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You don't have to rat out who used the card, just that it was used fraudulently.
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Sep 19, 2016 17:26
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JetSetGo posted:Sorry for the lag. No she didn't, unfortunately. The credit card was the result of an internal family issue. She didn't want to press charges against the family member because it would complicate matters significantly worse than they already are. Let's just say, she was put in a lovely situation and is now having to deal with this despite it not being her fault (though of course to debtors they couldn't give less a flying poo poo who owes what). That's a tough situation, one of those "walk a mile in their shoes" kind of things. 
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Sep 20, 2016 23:55
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I'm in California, they won the lawsuit and recently seized my bank account, took every penny including my savings account. This did not amount to the full amount that I owe. Is taking everything out of my bank account a one time thing, or can they continue to do it until they have everything I owe? If they can continue to seize my accounts, I'm thinking the best course of action is to call and try to settle for a smaller amount, ask for pay to delete, and get everything in writing of course. Or is the bank account seizure a one time thing having won the default judgment? I just need to be able to have money in my bank account again 
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Sep 21, 2016 00:12
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My gf (yes literally my gf) told me that she got a collections call by a law firm on Sunday morning at 11am for a past due medical bill. After Googling around, that's not legal. Any advice?
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Sep 21, 2016 00:36
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da weed wizard posted:I'm in California, they won the lawsuit and recently seized my bank account, took every penny including my savings account. This did not amount to the full amount that I owe. Is taking everything out of my bank account a one time thing, or can they continue to do it until they have everything I owe?
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Sep 21, 2016 01:03
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Mr Hands Colon posted:My gf (yes literally my gf) told me that she got a collections call by a law firm on Sunday morning at 11am for a past due medical bill. After Googling around, that's not legal. Any advice? Legal. Just do the normal C&D route and see if they call back,
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Sep 21, 2016 11:47
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JetSetGo posted:Sorry for the lag. No she didn't, unfortunately. The credit card was the result of an internal family issue. She didn't want to press charges against the family member because it would complicate matters significantly worse than they already are. Let's just say, she was put in a lovely situation and is now having to deal with this despite it not being her fault (though of course to debtors they couldn't give less a flying poo poo who owes what). This is going to make it difficult to avoid paying the debt. Basically they're probably going to need, at a minimum, a declaration signed under penalty of perjury attesting to the fact that it was a fraudulent charge, and you may have to agree to cooperate with them in whatever sort of investigation they pursue. In situations like this (and I can relate - it really blows) where you aren't willing to go after the perp because he's family, it can be almost impossible to get the credit card company off your back. Meanwhile interest continues to accrue. If it's doable in your budget, given that we're talking about less than $1,000 here, my recommendation is probably to just pay it off and then approach the rear end in a top hat who did this and let him know that you're putting a monitor on your credit reports and if this ever happens again you'll go straight to the cops.
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Oct 7, 2016 06:52
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Mr Hands Colon posted:My gf (yes literally my gf) told me that she got a collections call by a law firm on Sunday morning at 11am for a past due medical bill. After Googling around, that's not legal. Any advice? One phone call at a reasonable hour? Why would that not be legal? If it's bothersome, she can revoke her consent to be contacted by sending the collections firm a letter saying, basically, I do not consent to be phoned by you boners anymore.
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Oct 7, 2016 06:54
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da weed wizard posted:I'm in California, they won the lawsuit and recently seized my bank account, took every penny including my savings account. This did not amount to the full amount that I owe. Is taking everything out of my bank account a one time thing, or can they continue to do it until they have everything I owe? They're going to keep on rocking until the judgment is satisfied, likely including post-judgment interest and attorneys' fees. Call them and offer to settle, but since they just cleaned out your savings don't be surprised if all they do is fish for info about where the settlement money you're offering is being stashed.
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Oct 7, 2016 06:55
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Hi thread, I’ve read most of the posts and would really appreciate some advice on my situation. The username indicates my current feelings I went from having a good (720) credit score to racking up $20k on two credit cards from USAA. I was in grad school, had to take a leave of absence for a year and was mostly unemployed, plus some large medical bills and I supported myself with CCs. I also have my car insurance with USAA. I’m in California. I just finished grad school and have good job prospects for the spring semester (starting in January), I’m pretty confident I’ll be employed with a decent job in a few months. In the meantime however I can barely make rent, utilities, and feed myself much less cough up the $400 in minimum payments. I missed my payments last month and have tried to save up enough to get the accounts out of delinquency but it’s just not gonna happen. So, what’s my best course of action? I’m assuming since USAA is the original lender I shouldn’t be trying any fuckery, but they do have a reputation for great customer service. I’m thinking I should call them up and discuss my options, let them know I probably won’t be able to make payments for a few months? Other than further loving my credit history and adding to my debt, what else is going to happen if I’m unable to pay my minimums for 3-4 months? Would it be better to stop paying entirely or should I try and make payments when I can? I don’t think I’m really at the point where I want to walk away from my debt, and it seems from reading the thread that would be a bad idea anyway since I owe a fairly large amount to one creditor, I’d likely get sued and end up settling or having a judgment against me. Your help much appreciated! Edit: I should add that I don't have any student loans (hallelujah), car loans, or other debt. DebtBeat fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 23:06
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DebtBeat posted:Hi thread, I’ve read most of the posts and would really appreciate some advice on my situation. The username indicates my current feelings Sell your car
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Oct 18, 2016 01:03
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Alfalfa posted:Sell your car I thought about that, the blue book value is about $4k. Problem is I live in Los Angeles and am doing freelance work all over town, if I sold my car it would make it really difficult to work. I've been looking into bankruptcy and that seems like maybe not a bad option? I have little income right now and no assets that are valuable enough to get seized, plus 20k worth of CC debt.
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Oct 18, 2016 01:16
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Hi all, I'm being billed by a company called Spectrum Billing Services who are know to be scam artists. They first sent me a bill for $300 even though the original debt was $70. They're sending me bills every two weeks and adding on a bogus "Collection Fee/Late Fee" of $60 each month. I have not sent them a debt verification letter; does it make sense to send them one now even though the original bill they sent me was dated in late July, well past the 30 day limit? I've read that if it's past that limit they're not required by law to do anything. I've been monitoring my credit reports and they have not reported the debt to the credit reporting agencies. My first idea was to ignore them and if they report it to the CRAs then to challenge the debt on the credit report. But I'm concerned that they will run it way up, and if they don't hear from me from a long enough period of time that will legitimize the debt somehow.
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Oct 20, 2016 17:10
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Bad Titty Puker posted:Hi all, I'm being billed by a company called Spectrum Billing Services who are know to be scam artists. They first sent me a bill for $300 even though the original debt was $70. They're sending me bills every two weeks and adding on a bogus "Collection Fee/Late Fee" of $60 each month. I have not sent them a debt verification letter; does it make sense to send them one now even though the original bill they sent me was dated in late July, well past the 30 day limit? I've read that if it's past that limit they're not required by law to do anything. It can never hurt to send a DV letter
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Oct 20, 2016 20:09
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That makes sense, thank you. Anyone have an idea about if I should say something about the bogus "processing fees" that they are tacking on and/or the fact that they have not reported anything to the credit bureaus?
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Oct 21, 2016 23:28
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Don't even get into that. Once you start the "I'm not saying I did it, but if I did do it, this is how it would go" crap it'll become a quagmire. These people are ace at tailoring their activities to barely fit into the law as is. Don't give them loopholes. What has served me well was opening the letter by saying I disputed the debt they claimed I owe in the letter dated such and such (copy included for reference), and that before contacting me again to collect the alleged debt, they must: 1. Only contact me by mail and only for allowed communication (I noted the letter is also a notice to cease and desist) 2. Provide the name and address of the original creditor 3. Provide documentation of the agreement which created the original debt, with date I briefly cited the relevant statutes which explicitly require what I demanded. I kept my wording simple and avoided complicated language; most sentences were cribbed directly from statute. They are not obligated to respond to you within 30 days unless there's some credit agency reporting happening, they are only obliged to verify the debt before contacting you again to collect. They are allowed to contact you to tell you they're suing you or that they're ceasing collection activity. I have been over the FDCPA with a fine toothed comb and there are a lot of sample letters and pieces of advice floating around that have little to no connection with actual collection laws.
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Oct 22, 2016 01:58
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So... apparently I miswrote my credit card number on a bill for seventeen dollars from my old doctor's office a few months ago, and didn't follow up on it quickly enough, and now they're telling me they sold the bill to a collections agency. How do deal with this to (a) actually only pay the $17 I owe and (b) keep it off of my credit report? I haven't actually heard from the collections agency so far, just from the doctors' office (who gave me a phone number for them). If it was a reputable business I'd just call and try to get it sorted out - but it's a collection agency so I imagine I want to do everything in writing. Is there anything I should do proactively right now, or should I just wait for some menacing letter from them and respond to that?
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Oct 26, 2016 21:17
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FrictionlessEmu posted:So... apparently I miswrote my credit card number on a bill for seventeen dollars from my old doctor's office a few months ago, and didn't follow up on it quickly enough, and now they're telling me they sold the bill to a collections agency. Over a decade ago, I had a similar bill for like $45, and just paid it after ensuring it was clear that "I am not acknowledging this debt is mine, but I would like to settle this account to avoid hassle". I don't know if that's actually effective in any way, but it never hit my credit report. Maybe I just got lucky, but it seems to me that there's no real advantage to the collections agency to report you if you've already paid, it's just additional work for them with no upside.
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Oct 27, 2016 14:59
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If I were going to do that, I'd get it in writing, ideally from the doctor's office, that it's that collector who actually owns the debt and go in with the "ok this is $17, I'm not acknowledging this is mine and you don't need to report it." Otherwise nothing stops some jerkoff down the road who sees it somewhere and tries to collect on something they don't own. Sure it's $17 now, but it's a lot easier when you have one or two documents that prove who had it and that you paid them.
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Oct 27, 2016 23:42
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Okay, I can ask the doctor's office to see if they can send me something saying which debt collector it went to. Should I then pre-emptively send a letter to the collection agency offering to pay the $17 that I've been informed is transferred to them, with the standard "this is not an acknowledgement that the debt is mine" disclaimer? And ask for something in writing from them saying they will settle the account and not report it? Or should I wait for them to send me something first?
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Oct 28, 2016 00:57
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baquerd posted:Over a decade ago, I had a similar bill for like $45, and just paid it after ensuring it was clear that "I am not acknowledging this debt is mine, but I would like to settle this account to avoid hassle". I don't know if that's actually effective in any way, but it never hit my credit report. With med debt collectors, the first one who buys it (ABC) tend to be, while not people I would drink a beer with, reasonable and follow the law. They also tend not to report if the debt is paid (or even payment plan started) before they begin reporting it. I don't have experience getting it off a report once it's on with them, but I have seen 90 day reporting delays. JKL will call you first and you'll get a dunning letter 14 days later, LMN sells it when you demand validation, PQR bought it but isn't collecting on it because it's outside the SOL, and XYZ knows about it from PQR and is attempting collections despite the date and fact that they don't own it. Debt collection is like a stagnant pond, it just stratifies. FrictionlessEmu posted:Okay, I can ask the doctor's office to see if they can send me something saying which debt collector it went to. It's really up to you, it's your credit report. I think it's a toss up and I have a philosophical problem with chasing down a debt collector to give them money over what is essentially a billing error from my doctor's office, but I do a lot of things the hard way because I am a sperglord. I would recommend you get some documentation from the office in writing, such as a copy of whatever letter they sent you saying it was going to ABC Collections with your correct address. For $17 bucks and so recent, I'd just send them payment and a short "not mine don't report" letter because I know it's really an ABC that has it and it's not going to be a problem. For more than that or something older, I would insist on them validating their ownership and that it's in date. I would die of rage if I paid a collector who didn't own the debt only to hear from a legitimate owner later. I've dealt with enough XYZs of the world to keep my paperwork in order. I think a snowball has a better chance in hell than that happening with your tiny, recent debt. I'd want to make sure the clinic actually update my address if that was the problem. Sending that bill to collections is ridiculous unless you just ignored the "hey your card didn't work, you owe us $17" messages and I'd expect after I give them my new address, they have that mystical problem where "the computer system reverts to like an old version or something. I don't know, I just work here!"
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Oct 28, 2016 04:43
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Okay, thanks for the advice! I'll contact the office again and see if I can get something in writing, and then send off something to the collection agency saying I'd like to resolve this before it gets to my credit report. I'm not sure what the hell was going on with the clinic's billing department. I did recently move from the US to Canada, and I didn't think to update my address with them. But my mail is forwarded and my phone number is on Google Voice, and as far as I know they contacted me exactly once about this, to leave a voicemail saying "we did receive your payment but we ran into a bit of an issue, please call us back at your earliest convenience". And then a week later they sent it to a collections agency.
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Oct 28, 2016 06:33
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So if Donald Trump gets elected will he be able to flush all the FCRA and other consumer protection laws down the crapper?
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Oct 29, 2016 12:50
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Three-Phase posted:So if Donald Trump gets elected will he be able to flush all the FCRA and other consumer protection laws down the crapper? No, presidents by themselves have no power.
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Oct 29, 2016 16:34
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lord1234 posted:No, presidents by themselves have no power. Boy I hope you are correct.
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Nov 13, 2016 21:00
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Three-Phase posted:Boy I hope you are correct. Executive privilege is not dictatorship. Our system works on checks and balances.
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Nov 13, 2016 21:06
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Skoll posted:Executive privilege is not dictatorship. Our system works on checks and balances. But, the Republican party will effectively be in control of the three branches that are supposed to act as checks on each other, and the Republican party has consistently supported deregulation of the financial industry from top to bottom. Trump will almost certainly appoint ineffective leaders to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He may also tell the FTC and DOJ to scale back enforcement on consumer issues. These are both executive matters that he can control directly. His court nominees are likely to support a narrow view of consumer rights. The Republican congress is likely to send him bills that will roll back Dodd-Frank reforms and otherwise deregulate the financial services industry, which would likely include getting rid of or seriously defanging the CPFB. Repealing Dodd-Frank in its entirety was one of his campaign promises. He'll almost certainly sign that legislation. They may also pursue larger overhauls of credit, bankruptcy, and debt collection laws, which would probably include more collector-friendly language than the FDCPA. So, Donald Trump won't be able to personally take a red pen to the US Code and get rid of all the financial consumer protection laws. But, we're likely to see a number of significant regressions, and he'll be a part of many of them. The next few years aren't going to be fun.
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Nov 13, 2016 22:33
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I'm just thinking about how much in the FCRA they would kill (like being able to get annual credit reports, being able to contest things, being able to place fraud alerts and freezes, stuff like that.) I hope that those basic parts at least won't be recalled.
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Nov 13, 2016 22:47
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In an extreme case, the CFPB might be dead, Dodd-Frank might be dead or highly changed, no one gives a poo poo about the FCRA or FDCPA and I don't see why any of that would be changed and those are really where all of your power in these cases is. Last I checked, Guantanmo was still open and we still assassinate the gently caress out of brown people and spy on our own citizens. Sometimes Presidents make big promises and never follow through.
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Nov 14, 2016 04:19
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Skoll posted:Executive privilege is not dictatorship. Our system works on checks and balances. You are really revealing your age here. High five old man.
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Nov 14, 2016 14:18
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Pryor on Fire posted:You are really revealing your age here. High five old man. I'm only 29. 
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Nov 14, 2016 16:30
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Skoll posted:I'm only 29. Prepare for the purge.
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Nov 14, 2016 21:36
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Kase Im Licht posted:In an extreme case, the CFPB might be dead, Dodd-Frank might be dead or highly changed, no one gives a poo poo about the FCRA or FDCPA and I don't see why any of that would be changed and those are really where all of your power in these cases is. Hmm. Very good points.
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Nov 15, 2016 00:08
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Nothing will change. Trump is in over his head to bother, and our legislators do not give a gently caress.
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Nov 15, 2016 02:36
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Any tips on what to do about a hospital sueing me for ~$5,000? I consulted a nearby lawyer and they basically told me I should declare bankruptcy or face wage garnishment for the full amount. Also they wanted to charge me $1200 that I had to pay in full, and that was just *their* fees and not counting the fees to actually declare, so it seems like they're just rarin' to peg me as hard as the hospital is. I work a crap seasonal job that I don't even know if I'm gonna have past the turn of the year making 14 an hour, living by paycheck, no other major debts besides a few more random medical bills probably totalling a thousand or two and the new car I just bought with half borrowed money for a down payment, lol. I didn't even know you could get sued over medical debt. Am I basically just hosed?
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Dec 10, 2016 03:16
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Nilbog Resident posted:Any tips on what to do about a hospital sueing me for ~$5,000? I consulted a nearby lawyer and they basically told me I should declare bankruptcy or face wage garnishment for the full amount. Also they wanted to charge me $1200 that I had to pay in full, and that was just *their* fees and not counting the fees to actually declare, so it seems like they're just rarin' to peg me as hard as the hospital is. I work a crap seasonal job that I don't even know if I'm gonna have past the turn of the year making 14 an hour, living by paycheck, no other major debts besides a few more random medical bills probably totalling a thousand or two and the new car I just bought with half borrowed money for a down payment, lol. Bankruptcy over $7,000 is a ridiculous proposition, especially since you'd be paying probably between $1,300 to $2,000 to file a Chapter 7 (and that's before paying the filing fee, which will be at least a couple of hundred dollars more). If you can, speak with a lawyer in your jurisdiction again. You will want to ask about your state's law on creditors charging collection fees for delinquent accounts. Specifically, you want to know whether your state expressly forbids it, expressly allows it, or doesn't address it (in which case, most likely collection fees are allowed only if included in the contract between the creditor and debtor). Even if allowed, collections fees should not be unreasonable. Some states have specific guidelines, some are more subjective... 1/4 of the total amount may or not may fall under a reasonable collection fee in your area. So that's another topic you will want to bring up in your consultation. Realistically, if the fact that you owe the hospital money is not in dispute, and they won't come up with a payment plan with you, then you may have your wages garnished up to the maximum amount allowed in your state. It won't be from your gross amount: federal law restricts wage garnishment to the lesser of 25% of your disposable income or the amount that your income exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage. (Disposable income is what's left after mandatory deductions are taken from the gross, such as payroll taxes, and not voluntary deductions such as 401(k) contributions.) Your state may be even stricter.
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Dec 10, 2016 10:16
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The wage garnishment would be something that happens because they get a judgement against you and you fail to make payments. It doesn't happen just because you owe them money or because they sue you. What I've seen happen is someone goes to court and they end up with a payment plan that is not a wage garnishment. Wage garnishment costs you even more in the long run because it costs money to administer, which you are also paying for. Taking documentation of your income and expenses to court and using it to come up with a payment plan is something that people do. It's a lot more reasonable than doing nothing or filling bankruptcy over $5k.
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Dec 10, 2016 10:40
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What have you done with this debt to date? My experience with hospitals (and sadly I have quite a lot) is that they are usually quite willing to work with people on payment plans, and they'll usually let you put the balance on a payment plan and not hound you or charge fees/interest as long as you are working on it. Did you have insurance? If you didn't, sometimes they will work with you to reduce the bill accordingly if they can. Unfortunately if it has just sat without you doing anything they may not be inclined to extend and of these options to you. Have they actually sued you yet, or are they just threatening it? If it is still at the threat stage you might be able to drag it back into payments if you can work with them. Good luck. 
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Dec 10, 2016 15:05
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Thanks for reassuring me that bankruptcy was a terrible idea. I thought it sounded a bit drastic, but I'm terrible with this sort of thing. I've basically just ignored it until now because I was on short term disability for a good stint, got laid off from my job immediately after I was given working/driving privileges back, and barely making ends meet through unemployment and temp agencies. I can't remember if I was still insured at this particular point in time or not, but I'm certainly not insured anymore, haha. I received a certified letter in the mail with a court date, so I think it's official. I probably could've handled this better but honestly I've just been bitter about my medical debt and don't even answer unfamiliar calls anymore as it will 100% be a debt collector, beyond the fact that I've been preoccupied just paying monthly bills and stuff. So I should basically just try contacting a non-rear end in a top hat lawyer and maybe even the hospital's billing department (or is it too late to talk to them out of court)? And try to gather documentation and brush up on Ohio laws, I guess.
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Dec 13, 2016 02:46
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With hospitals, it's almost always worth a shot. Especially if you've been on disability, you may qualify for some aid, or their social workers may be able to help you navigate the hospital's internal program for reducing a portion of that debt, especially if you were uninsured at the time. Hospitals often have a lot of latitude to reduce those bills but you have to talk to them for that to happen. Admittedly now that they're at the lawsuit stage, some of this may not be an option, but it may still be. Call them, see if you can work something out with them.
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Dec 13, 2016 03:06
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