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Leon Sumbitches posted:So I sent my DV letter to the rear end in a top hat collection agency 30 days ago, and unless there is something waiting for me today, they screwed the pooch and didn't respond. I sent the letter certified mail. So I win? How do I know that it's dissolved? Can I do business with the original org that I owed the debt to or is that bridge burned? You have 30 days to send verification before losing some rights. Unfortunately, there is no such time limit on the other side.
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Apr 30, 2013 19:16
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Jealous Cow posted:It isn't your insurance policy, it's the lenders. The PMI carrier assumes responsibility for collecting the debt and will come after you. Who paid for the policy makes no difference. So the PMI company will pay the difference to the lender and then they would come looking for me to pay them back? So in the case of PMI it doesn't matter that I live in a non-recourse state?
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Apr 30, 2013 20:43
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I just got a call about $1600 in medical collections that I still owe on a hospital visit from last August. I can't afford to pay it. I'm currently on medical leave and I don't know if I'll be able to return to work. It's likely that I'm just going to get on disability, which wouldn't leave me any money to pay the debt. I have some other debts that I can barely afford to deal with. I'm going to check with my insurance to see why they didn't pick it up, but if I straight up can't afford to pay a debt, what's my best option? I had an acquaintance who had $60k in medical debt from cancer treatments that he negotiated down, has anyone successfully done it with lower amounts?
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May 1, 2013 03:21
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Orange_Lazarus posted:So the PMI company will pay the difference to the lender and then they would come looking for me to pay them back? I'm not sure about what they would do in your state, I just know that PMI is not for the homeowner's benefit, but rather the lenders.
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May 2, 2013 15:45
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Jealous Cow posted:I'm not sure about what they would do in your state, I just know that PMI is not for the homeowner's benefit, but rather the lenders. Yeah I understand that it's technically for their benefit, but my guess is that benefit is so the bank doesn't have to pay lawyers to chase the borrower around for the money they "lost". So if the PMI company pays them the difference then it means the lender has no reason to sue for deficiency. Anyway I finally contacted a local real-estate lawyer about this, hopefully they'll clear things up.
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May 2, 2013 16:56
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AfricanBootyShine posted:I just got a call about $1600 in medical collections that I still owe on a hospital visit from last August. I can't afford to pay it. I'm currently on medical leave and I don't know if I'll be able to return to work. It's likely that I'm just going to get on disability, which wouldn't leave me any money to pay the debt. I have some other debts that I can barely afford to deal with. If it's not actually gone to collections, it cannot hurt to talk to the hospital and tell them exactly this. There may be state/local aid or private charitable aid that will help you out here, or the hospital itself may have resources to help you out; my roommate in a very similar situation got a several thousand dollar hospital debt basically forgiven this way. If your insurance should have covered it and didn't (quite often insurance will only cover a percentage of a hospital bill, and what's left over can still be in the hundreds or thousands), then obviously pursue it with them too.
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May 2, 2013 17:16
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I've got a couple of relatively tame situations that I'm wondering if I can do anything about.
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May 2, 2013 23:35
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Insidious posted:I have a Macy's card that I thought I had autopay on, but didn't, and went into 30+ days late going on 60 before I caught it and paid it off. It was too late to prevent damage to my credit report, however - they already reported the lateness to the bureaus. Is there anything I can do to get rid of or reduce the impact this derogatory mark is going to have, or do I have to suck it up and wait til it drops off 7 years from now? I had a similar thing happen once with a different major lender, and I called customer service, passed a CHA test or something (who knows, I guess it was in their policies), and they deleted the negative entry since it was my only blip with them. It's worth asking, all they can do is say no.
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May 4, 2013 04:53
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Call and ask for a "goodwill adjustment" on your credit report. They may do it, may not. Or you could send a letter to them once a month, see what happens. Beyond that, send monthly letters to the 3 credit bureaus asking them to verify it. **** On a different note, I have managed to settle 25,000 worth of credit card debt across 5 cards between the wife and I for about 6,500 over the last 6 months. Kinda stoked! edit: Probably more relevant for a different thread than here....may do an "ask me about" thread later on if there's any interest. Tide fucked around with this message at 21:44 on May 6, 2013 |
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May 6, 2013 21:38
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Not sure what to do about this. Got a notice two weeks ago via my bank (they monitor my credit for me), that a company called OSI Collections had reported a new account with Experian. Then, a week ago, they reported another new account with Experian, for $1 more than the previous, and again today. However, the account(s?) they've reported with Experian doesn't actually have an account number at all. I was waiting for them to make the first move in contacting me, and I've checked all of my mail for the past several months, and my wife's phone as well as mine - nothing. I've also checked and have no outstanding bills for the amount in question (or at all), which is about $250 and slowly climbing. What is the best course of action to take here? I want to send them a letter to dispute the debt, but I don't even have an account number on their end to dispute it with. I did have my SSN stolen about 15 years back, but I thought that was all resolved. Should I send the company a debt verification letter and include my social as well so they can look it up? Is there any way I can get a lawyer to take care of this without spending more than the supposed debt is worth. Edit: I've realized they were connected. When my SSN was jacked, the only credit damaging thing that happened was someone bought a burner phone from T-Mobile subsidized in ~2000, and never paid. This is probably very old debt, which is why they don't have my actual info at all and are just fishing with the credit agency. Would a request to validate the debt with nothing but my name, address, and print outs of a credit report be enough? I assume they'll never respond, but then at least I could properly dispute it with Experian. VextheGrey fucked around with this message at 17:29 on May 8, 2013 |
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May 8, 2013 04:48
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So, I just applied for a new credit card and I noticed my credit score has gone from very good (800+) to pretty low (<700). I did a free annual credit report and I have TWO items under collection from the same doctor's practice. Apparently the account went delinquent on 11/2011 and it was just put up for collections 16 months later, this past February. I have never received a bill from these people. I filed a dispute with the credit reporting company. What else should I do?
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May 8, 2013 06:07
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I've let myself get into some pretty obnoxious medical debt over the last few years, and I've been dealing with the repercussions since. I was sued by a debt collector for a few thousand, defaulted and paid them in full. Lesson learned, right? Not a week later I get a notice regarding another balance they're trying to collect. I tried a different approach this time, asking for proof in writing and such. Unfortunately, they complied as they have all their ducks in a row. Stupidly I let time go after they responded to me, and they're suing me for this balance now. They're a law firm that specializes in debt collection, and they've been doing so for decades, so I don't really feel comfortable going against them in small claims court by myself. The account is a little over $2,400, by no means something I can pay even a fraction of up front. How should I smartly proceed from here? Is it worth lawyering up, or is fighting it in small claims court by myself an easy enough feat? My hang up is that I can't really argue against the debt, and the collectors have done nothing illegal in their interactions. I would greatly appreciate any advice.
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May 8, 2013 06:30
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Cuck Everlasting posted:I've let myself get into some pretty obnoxious medical debt over the last few years, and I've been dealing with the repercussions since. I was sued by a debt collector for a few thousand, defaulted and paid them in full. Lesson learned, right? Not a week later I get a notice regarding another balance they're trying to collect. I tried a different approach this time, asking for proof in writing and such. Unfortunately, they complied as they have all their ducks in a row. Stupidly I let time go after they responded to me, and they're suing me for this balance now. They're a law firm that specializes in debt collection, and they've been doing so for decades, so I don't really feel comfortable going against them in small claims court by myself. The account is a little over $2,400, by no means something I can pay even a fraction of up front. How should I smartly proceed from here? Is it worth lawyering up, or is fighting it in small claims court by myself an easy enough feat? My hang up is that I can't really argue against the debt, and the collectors have done nothing illegal in their interactions. I would greatly appreciate any advice. If the debt is valid and the company can prove it, I personally think working something out with them is the best course of action. I would take whatever stakes are necessary to avoid court and judgements/garnishments. Call them and try to work with them. Have they already filed the lawsuit? If so, you're basically screwed if they can prove to the court it's your debt. It's always better to get in front of these issues than ignore them. Depending on your state, they're going to go to court, win a judgement and then go after whatever asserts of yours they can. Bank accounts, wages, etc up to the state limits. Most of the advice in this thread is for older collection accounts that have been passed around a few times. If Joe Collections Inc sues you for a 5 year old 1K Mastercard you had, they probably can't prove to the court that you owe the money.
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May 8, 2013 18:36
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How long should I wait before disputing a non-validated debt? I sent the letter in early Feb, got a response Feb 25th of "we'll get back to you." Nothing since.
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May 9, 2013 01:18
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toplitzin posted:How long should I wait before disputing a non-validated debt? You should have been disputing it as soon as you were aware of it.
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May 9, 2013 02:29
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Cuck Everlasting posted:I've let myself get into some pretty obnoxious medical debt over the last few years, and I've been dealing with the repercussions since. I was sued by a debt collector for a few thousand, defaulted and paid them in full. Lesson learned, right? Not a week later I get a notice regarding another balance they're trying to collect. I tried a different approach this time, asking for proof in writing and such. Unfortunately, they complied as they have all their ducks in a row. Stupidly I let time go after they responded to me, and they're suing me for this balance now. They're a law firm that specializes in debt collection, and they've been doing so for decades, so I don't really feel comfortable going against them in small claims court by myself. The account is a little over $2,400, by no means something I can pay even a fraction of up front. How should I smartly proceed from here? Is it worth lawyering up, or is fighting it in small claims court by myself an easy enough feat? My hang up is that I can't really argue against the debt, and the collectors have done nothing illegal in their interactions. I would greatly appreciate any advice. I would see if the attorney will work out a payment arrangement, a consent judgment where they won't garnish as long as you make certain payments, or even a dismissal based on payments. Make sure you get everything in writing and that you both sign it.
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May 9, 2013 19:58
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Alright fellow goons, I need your opinion on next steps for this scenario that I'm currently dealing with. This is in Colorado, USA. History: So about a year or two ago, my daughter smacked mouth first into the head of another girl while running in the school hallways (she knows better now). Other girl was fine, my daughter ended up needing emergency tooth work. Wife didn't realize that we had dental at the time (I was in between jobs), so she applied for credit as the emergency dentist wanting to get paid for the procedure. Finances were bad at the time, so we ended up not paying a lot of our bills. Fast forward to today. The debt can't be sold because of HIPPA (the credit has to do with medical stuff), so the ORIGINAL loan company sued us to collect. We have court next week. I've been proactive and talked with the company's lawyer. They are willing to settle for less than the amount originally borrowed, so that's a yay. They won't do a line delete, which from reading as much as I can on this board, original loan companies will NOT do. I did ask the lawyer if they were willing to put it in writing that they (lawyer or original creditor)would send a letter (or something) to the credit bureaus stating that the debt had been settled, but the lawyer refused to do this stating that I would have to do this piece myself. So, in essence, paying this debt would not change my credit without more work from me, and if I don't agree to the current payment, I would have to go to court. Fellow Debt-Goons, which would be preferable, court or...? Would the judge be even more lenient or make us pay even less than what we offered? Or take the offer without anything moving our credit score for the better? My initial offer was way too high, about $50 less than amount originally owed, and I feel that I should have started way lower, like at $400 less than original amount.
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May 16, 2013 21:19
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Lotus Brony posted:Alright fellow goons, I need your opinion on next steps for this scenario that I'm currently dealing with. This is in Colorado, USA. If you go to court, you will likely have to pay court fees in addition to the debt, and it will be on your credit report as a judgement. Don't be dumb.
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May 16, 2013 23:44
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Lotus Brony posted:Alright fellow goons, I need your opinion on next steps for this scenario that I'm currently dealing with. This is in Colorado, USA. IANAL, but I don't think this will be like the situation described in the OP where you show up looking ready for a fight and an overworked attorney working a contract tosses in the towel. I think they'll fight back, win (unless you can convince the judge you don't actually owe that debt somehow), and as Trillian said, you'll have to pay court costs on top. You probably should have negotiated better, you didn't. Pay what you owe and move on.
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May 17, 2013 00:08
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P.S. STILL COMPLETELY DEVOID OF MERIT
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Lotus Brony posted:Fellow Debt-Goons, which would be preferable, court or...? Would the judge be even more lenient or make us pay even less than what we offered? Or take the offer without anything moving our credit score for the better? My initial offer was way too high, about $50 less than amount originally owed, and I feel that I should have started way lower, like at $400 less than original amount. You aren't locked in to your initial offer. Tell the attorney that your family went over the finances, things are tight, and you can pay [offer-$150] in cash this hot second. Having a judgment can be bad news on your credit. It's not the end of the world, but it's worth money to avoid it if you can. If all else fails and your original offer is it, I'd say pay it prior to entry of judgment.
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May 17, 2013 04:28
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Thank you, both of you. Yes, my negotiation-foo is weak, and I realized I shot myself right after I HUNG UP! The obvious sign was that they accepted the offer five minutes I hung up. Drat! Live and learn. Also, thank you for the insight regarding having this go to court. I was not aware there would be court fees, but as the amount is slightly above the $1,000 mark, it avoids the small-claims court. Of course, much of it was "fees" that were doubling the original amount, I assume to make sure it would avoid small claims court. I have learned quite a bit about this whole process, though, and avoided being one of the many that simply showed up many months ago willing to settle for whatever they wanted to avoid any confrontation.
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May 17, 2013 05:43
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Generally you want to avoid court if at all possible. If a creditor has you dead to rights, work something (anything!) out and avoid the judgement and wage garnishment.
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May 17, 2013 17:44
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Wage garnishment can only come after a judgement, but a judgement is not a guarantee you will be garnished. Generally, garnishment is only sought if the debtor doesn't take steps to satisfy the judgement.
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May 17, 2013 19:07
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Lotus Brony posted:The debt can't be sold because of HIPPA (the credit has to do with medical stuff), so the ORIGINAL loan company sued us to collect. We have court next week. Do you have a reference for this bit about hippa/debt selling? This is the first I've heard of that, and am currently dealing with medical debt sold to a collection agency. You also said Lotus Brony posted:but as the amount is slightly above the $1,000 mark, it avoids the small-claims court. Of course, much of it was "fees" that were doubling the original amount, I assume to make sure it would avoid small claims court. http://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/SmallClaimsHandBook.pdf posted:The small claims court is a “court of limited jurisdiction.” This means that the court cannot award more than $7,500, If you do end up in small claims court this will help you: http://www.courts.state.co.us/Self_Help/Local_Small_Claims.cfm
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May 25, 2013 00:29
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Okay, so rear end in a top hat agency contacted me about two months ago, I sent the demand verification letter (certified, rr), 30 days passed, no word. Now, about two months later, they've sent me another collection letter, again with no verification of them holding the debt (at least they listened to me asking them not to call). What are my next steps? Can I sue them for harassment? (I'm in Ohio, btw).
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May 28, 2013 14:45
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Next you have to decide if it is worth your time/effort to sue them. If you can prove that they violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or your state's version of it which could include stronger requirements/penalties, then you can sue them for violating your rights provided by the act(s). The specific steps of how to do that, whether it is small claims court or not, if you are allowed to sue for $1000.00 total, or per violation are all things you will have to find out for yourself or with professional help (or maybe someone here from Ohio has already done all that and would share, you never know). Which jurisdiction you sue them in is also extremely important. If you take them to court, the burden of proof is on you so make sure all your ducks are lined up in a row and that you follow every procedural rule to the letter and prepare yourself ahead of time for public speaking in a courtroom. Good news is, FDCPA is a strict liability piece of legislation (source: O'Connor v. Check Rite, Ltd., D.Colo.1997, 973 F.Supp. 1010 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is strict liability statute, and consumer need only show one violation of its provisions to establish FDCPA claim.) (except for 'bona fide' clerical errors but that burden of proof is on the defendant as a defense) so 'rear end in a top hat collection company's intentions' in the matter, simply do not matter. You just have to prove that they did violate it to the satisfaction of the presiding judge (or whatever is applicable where you live). Not a lawyer, review your rights etc. mr. nobody fucked around with this message at 01:27 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 01:21
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If a lawyer has been retained by Company A to collect an alleged debt including interest owed to Company A, but Company A has not responded to a request in writing to itemize the interest portion of the debt*, is the lawyer now violating the FDCPA by attempting to collect on Company A's behalf a disputed amount? Or is this another violation by Company A because they retained the lawyer/paid him to have his intern write a letter that he would sign? Or are both in the wrong? *(i.e. how often interest was calculated and at what rate, or a simple formula showing how they are arriving at their dollar amount of interest) (because I believe it to be a higher % than allowed by state law) edit: a letter was written specifically to dispute the interest portion because I felt it was too high as allowed by law, and to request an itemized history of the compounding of the interest, or a simple formula that they used to get the number. They never responded to this dispute. mr. nobody fucked around with this message at 02:27 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 02:08
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Hi guys, great thread. Questions here. I had some dental work done, insurance was taking care of it, went to Afghanistan for a year. During that time, I guess insurance didn't cover the full bill, and there was a balance of 4k. I was contacted by a creditor when I got back, informing me that they've been trying to reach me. I've already paid about 1500 on the debt itself, but I think I'm kinda screwed here, as I just found out about pay to delete and what have you. Is it too late to send a debt verification letter? Or can I get a charge back on the credit card, and try to do a do over?
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Jun 3, 2013 17:01
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In the future, don't pay medical debt with a credit card. It turns a medical debt, for which you have some favorable protections, into a consumer debt with fewer protections. You've paid enough on this thing that you've demonstrated to any court ever that it's a legit debt, so it's pointless to try a do over. Besides, pay for delete is something that only has a chance when you're looking at a collector that isn't the OC and didn't buy the debt from the OC. These guys are high enough in the chain that they'll have the info they need to prove you own the debt (besides the fact that you paid over a quarter of it without disputing.) BonerGhost fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Jun 3, 2013 |
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Jun 3, 2013 21:15
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Today I received a debt letter from a credit agency claiming that I owe a debt to our previous apartment when leaving. We actually paid that amount to the apartment 2-3 months ago, expecting the entire moveout from the apartment to be closed and all finances and records paid. We have full record of a check being processed by them for the amount from our bank. What do I do now?
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Jun 7, 2013 03:10
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Does anyone have any experience with being taken to small claims court for a debt? I just a small claim complaint in the mail today.
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Jun 10, 2013 22:13
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So, I think one of my collections is going to drop off in a year, should I try and settle for a delete, or let it drop off? I sent LVNV the verification letter, got no response, and then opened a dispute with experian. The original debt went to collections in march 07. I'm looking to buy a house in the nearish future, so I'm willing to pay for deletes on the 3 items left in order to clean up my credit for said purchase. These are the 4 negative items: CHASE BANK USA CC Account Number: Date Opened: 04/2007 Status: Transferred,closed. (To LVNV) LVNV FUNDING, LLC Account Number: Date Opened: 09/2011 Status: Collection account. Disputed: Status Details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Mar 2014. (It will drop off, or get renewed from 9/11?) This item was updated from our processing of your dispute in Jun 2013. NCO FINANCIAL SERVICES ($400 old phone bill) This account is scheduled to continue on record until Jul 2014. Account Number: Date Opened: 10/2008 Status: Collection account. ONLINE COLLECTIONS ($214 for old power bill) This account is scheduled to continue on record until Mar 2014. Account Number: Date Opened: 10/2008 Status: Collection account. Should I try and do pay for deletes on all of them, or just let them age off? toplitzin fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Jun 11, 2013 |
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Jun 11, 2013 23:55
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toplitzin posted:So, I think one of my collections is going to drop off in a year, should I try and settle for a delete, or let it drop off? Let it age off unless you need a spotless record in less than a year.
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Jun 13, 2013 11:25
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I'm crossposting this from the student debt thread for extra advice. My wife has 44k worth of student debt. Her parents made all the loan arrangements and kept her relatively ignorant of what was going on while she was in school. My wife's mom handled most of the finances in her family and after she died her dad allowed the loan to slip into collections. It has been several years since my wife found out about the debt, and she has tried to arrange a payment plan with various debt collection agencies. Until recently, these agencies were not interested in working with her to set up payments. She only makes $10/hr and I'm a grad student on a fixed stipend, so our ability to pay is pretty limited. Recently, she made an arrangement with the latest agency to hold the debt to make payments of $50/month. We have come to realize that this isn't even enough to cover interest. Her dad has been very unhelpful. He doesn't want to be confronted with the idea of paying back the loan and keeps telling us "not to be intimidated" by creditors. He has given about $400 towards the debt a few months ago after my wife set up payment arrangements with the new debt collector, but has done little else. We're not sure how to proceed. We can't make the sort of monthly payments it would take to get the load paid off and it doesn't seem like there is any help out there for our particular situation. What resources are available for us?
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Jun 14, 2013 19:45
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This is the official page/advice/faq from the Federal Student Aid office:quote:If your federal student loan is in default, check out the Student Loan Debt Collection Assistant, which ED developed in partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The tool provides information about how to access the full range of special repayment options available to you. http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/default/collections the collection agency you are dealing with should be listed on this page: https://www.myeddebt.com/borrower/myoptions_collectionAgencies mr. nobody fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 13:31
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edit: Talked with some lawyers and got it sorted out. Thanks!
hellosirimjared fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Jun 17, 2013 |
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Jun 17, 2013 14:55
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So I pulled my credit report recently, and noticed an older debt with LVNV had disappeared. ... and reappeared as a personal line of credit. Strangely, that's showing "pays as agreed", and is being actively updated. What happened? It was originally a CC debt, but I stopped paying on it over 5 years ago. The CC line still appears as a chargeoff/sold to another collector.
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Jun 18, 2013 06:07
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So I still have the same checking account I had when I was like 17 years old. The account was in name only a joint account between myself and my mother, but I'm the only one who has ever deposited or withdrawn any money. My parents are in considerable We faxed copies of my W2 and a bank statement to the collectors on Thursday. Basically what I'm wondering is how long I should expect it to take for my money to be returned to me, or if there's any chance it won't be returned.
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Jun 18, 2013 17:33
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CaptainJuan posted:Words What State?
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Jun 18, 2013 17:40
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Wisconsin. If locale matters... Kenosha.
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Jun 18, 2013 17:45
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