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I just got turned down for a lease because of some outstanding medical debt, at this point i'm working with the landlord and promised that I'll be settling the debts with a few of the agencies in order to be placed on the lease for the house. So I don't really have a bunch of time to resolve this, I've called one agency to start a dialogue and negotiate a pay for delete. I owe this agency a whopping $44 for car insurance that I apparently defaulted on, but the original creditor is the Agent i went through, not the insurance provider so SMH. I ended up leaving a message saying I'd be requesting proof of debt and some paper work and asked the Agent to call me back. Maybe a bad move? But considering the amount owed i'm not too worried about them harassing me over this. The last 4 accounts are medical bills in the tune of $280 - $700 and I'll be sending letters off to them to see if I can get proof that the debt is valid, then moving from there. My question is, due to the time limit set on sorting out these accounts by the potential landlord would email be good enough back and forth with the debt collectors to resolve this or is paper mail really the only solution? edit: So I got a call back from the collections agencies, they are saying they didn't buy the debt, so they aren't responsible for the deletion and that after paying the debt in full that I just contact transunion to have it removed... Bendery fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Apr 2, 2015 |
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Apr 2, 2015 21:00
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This is a pre-emptive question, so I can be prepared if/when collection agencies do call. My dad recently passed away, and I'm the executor of his very, very small estate. There's already more debt than there are assets, and that's just with the bills that I know about. (All legitimate bills; it's things like his electricity and cable and the cremation costs. They've all been notified). So, what happens if/when bill collectors call for stuff in my Dad's name? I think I already had one try to call me today, and the obit just came out yesterday in the paper. He's been chased by collection agencies in the past and always had horrid credit, so I wouldn't be surprised if they come calling me looking for some debt payback. Any ideas on what to do when they call? As I said before, they're not getting any money from the estate because it'll be drained, and I know that I am not liable for his debts personally - nor do I plan on paying them when they ask. We also didn't have any of our money tied together, like shared bank accounts and the like.
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Apr 3, 2015 01:49
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Bendery posted:edit: So I got a call back from the collections agencies, they are saying they didn't buy the debt, so they aren't responsible for the deletion and that after paying the debt in full that I just contact transunion to have it removed... As a person who has never dealt directly with debts or creditors, but does read this thread, this sounds like two lies. 1. If they didn't buy the debt, why are they collecting it? 2. The way debts stop showing up on a credit report is by the creditor no longer reporting it to the credit agencies. This is a big no-no in some way, so they might not do it. You can't ask a credit agency to remove a debt that's been paid.
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Apr 3, 2015 03:20
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Bendery posted:I just got turned down for a lease because of some outstanding medical debt, at this point i'm working with the landlord and promised that I'll be settling the debts with a few of the agencies in order to be placed on the lease for the house. I don't know if this dealing with debt collector advice or regular advice but if you want the house that badly just settle immediately and get your settlement in writing. If you're trying to go through better practices and ensure you're paying the right debt and correcting issues then you need time, which is against you. There's always the option of live in a different place and if it comes up and they can't understand that it's medical debt and won't affect your rent and your references are good then what more can you do?
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Apr 3, 2015 03:33
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Qu Appelle posted:This is a pre-emptive question, so I can be prepared if/when collection agencies do call. I see this a lot in dealing with insurance. DO NOT PAY ANYTHING. This is NOT YOUR DEBT. Talk to a lawyer about protecting the rest of the estate, but don't pay anything without direct instruction from a lawyer. If they threaten to sue you for the money keep record of everything.
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Apr 3, 2015 13:12
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OssiansFolly posted:I see this a lot in dealing with insurance. DO NOT PAY ANYTHING. This is NOT YOUR DEBT. Talk to a lawyer about protecting the rest of the estate, but don't pay anything without direct instruction from a lawyer. If they threaten to sue you for the money keep record of everything. Oh, I fully intend to not pay a drat thing. Not my debt. Good idea on keeping tabs as to when they call, and if they threaten to sue. I do have a lawyer, and that could end up being bad - for them.
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Apr 3, 2015 16:25
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Veskit posted:
If you remember in my thread I had a speeding ticket in California. It went to a state collection agency ftb.ca.gov is the website. I was able to ask the judge for a reduction via a contact form on their site: quote:To: Me I know it's not the answer you may be looking for, but it could reduce some of the liability at least. I had to call the county courthouse I got the ticket it to figure out how to contact them.
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Apr 3, 2015 16:41
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Qu Appelle posted:This is a pre-emptive question, so I can be prepared if/when collection agencies do call. I'm dealing with a similar situation with my father-in-law's death and the attorney I spoke with said his suggestion for people in this situation is to make sure to notify all creditors of the death, and continue to pay the secured debts (mortgage, car payment) to avoid foreclosure and repossession but to wait for the creditors of unsecured debts to make a move. Sometimes they'll just write off the debt and you won't have to deal with it at all.
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Apr 3, 2015 16:54
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Knyteguy posted:If you remember in my thread I had a speeding ticket in California. It went to a state collection agency ftb.ca.gov is the website. I was able to ask the judge for a reduction via a contact form on their site: It's the last ditch effort because if it's reduced by half even i'm going to want to rip my hair out paying the loving ransom but I mean it is what it is. Thanks Knyte.
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Apr 3, 2015 16:55
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The Mandingo posted:I'm dealing with a similar situation with my father-in-law's death and the attorney I spoke with said his suggestion for people in this situation is to make sure to notify all creditors of the death, and continue to pay the secured debts (mortgage, car payment) to avoid foreclosure and repossession but to wait for the creditors of unsecured debts to make a move. Sometimes they'll just write off the debt and you won't have to deal with it at all. Luckily, I'm only dealing with unsecured debts here. Plus, there's enough to pay me back for the Cremation, which was a worry.
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Apr 3, 2015 21:04
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Qu Appelle posted:Luckily, I'm only dealing with unsecured debts here. Plus, there's enough to pay me back for the Cremation, which was a worry. Just let the credit card companies know about the death, they may just leave you alone.
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Apr 3, 2015 21:15
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Lawyer responded about the california ticket that they loving assholes didn't validate. Incoming wall of text with really great advice if anyone is in a similar situation. Few edits made:Lawyer that Contacted Veskit posted:This is complicated, for more reasons than you even know. The state of California is absolutely grim to deal with. They often cannot find their own records so I am not totally surprised by your experience but are very aggressive with collections at the same time. Seems grim for a lawsuit for restitution but doable for one for declaratory relief. gently caress California by the way.
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Apr 3, 2015 21:24
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the littlest prince posted:As a person who has never dealt directly with debts or creditors, but does read this thread, this sounds like two lies. Basically yea, that was the conversation I attempted to have with this lady, turns out the landlord who was insistent that I clear my debts decided to deny us over the fact that we couldn't sign the lease last night (I was at work). So now I have plenty of time! And $800 is about to fall off my report in October so I'll just play the waiting game. Veskit posted:I don't know if this dealing with debt collector advice or regular advice but if you want the house that badly just settle immediately and get your settlement in writing. If you're trying to go through better practices and ensure you're paying the right debt and correcting issues then you need time, which is against you. Basically yeah, I'm hoping to get a place with a property management company instead, they normally don't care about the specifics as long as you have a steady job and no big financial obligations.
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Apr 4, 2015 01:37
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The Mandingo posted:Just let the credit card companies know about the death, they may just leave you alone. They both know - Capitol One informed me that they know that only the Estate is liable. Which is good. The local credit union became upset when they asked if I'd be paying off the balance on my Dad's card, and I flat out said 'No.'
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Apr 4, 2015 04:44
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Will a CRA remove an item from your credit report if the collection agency is unlicensed in your state and can't legally collect, or do I have to explain the laws to the CA and tell them they need a license and have committed a 4th degree felony so take the hint *nudge nudge*
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Apr 4, 2015 17:51
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So case got dismissed, but I owe it to you guys to explain the journey, and how I got buttfucked by the legal system. So it starts here with one of my first posts and me being able to remove these  As you can see, the information I had at hand was the City of Bremerton and Seattle wanted money from me. That's literally all the information I had because the bill was sent to me with just those items shown like that. After the removal happened the company attempted to collect from me with various letters with threatening words, and it was kind of scary. I didn't like the way they acted in which they just take debt and run with it like assholes and then try to collect even though they have no way to, and honestly there was no way to get them to stop a behavior like this without involving the courts. I took action, went to the court house and filed in small claims court. More on that later. After filing we ended up going to mediation, I met the lawyer and a mediator, he offered nothing because he said they were tickets/fees, which aren't FDCPA protected. He didn't have all the items though, so it still wasn't proven that they were all tickets/fees for one, and for two, i did a bit of research and found cases involving tickets that would help my case. The big one was hansen vs ticket tracker which effectively was my case to the tea, and could be used to prove that it was a validation. I did a whole bunch of research too, talked to a couple lawyers (nobody would touch this dumb case, but I explained to them my plan and they said it would be worth trying). Smash cut to today, it's the pretrial. Lawyer asked for the case to be dismissed because there was no merit as to the fines being FDCPA, and such. THe judge looks at this and goes "the incidents happened in washington, but you brought this to a new mexico court, I don't know if this is with in my juristiction" lawyer literally goes yes it is actually, and she moves on. So without having to loving show that they were tickets and prove it, the judge dismissed the case because she doesn't have jurisdiction to look at the evidence that happened initially, and said basically go gently caress yourself Veskit, file this in a higher court. She also said effectively "when I get FDCPA cases, they're for robo calling, or charging 1000% interest from a check cashing place, or super egregious circumstances that I frankly don't see in your case". SO even though there were violations, they weren't "really bad ones". SO now, if i want to move forward I have to refile in a federal court, or file in small claims and pray i dont get the same dumbass judge. I'm tired, this process sucked, but honestly i'm happy it all happened. I learned the ins and outs, i learned a lot about the justice system and collection agencies and how lovely they are, and my debt is still cleared. They seriously are unable to validate this dumb thing, and because of that I can go directly to the courts and just get them removed. So there that's my story yay the justice system.
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Apr 9, 2015 18:41
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I had an account in collections with the original creditor as Comcast for $129 from 2009. About a month ago my credit score that's reported from CapitalOne shot up and I noticed it was off my record; however my score went way back down again and, after pulling my Experian report today, there's a new negative item on my report from Stellar Recovery, Inc, for $130, original creditor as Comcast. The info on this new item says Date Opened 02/2015; how do I get this gone, and is this one of those situations where I can make some side money for them misrepresenting the age of the debt?
GobiasIndustries fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Apr 13, 2015 |
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Apr 13, 2015 19:54
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GobiasIndustries posted:I had an account in collections with the original creditor as Comcast for $129 from 2009. About a month ago my credit score that's reported from CapitalOne shot up and I noticed it was off my record; however my score went way back down again and, after pulling my Experian report today, there's a new negative item on my report from Stellar Recovery, Inc, for $130, original creditor as Comcast. The info on this new item says Date Opened 02/2015; how do I get this gone, and is this one of those situations where I can make some side money for them misrepresenting the age of the debt? I just had this happen with afni and qwest. I sent them the mean version of the collection debt verification letter saying validate it and prove you are allowed to collect in my state or delete it and it's gone now. It's worth mentioning that I sent them a letter first saying this information is not correct, please fix it and they refused and threatened me instead. If they don't delete it you definitely have a case, seeing a lot of collections on behalf of Internet companies do that crap lately (bumping up date opened every two months). It's probably time to seek a class action suit.
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Apr 13, 2015 20:36
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So I'm getting pursued by a debt collector for a gym membership I cancelled, but which the gym continued billing me for without telling me until I changed cards, and then they began putting me into debt. They then sold that debt to some collections agency. I'm going to follow the list of responses in the OP, but what other resources should I look at? I could just pay the debt, but it seems absurd and unjust that the gym or the debt collectors could get away with charging me for a membership I cancelled. My biggest problem is that I only had a paper record of the cancellation, which is now lost (it was in a wallet which was stolen).
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Apr 14, 2015 15:23
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I got a call today from a collector that claims I defaulted on a cell phone account in 2006. The account would have been set up in Washington. They had the incorrect year of birth, gave me an address similar to one I had but with a different street name, and hung up on me once I asked for their address. I also let them know that none of that information was correct, and that the debt would be out of statute even if it had been mine. They told me it was collectable and that the age of the debt was irrelevant. Am I correct in assuming that they are unable to collect on this debt and I should not worry about taking further action unless they continue to harass me?
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Apr 14, 2015 21:24
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Daemoxx posted:I got a call today from a collector that claims I defaulted on a cell phone account in 2006. The account would have been set up in Washington. They had the incorrect year of birth, gave me an address similar to one I had but with a different street name, and hung up on me once I asked for their address. I also let them know that none of that information was correct, and that the debt would be out of statute even if it had been mine. They told me it was collectable and that the age of the debt was irrelevant. Pretty much. Just keep an eye on your credit report to make sure nothing shows up there.
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Apr 14, 2015 22:07
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Daemoxx posted:I got a call today from a collector that claims I defaulted on a cell phone account in 2006. The account would have been set up in Washington. They had the incorrect year of birth, gave me an address similar to one I had but with a different street name, and hung up on me once I asked for their address. I also let them know that none of that information was correct, and that the debt would be out of statute even if it had been mine. They told me it was collectable and that the age of the debt was irrelevant.
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Apr 14, 2015 22:53
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So I now have recordings of this company not identifying themselves and changing the amount of the bill. I have logs of them calling during work hours after being told not to, and calling me very frequently. It seems like they use "proxy" numbers though, so I am not sure how to prove it is then without picking up and recording each call. Any tips on how to present this information when making a case against them? Just printouts? I have no idea what to do for the recorded calls -- just show my notes and explain i also have a recording? I also made the mistake of telling them I was going to sue for their violations as of their last call because I got frustrated, which has stopped them, but I worry may be a problem later on. I still haven't received written confirmation of the debt. Do they have 5 business days from first contact to do this, or 5 days overall? This is incredibly annoying and frustrating.
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Apr 15, 2015 00:53
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E2: VVVV See below.
SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 15, 2015 01:21
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It doesn't matter, if he sent it certified and they're still pursuing collections AFTER receiving his request for verification notice that's violating FDCPA. Also I'm pretty sure it's within 5 business days of first contact they're required to send you a letter informing you of your rights, and that all has to happen before they start calling and harassing you (you have 30 days to respond to it). Either way everything they're doing seems completely illegal at this point, given nothing's been left out of your description.
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Apr 15, 2015 01:26
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Ok that's what I had thought. I'm mostly confused because this seems way out of line, so I'm worried im missing some technicality which makes it acceptable.
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Apr 15, 2015 04:13
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So about 6 years back i hosed up pretty good, defaulted on about 10k in credit card debt, then had judgements issued against me about 4-5 years ago for varying amounts. The other day i went to deposit my check and found out that one of the debt collectors had froze my bank account. Since i need my bank to do bank stuff i have since agreed to pay them in two lump sum payments. I gave them signed paperwork allowing them to take the few hundred i have in my bank in exchange for pulling the levy, also a signed agreement to pay two $700 lump payments over two months. I think I'm stuck paying these guys now that I've done all this, that's OK i guess. Question is what should i do about the other 3 judgments that are still out there, two for 2k-ish and one for 6k-ish. Side note: I recently had a credit guy, on my behalf, challenge things on my credit reports and he was able to get the bureau's to remove all but one of the judgments from my credit reports. Don't know if that matters at all. I'm gonna give him a call tomorrow and see what he says about this, but i figured id ask here too.
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Apr 16, 2015 03:53
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In Pennsylvania: If a company is garnishing a bank account, can they see details of that account, such as recent deposits, and who made them?
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Apr 17, 2015 17:01
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DavidAlltheTime posted:In Pennsylvania: If a company is garnishing a bank account, can they see details of that account, such as recent deposits, and who made them? To garnish a bank account, they need a judgment. It's usually handled by court order, so the company isn't taking the money directly (unless you allow them to).
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Apr 17, 2015 17:26
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DavidAlltheTime posted:In Pennsylvania: If a company is garnishing a bank account, can they see details of that account, such as recent deposits, and who made them? Bank garnishment is usually accomplished by the firm sending interrogatories to the bank. The bank then fills them out, telling them how much you have in the account. If you have a balance that can be garnished, they will cut a check to the firm. At no point is a company ever given direct access to your bank account.
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Apr 18, 2015 01:14
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So NAM LLC, who called me 30-40 times appears to have vanished. I sent a certified letter to them last week to cease and desist and it came back today as "return to sender, vacant" I hate this stupid loving game of whack a mole.
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Apr 19, 2015 08:08
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So this is funny. Afni, inc just provided me with a letter with Qwest's address and a dollar amount saying they've validated with Qwest that they have the right information and now they can legally resume collection activity. In my letter I required they A) provide me with a license proving they can legally collect in my state, B) provide me with an itemized receipt detailing their transaction with Qwest, and C) provide me with the CORRECTED AMOUNT because the amount and date open are wrong and they are legally obligated to correct it. So if this shows up on my credit report, that's a lawsuit right? I'm pretty sure that's a lawsuit. e: the branch attempting to collect from me is not licensed in my state, cease and desist time! Arus fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Apr 21, 2015 |
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Apr 21, 2015 00:12
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So still haven't received a letter from this place... They have five days, correct?
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Apr 21, 2015 01:08
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So I am in kind of a strange situation and I would appreciate some input. The medical center my family goes to contracts their billing services out to a company. This company handles all their billing, not just overdue stuff and collections. Basically, they initially issue bills under the name/letter of the medical center, and then if there are issues they will switch to using their name and identify themselves as debt collectors (I guess as a scare tactic?) All the phone numbers/addresses are the same either way, you're talking with the same (inept) people. Here is my problem. We got some bills for medical stuff, and we paid those in January. Then the billing service contacted us saying the bills were overdue, and requesting payment. I called them up and bitched them out until I got up to some level of supervisor, and they ended up sending me confirmation that those bills were paid. Now I have gotten debt letters under their own letterhead (no longer posing as the medical center) saying these accounts are overdue, will be collected, etc. I am seriously pissed off because I already spent way too much time yelling at these people about this previously and it's like nothing sticks at all. But I am not sure how to handle this at this point because of the following: 1) I don't believe the debt has actually been sold; ROI is just a contracted agency working on behalf of the medical center. Are they still subject to all the FDCPA stuff? 2) The problem isn't that I don't think the debt is legitimate or even that I don't want to pay it - it's already been paid and I would really just like a mallet to beat this into their heads. Should I still send a validation letter? Should I just send them a copy of the payment documentation they already sent me previously? Call them and scream invective until they hang up?
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Apr 29, 2015 15:26
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Ashcans posted:So I am in kind of a strange situation and I would appreciate some input. The medical center my family goes to contracts their billing services out to a company. This company handles all their billing, not just overdue stuff and collections. Basically, they initially issue bills under the name/letter of the medical center, and then if there are issues they will switch to using their name and identify themselves as debt collectors (I guess as a scare tactic?) All the phone numbers/addresses are the same either way, you're talking with the same (inept) people. Do all of that. You need to send a validation letter, copies of any payment documentation you have, AND a cease and desist. While you are at it send copies of all of this to the credit reporting agencies as well.
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Apr 29, 2015 16:17
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Trying to help my father in law out a bit(mentally handicapped veteran). He has 3 accounts in collections(potentially a 4th headed there, but we're still waiting to see the outcome of what happens there). His credit seems shot to loving hell due to this. 2 of these accounts have basically stopped contacting him and looks like they will fall off his credit report in 2016, so I didn't want to even open that can of worms by affirming that it exists or mentioning them. One is a medical debt from a couple of years ago for not a ton of money. If we want to pay them for delete, do we just call them and ask, or do we need to send them a letter or what?
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May 4, 2015 20:45
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First collection agency case is settled! $825 to me (and 2500 for my lawyer heh).
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May 7, 2015 20:31
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revmoo posted:First collection agency case is settled! $825 to me (and 2500 for my lawyer heh). HAHA that seems a tad lopsided moneywise, but I am sure it is a giant help on your credit, right?
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May 7, 2015 20:36
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Has nothing to do w/ my credit report. I actually have zero collections/lates/etc on my credit report. I honestly don't even know what debt these idiots were trying to collect, but either way they shouldn't have called my in-laws.
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May 7, 2015 20:48
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revmoo posted:Has nothing to do w/ my credit report. I actually have zero collections/lates/etc on my credit report. I honestly don't even know what debt these idiots were trying to collect, but either way they shouldn't have called my in-laws. Ahhh ok. Well in that case it was "free" money. I thought you actually had something you were also disputing in the process.
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May 8, 2015 15:12
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