she was paying for one of her friends, who has long since moved out and had the utility cancelled. This is the first time she's heard about this, and hasn't seen any late notices or dunning letters. I told her to mail a DV request letter either way, though. Is this the right course of action to take? Also, as far as I know the debt hasn't been sold off to any 3rd party agency. Sazpaimon fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Aug 8, 2012 |
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Aug 8, 2012 22:34
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Sazpaimon posted:Also, as far as I know the debt hasn't been sold off to any 3rd party agency. Then they're not required to validate.
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Aug 9, 2012 06:21
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So I just handed the last dollar to my name over to citizens bank to cover nearly $300 in overdraft fees from a couple $5 purchases. I hope these people get brain cancer and die a slow, painful, terrifying death. Fun Fact: Don't waste your breath talking to someone in person at a local branch, the corporations have changed their policies on what managers are allowed to refund because managers were being too "human" or something.
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Aug 9, 2012 17:26
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AuntBuck posted:You'll see that blurb at the bottom of all their communications, they're required to include it by law. Congrats, that's not a legit debt validation. The purpose of debt validation basically is to show they purchased/were assigned the debt to collect and are authorized to collect it. A valid debt validation would be something like including copies of statements or a signed credit card agreement, not some info they typed out in notepad. I have a similar situation. I was sent a "attempt to collect a debt by a debt collector" from the firm Fulton, Friedman, and Gullace (from Asset Acceptance). Dear XXX, Your unpaid account listed above has been referred to our office collection. At this time, no attorney with this firm has personally reviewed the particular circumstances of your account. IMPORTANT NOTICE (blurb about 30 days pass, it's automatically valid if no dispute) Very truly yours, company contact info Please be advised that our client, Asset Acceptance, LLC, has requested that we include the following message. Important disclosure ------------------------------ federal law blurb Nothing else besides an empty envelope was with it. Advise?
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Aug 13, 2012 15:49
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Is this your first contact from them? That looks like a fairly standard dunning letter.
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Aug 13, 2012 22:30
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I dropped out of school in 2008 and owed the private college about $13,000. It went to a debt collection agency and I talked to them on the phone a few times that summer to try and work out a deal. At the time I could only afford to pay them $100/month and they wouldn't budge below $225. I stopped answering their phone calls after a while and I haven't heard from them since. Now I am back in school and need to pay off the debt from that school before I can transfer my transcripts. The collection agency hasn't reported anything on any of the 3 major credit reports and I am wondering what the best way to go about handling it is. My former college won't release my transcripts unless the agency tells them it is ok to. Since it has been so long should I try to settle the debt at a low ball offer of about $1000-$2000? I am sure since it has been so long they might be willing to take any money they can.
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Aug 14, 2012 01:53
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AuntBuck posted:Is this your first contact from them? That looks like a fairly standard dunning letter. First contact, yes. Should I demand an itemization list on exactly what I owe or even acknowledge them?
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Aug 14, 2012 08:29
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You definitely want to respond within that 30 days with a debt validation/verification request, there are a lot of templates on the web. Mail it certified mail with a return receipt; that'll cost around six bucks but it's well worth it. You can ask for an itemized list. I like to request a breakdown of exact charges including interest and fees added by the collection company after acquiring the debt. I've had at least one collection company choose to drop those fees rather than outline them. It's also important to mail the validation request within that 30 day window or you'll lose some of your rights.
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Aug 14, 2012 09:46
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samizdat posted:USAA? The military credit union? Federal savings bank, but USAA mostly targets military and family and generally operates at a pretty low profit margin. Their checking/savings products are open to everybody, I think everything else requires some form of military affiliation. Their "free checking" really is free - ATM fee rebates up to something like $10-15/month, free checks for life, no monthly fees. Wells Fargo wouldn't give you an account if you're on ChexSystems unless it's a "second chance" account, which has some pretty lovely restrictions - At least 2x/month direct deposit totaling over $100 per deposit, laughable ATM fees, no ATM deposits, mandatory transfers to savings every month, online banking only (at least at the branch I used). They forced me to "second chance" as soon as I mentioned I might have some issues in my history, but never ran a ChexSystems or credit report.  Only reason I wanted to use them is they had a branch on UNT's campus.. Even Chase wouldn't send my account into a negative balance if there wasn't enough to cover a monthly fee; WF sent both accounts into the negative for the monthly fee then had the balls to charge me daily fees on top of that once it'd been a few days.A lot of CU's don't report to ChexSystems - you may be on TeleCheck instead. USAA does report to TeleCheck, and my local CU wouldn't let me open an account a few years ago until my overdrawn USAA account was paid off (and specifically stated it was reported via TeleCheck). Thankfully, TeleCheck issues generally disappear once the debt is paid. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Aug 16, 2012 |
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Aug 16, 2012 07:17
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