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CaptainJuan posted: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account was in name only a joint account between myself and my mother, but I'm the only one who has ever deposited or withdrawn any money.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 Not a lawyer, not familiar with Wisconsin state law, but I have a feeling your screwed. With your mom being joint on the account, she has access to the account and any monies in there can be considered her funds as well. Doesn't matter she never contributed anything to the account. She had joint access to the account, and could have taken all the money out if she wanted to, so they're going to attach it. I suggest removing your parents from any other accounts you may have, closing them and opening new ones. A long conversation with them is probably also in order, along with a referral to a Bankruptcy attorney. If they're in the hole so bad it's past the point of judgements it's probably time to file. I hope you're OK financially after this mess, that's a hosed up thing that just happened to you. Kill your direct deposit as well if that's how you get paid.
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# ? Jun 18, 2013 18:16 |
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# ? May 11, 2024 10:45 |
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You should probably file an objection to the garnishment with the court that is holding the judgment against your mother and get a hearing date in front of the judge. Bring your proof with you to court and hopefully the judge will order your funds to be released. The creditor is most likely not going to just give you back that money out of the goodness of their hearts.
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# ? Jun 19, 2013 03:13 |
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Hey all, Need some advice regarding a lovely correspondence I received in the mail in the lovely state of Nebraska. I had some medical work done a while back, couldn't pay because didn't have thousands. Phone calls, etc. I attempted to get financial assistance no less than four times from the actual medical facility, and since I never received paperwork, now I'm being sued by a marvelous credit adjuster. I'm told in said correspondence that to defend myself, "an appropriate response must be served on the parties and filed with the office of the clerk within 30 days of service of the complaint/petition." The date of the complaint is June 13th and I just received it today. Any advice on how to proceed further?
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# ? Jun 19, 2013 20:09 |
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Badonkadonk Suh posted:Hey all, This is the extent of any help I can provide, not a lawyer. Did you get it sent certified mail that you had to sign for? Regular mail doesn't seem to be a legally valid method of serving you papers. Again, not a lawyer, just giving you something to start with. quote:Nebraska Revised Statute 25-505.01 from http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-505.01
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 01:38 |
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62 pages is a bit much for me to read through, so I'm just gonna post. I have some accounts on my credit report that reported closed, or written off, is there any way to wipe these off my report since they're not in collections? The recent debts I have, I do want to get rid of as well since they're mostly back-owed rent or hospital bills, but I'm not sure how to do this since I can't afford to pay them, and apparently the hospital dumps them off inside a year. I just don't know what to do with my "very poor" credit score, regular income, and an apparent inability to get a current credit report without spending money I don't have. Also, I have a civil claims judgement on there, and I want it gone, since I paid it off. Any options?
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 05:35 |
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Not really. Valid reporting sticks around for 7 years. If any of the trade lines being reported are wrong or incorrect you can get them removed, but the credit report is serving its purpose by reporting valid trade lines in the last 7 years. There are some tricks you can try to clean up your credit reports that fall into a grey area, but they're not discussed here really. You can look for credit repair companies online, or at credit messageboards like creditboards.com for information on how to do that.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 17:09 |
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skipdogg posted:Not a lawyer, not familiar with Wisconsin state law, but I have a feeling your screwed. With your mom being joint on the account, she has access to the account and any monies in there can be considered her funds as well. Doesn't matter she never contributed anything to the account. She had joint access to the account, and could have taken all the money out if she wanted to, so they're going to attach it. Thanks for your suggestions! Turns out that working directly through the collection firm was sufficient, and my money is back in my account. Gonna go ahead and close that one out though. Happy this is working out, at least a little bit.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 17:37 |
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So basically I'm consistently hosed for another 7 years. yay. Even if I /could/ get a loan to pay off all this poo poo, I'd still be unable to actually do anything useful until I was too old to care anymore.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 17:42 |
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CaptainJuan posted:Thanks for your suggestions! Turns out that working directly through the collection firm was sufficient, and my money is back in my account. Gonna go ahead and close that one out though. Happy this is working out, at least a little bit. What collections firm? Its important to name the non-lovely ones as well as the lovely ones.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 18:28 |
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CaptainJuan posted:Thanks for your suggestions! Turns out that working directly through the collection firm was sufficient, and my money is back in my account. Gonna go ahead and close that one out though. Happy this is working out, at least a little bit. drat! Glad that worked out for you.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 18:54 |
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skipdogg posted:drat! Glad that worked out for you. Crazy. I've always assumed that doing any actual business with a collections firm was a waste of time, as the second you gave them any money they'd be like a raccoon in a garbage can and start looking for more ways to charge you, or conveniently lose your documentation, or try to collect for unrelated bullshit, etc. They know you'll pay up--that makes you an enticing target. If the collections industry actually functioned like a reasonable business they might have more people inclined to settle up. As it is, in the event I ever actually owed something, working with the collections agency would be the last thing I'd do because I'd assume it would just open me up to hilarious shenanigans.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 19:14 |
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Guesticles posted:What collections firm? Its important to name the non-lovely ones as well as the lovely ones. NU Island Partners was the firm.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 19:29 |
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Mandals posted:Crazy. I've always assumed that doing any actual business with a collections firm was a waste of time, as the second you gave them any money they'd be like a raccoon in a garbage can and start looking for more ways to charge you, or conveniently lose your documentation, or try to collect for unrelated bullshit, etc. They know you'll pay up--that makes you an enticing target.
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# ? Jun 20, 2013 23:39 |
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Terashell posted:So basically I'm consistently hosed for another 7 years. yay. Even if I /could/ get a loan to pay off all this poo poo, I'd still be unable to actually do anything useful until I was too old to care anymore. I feel your pain. It might not be 7 years from today, generally it's 7 years since you went delinquent. Equifax blog link below explains it pretty well. http://blog.equifax.com/credit/faq-how-long-does-information-stay-on-my-credit-report/
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# ? Jun 21, 2013 01:05 |
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mr. nobody posted:This is the extent of any help I can provide, not a lawyer. Did you get it sent certified mail that you had to sign for? Regular mail doesn't seem to be a legally valid method of serving you papers. Again, not a lawyer, just giving you something to start with. I certainly appreciate the friendly advice you've provided. I wouldn't have known to search within the legislature site, but a good reference point in the future. It was not certified, just your standard mail that could've very well been a bill from the water company. I spoke with the courthouse and they advised me to send a form of communication explaining "the situation" to the plaintiff's attorney. My intent is to explain why the debt hasn't be paid and why is cannot be repaid at this time, and likely no time in the near future. StupidSexyVaultGuy fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jun 23, 2013 |
# ? Jun 23, 2013 00:40 |
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Badonkadonk Suh posted:I certainly appreciate the friendly advice you've provided. I wouldn't have known to search within the legislature site, but a good reference point in the future. If you are actually being sued and are going to admit that you owe the debt in writing, you absolutely need real legal advice.
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# ? Jun 23, 2013 02:24 |
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Trillian posted:If you are actually being sued and are going to admit that you owe the debt in writing, you absolutely need real legal advice. ...well poo poo, if you don't have a point. I've got the attorney's number, and I could call them, but am I just going to tell them what I'd intent to write? Thinking out loud here, not actually asking you to solve my problem. StupidSexyVaultGuy fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Jun 23, 2013 |
# ? Jun 23, 2013 07:07 |
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Badonkadonk Suh posted:...well poo poo, if you don't have a point. I've got the attorney's number, and I could call them, but am I just going to tell them what I'd intent to write? Thinking out loud here, not actually asking you to solve my problem. Their attorney works for them. He'll "help" you in the way that a mob loan shark will "help" you when you miss a payment.
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# ? Jun 23, 2013 23:01 |
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oooOoo this is the oddest drat thing and maybe I can get some advice here. I was just served papers, they asked for me by name, and I accepted them. It is also official looking, breach of contract5 for $1,589.91 + a 12% interest on the amount from Nov 2010 to now. Now the problem that I noticed immediately is this. So Plaintiff/Petitioner: Portfolio recovery Associats, LLC(That all seems fine and legit whatever) The name of the Defendant/Respondent: MANORA ENCIO That is not my name. Not even close. It also states that I resided in Kitsap County, which I never have. It tells me to defend against this lawsuit I must respond in 20 days in writing or a default judgement can be held against me without notice. I sent a letter, I can demand that they take the lawsuit to court and they'll have 14 days after I serve the demand for them to file a lawsuit with the courts. Soooo do I just write them and say that is not, nor has it ever been, my name and I have never lived there? Also this was dated 23 of May but they just now found me. WTF should I do? I'm very concerned and puzzled over this edit: I called the number on the sheet and explained that is not my name, nor is that my phone number or the last 4 of my social. They served the wrong guy. I was than given the number to some company called ABC Legal(apparently the company they hire to give out the notices) that I am suppose to call on Monday and tell them that they served the wrong guy because they are the runners who hand out the legal notices. Anyone have anything like this happen? This just seems like a giant mess up. Tiny Chalupa fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Jun 24, 2013 |
# ? Jun 24, 2013 01:28 |
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Tiny Chalupa posted:oooOoo this is the oddest drat thing and maybe I can get some advice here. The service company gets paid per service (most likely) so they don't especially care if they get the right person. Just to be safe I'd file something with the court denying the allegations and stating that you were served but are not the named party in that case. What the "something" to file with the Court is called and what it says is dependent on the state you reside in/where the suit is.
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 01:44 |
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I am in a very similar situation. I have 3 credit cards and it amounts to a little over $10,000.00. I am in school and am finishing up my last year of my chemical engineering degree. The reason for my debt was the loss of a job. I do not have a phone and when it was on I got phone call after phone call. My question is, is that I have not received any debt collection letters and I have missed more than 5 payments on all the cards. My problem is how do I properly defend myself in court when the process server shows up serving me my court date? My credit score went from an 820 down to a 607 and its continuing to plunge. I feel like this is a too good to be true situation. I can provide any details you need if it helps me in my case. I just want this nightmare to go away. I was considering just filing for bankruptcy. In your opinion is that a better promise for me to see the end of this situation?
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 05:46 |
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Assuming you're in the US, what state are you in?
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 06:27 |
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Guesticles posted:Assuming you're in the US, what state are you in? I live in the state of Michigan.
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 06:41 |
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Polishguerrilla posted:My problem is how do I properly defend myself in court when the process server shows up serving me my court date? You don't defend yourself, you owe the debt and they will win a judgment and garnish a portion of any wages you have. At $10k, you're on the edge of bankruptcy being a good thing, but that costs money too.
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 15:09 |
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Polishguerrilla posted:I am in a very similar situation. I have 3 credit cards and it amounts to a little over $10,000.00. I am in school and am finishing up my last year of my chemical engineering degree. The reason for my debt was the loss of a job. I do not have a phone and when it was on I got phone call after phone call. My question is, is that I have not received any debt collection letters and I have missed more than 5 payments on all the cards. My problem is how do I properly defend myself in court when the process server shows up serving me my court date? My credit score went from an 820 down to a 607 and its continuing to plunge. I feel like this is a too good to be true situation. I can provide any details you need if it helps me in my case. I just want this nightmare to go away. I was considering just filing for bankruptcy. In your opinion is that a better promise for me to see the end of this situation? Considering your situation I would recommend that you file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy before you finish school. 10K isn't a lot of money to file on and I wouldn't normally suggest hitting the once every 8 years reset button, but I think it's the best thing for you in your particular situation. My reasoning behind this is: 1- Your income is probably very low to non existent right now. You have no asserts to attach, or wages to garnish. A Chapter 7 case will be very cut and dry and relatively cheap to have done. Not sure what the going rate in MI is, but I would expect 800 to 1200 dollars for a basic Chapter 7. 2- Assuming you finish your Chem. E. degree you'll probably be looking a lucrative employment after school. Chem. E. can start 60K+ from what I've read which will disqualify you for a Chapter 7 BK and force you to a Chapter 13 which may take 3 to 5 years to finish, then stick around on your credit report for another 10, affecting you well into your 30's. If you don't take the BK route, you'll be a juicy target for a wage garnishment as they can garnish 25% of your disposable income. If you have normal expenses and student loan payments, an extra 25% off the top can make things tight even if you're pulling in 60+K a year. Statute of Limitation on debts in Michigan is 6 years. They have 6 years to sue you for the money. 3- Your negative credit report and debt history will be a red flag when looking for employment. Many companies are checking your consumer credit before offering employment, and someone with bad credit can be seen as a less than desirable employee. Chapter 7 BK will wipe the slate clean. It's much easier to say I was careless in college with money and filed BK than answer why you have all these accounts in collections and haven't done anything about them. A few other words. Much of the advice in this thread is for older debt that has been passed around between collection agencies a few times. There's a big difference in giving advice to someone who owed a credit card company 2,000 bucks 4 years ago and now has Jimmy's Collections of Hoboken calling him at 2AM every night versus someone who has missed 5 payments to American Express. Defending yourself in court boils down to 1 thing. Making them prove you owe them money. The lawyers for the collection agencies count on you not defending yourself and them winning by default. Once a debt is sold the paper trail tends to get lost and the lawyer can't prove to the court you actually owe them money. Some creditor are better about this than others. I've read stories where lawyers come to court with copies of charge slips, canceled payment checks, a signed credit agreement and they win the suit. Most are so busy they don't come with anything and if you show up they drop the case since they can't prove anything. There is no magic fix to this situation. The way I see it you have 3 options. 1- File Chapter 7 BK right now or in the immediate future 2- Ignore it and hope it all goes away (It won't) and try to wait out the 6 years from being sued and 7 years until it falls off your credit report 3- Try to come to some kind of payment arrangement, preferably with the Original Creditors.
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 17:15 |
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So apparently they served me the wrong papers. I will be served papers by that particular company but they gave me someone elses papers. Oh joy. Should find out who is attempting to bring a lawsuit against me today. Oh joyous day. Also is something like this http://www.guidingyourcredit.com/ Basically a scam or what? It was recommended to me by our realtor when we first looked at getting a house together, my credit score is like 504, to help get it raised quickly. We did get a house together but my name isn't on it until we get married. Am I better off seriously considering bankruptcy? Will a filing of bankruptcy protect me from a lawsuit for a past debt? Thank you
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 18:08 |
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Tiny Chalupa posted:So apparently they served me the wrong papers. I will be served papers by that particular company but they gave me someone elses papers. Oh joy. Should find out who is attempting to bring a lawsuit against me today. Oh joyous day. There is no magic to "fixing" your credit score if the debt is legitimate and you haven't paid. A few 3rd party debt collectors will do a "pay for delete" but most will not. A bankruptcy will protect you from a lawsuit for a past debt. That's pretty much it's purpose.
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 18:12 |
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Tiny Chalupa posted:Am I better off seriously considering bankruptcy? Depends on your situation. Things like what state you live in, your marriage situation, current income, prospect for future income, total amount of debt, how old that debt is, and other factors can affect how BK may or may not help you. The best advice is to talk to a BK lawyer in your state. If you have a significant (25K+) amount of debt, don't make much money and can pass the means test for a Chapter 7 I usually recommend doing it. Without a complete picture of your situation though, take my advice for what it's worth, a stranger on the internet said...
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 18:36 |
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skipdogg posted:Depends on your situation. Things like what state you live in, your marriage situation, current income, prospect for future income, total amount of debt, how old that debt is, and other factors can affect how BK may or may not help you. True. I do have 31,000 in debt, around 12k of that would be wiped by Bankruptcy while the other portion is my car and student debt, I can pass the means test in Washington state as I do make less than 4,000 a month. Not married, yet, and within the next few years I should go from making 16 bucks an hour to around 35 bucks an hour(Currently 2,000 a month after taxes). The problem I have is paying off/down my debt without being sued a lot before I get to making more money. Things are already rough bills wise but I could be a touch smarter with my cash. That being said, a comprehensive plan to attempt to pay these bills off in the next 5 years or so would leave me NOTHING to save up with and any sort of setback would put me spiraling back down. The idea of being check to check for another 5 years is not something I look forward too. Whats the best way to find a by lawyer in Washington? I assume google but not sure if anyone has any experience in this area
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# ? Jun 24, 2013 21:44 |
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Here's my situation I moved out of an apartment in 2011 and apparently owed them $130(didn't require a security deposit). I moved in 2012, forgot all about it. When my wife and I tried to get an apartment after a move, they said I had to take care of that before we could get moved in. I went in November, paid them in full using a money order. 4 weeks ago I checked my credit report and there was a recent account reported in collections. A week later I got a call from a collection agency wanting $140. I called the complex who were surprised since I cleared it in November. They said they would take care of it 3 weeks ago. On Friday I got a call from collector again. I told them I paid it off months ago and they said the apartment would have to contact them. Called the office again who said they were waiting to hear back. My wife and I want to get a house loan soon and need this gone asap. What are my options? Since I paid it off so long ago and it just appeared on my credit, will this disappear from my credit?
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# ? Jun 25, 2013 02:23 |
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ayb posted:paid apartment complex Ask the complex to put in writing, signed by a person of authority, that your account with them is settled in full as of <date>. Then use that letter as backup in any further disputes with collection/credit reporting agencies in the matter.
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# ? Jun 25, 2013 07:12 |
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Just curious if I have any legal recourse here: I've been receiving a robocall daily, 7 days a week, from Capital One. I am a Capital One customer, but I thought it was some kind of phishing scam because (A) why would Capital One robocall me instead of having a service rep do it, and (B) it was coming from a strange number in Florida that I couldn't find on their website. Anyway, I logged in to pay my monthly bill tonight, and turns out I was one payment past due. I had the money, just literally forgot to pay. I submitted the payment and set an extra reminder in my calendar. BUT, the phone calls: They called me once a day for 2 weeks straight, sometimes as early as 5 in the morning. Calls before 8 AM are FDCPA violations. The calls came from Capital One itself, as far as I can tell. I live in California, and CA law has it's own FDCPA that mirrors the federal version. Additionally, California FDCPA applies to original creditors, not just collection agencies. Do I have enough to sue for the off-hours/frequent calls? And if so, can I sue in CA for violation of both federal and state FDCPA's? AND, how would I go about doing that?
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# ? Jul 6, 2013 07:57 |
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CubsWoo posted:This post is long enough and I can go into that later, but the main thing you need to do is show up to every court date. If you don't show, the lawyer will enter a default judgment against you, and you lose. There's next to no downside to trying to defend yourself in court - the worst that can happen is you pay what you would have if you didn't show up at all. (I don't know if any states allow the winner to collect attorney's fees - check your state to see if they do! Mine doesn't, and neither do most states.) Regarding states allowing the winner to collect attorney fees, how do I check if my state does or not? A precursory google is turning up nothing; no master list and nothing definitive about my state. Where should I search?
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# ? Jul 14, 2013 22:53 |
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This is an awesome thread! Thank you OP for your insight and advice! Goons helping goons.
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# ? Jul 15, 2013 21:00 |
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Faded Mars posted:Are there any Canadian goons who have dealt with Canadian-related debt issues? I've read the last couple of pages in this thread after receiving a weird phone call from the same company as this poster, except mine is supposedly from a Telus matter from early 2008. I told them to mail me and to not contact me again by phone, since then they've called twice a day for the last five. Nothing has shown up in the mail, and I am currently waiting on my Equifax mail to see what this is all about. I didn't realize the 2 year law in Ontario, and this is the first time I've heard of any outstanding bills owed. Should I tell them to gently caress off on calling me since it's been 5 years now and send a letter to Equifax? I'm feeling pretty stupid at the moment with regards to what I should be doing since this is all of a sudden.
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# ? Jul 15, 2013 23:32 |
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I just got a really strange voicemail, I can only assume it's from a debt collector. Immediately before the voicemail was left, I got 3 back to back hangup calls from different #'s (in different area codes). The message states "<my name>, a criminal claim has been filed against you in my office this morning. You have one chance to contact us to give us your home and work addresses so that we may serve you with court papers. Your claim # is <#>, my name is <very fake sounding name that may as well have been Bob Smith>, you can reach us at <#>. <My name>, you have officially been served." I tried calling the number (from a different phone that's not in my name) just to see who answered, I got a "You have reached Pacific, please enter your extension or press 0 for the operator. Your call will be recorded." (same voice as the person who left the voicemail). Google doesn't turn up anything on any of the #'s, except one person complaining about being harassed by "Pacific". Some Googling turns up that a company that had operated as Pacific Management Recovery has been bitchslapped by the FTC pretty badly in the past. Trying to call the 3 #'s back that had called before the voicemail results in a "This number is not in service" recording. I figure if someone was planning on "serving" me, they'd show up at the door instead of calling and demanding my address in a threatening voice. All of my debt is beyond the statute of limitations for my state (4 years), so I can't actually be sued over it. I did have some 7+ year old debt suddenly reappear in May, but I successfully disputed it and had it removed. Let's start counting the FDCPA violations. Texas is also a 1 party consent state, I'll be recording every interaction I have with them. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Jul 16, 2013 |
# ? Jul 16, 2013 19:52 |
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Ooh sounds juicy, keep us posted.
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# ? Jul 16, 2013 23:59 |
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Kubricize posted:I've read the last couple of pages in this thread after receiving a weird phone call from the same company as this poster, except mine is supposedly from a Telus matter from early 2008. I told them to mail me and to not contact me again by phone, since then they've called twice a day for the last five. Nothing has shown up in the mail, and I am currently waiting on my Equifax mail to see what this is all about. I didn't realize the 2 year law in Ontario, and this is the first time I've heard of any outstanding bills owed. Should I tell them to gently caress off on calling me since it's been 5 years now and send a letter to Equifax? I'm feeling pretty stupid at the moment with regards to what I should be doing since this is all of a sudden. The collector is barred from contacting you without first sending a letter, and you can make a complaint to the Ministry of Consumer Services on this basis. The collector also has to provide some accounting of the debt if you request it. The limitation period you refer to means that you can't be sued for this debt, but it does not bar collection attempts. So if this collector sends you the dunning letter, unfortunately they're still allowed to annoy you, if it is a legitimate debt. If it is not legitimate, you should send the collector a registered letter, and dispute anything that has appeared on your credit reports (check Transunion as well.) "Not legitimate" in this context really means that it is an error or a case of mistaken identity. If it is legitimate, it will disappear from your credit reports six years after the date of delinquency. That's probably next year. So if you're not applying for a mortgage in the next year, you might just want to wait it out. Be aware that making a payment will reset the clock.
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# ? Jul 17, 2013 01:27 |
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I've got myself a bit of a collection to pay up on. However since I'm unable to pay in full I'm looking at a lump settlement at around 50-60%. What is the best method of contacting? A phone call is probably the quickest way however I keep seeing places that recommend to get settlements done in writing.
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# ? Jul 18, 2013 17:04 |
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# ? May 11, 2024 10:45 |
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Loot posted:I've got myself a bit of a collection to pay up on. However since I'm unable to pay in full I'm looking at a lump settlement at around 50-60%. What is the best method of contacting? A phone call is probably the quickest way however I keep seeing places that recommend to get settlements done in writing. Send a letter disputing the debt first and asking for validation and that they cease collection activities until they validate. If it is on your credit report dispute it saying they have not validated. If the credit bureaus delete then ignore it for now. If they validate send them a letter offering to pay 25% if they delete the tradeline. Negotiate via certified mail up to what you're comfortable paying while insisting they delete. If they refuse to delete make a decision about if you want to pay on the debt. Once you pay on it the date resets and a collection may stay on your reports for 7 more years with something other than "Paid in Full" which makes it worse.
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# ? Jul 18, 2013 17:19 |