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What a fantastic thread, there's a whole side to this I never expected to find. Here's a strange situation: I recently got a collections letter in the mail for a piddling amount, something anybody could probably pay out of pocket (less than dinner at Applebee's or something). Considering I've never been late on a payment and never had any debt I thought this was weird. Apparently the utility company for the apartment I rented from more than a year ago claimed I had an unpaid bill. I disputed the debt, asked for proof, and corroborated it with the fact the bill was for a time period a month or more after I'd left the apartment (in good standing) and that the OC itself said my payment history was "stellar". I didn't hear anything and figured the matter closed, but I just recently got a letter including my requested "proof," which is a five page document that looks like it was typed with NotePad ("Document Name: untitled" and a timestamp from a week ago) and has absolutely nothing indicating it was from the utility company. Even by these questionable records I am paid up at the time I left the apartment and only get a charge more than a month afterwards. There is a very slight possibility I was sent a bill because my mail forwarding got screwed up for a while, but the apartment said they hadn't received anything (I myself got mail from the previous two tenants) and the collection notice was the first I had heard of it. The agency itself is one that's reputed to be really scummy, though they've been tolerable to me thus far. Finally, I may have made a mistake telling them that I did have an account with the utility at one point in time, but that was the only information they got out of me. So, how hard should I ignore them and what are the chances they're going to annoy me further? I checked one of the credit bureaus and nothing showed up, but I was still planning on sending a letter telling them I consider the matter closed. If I didn't feel like my credit was being held hostage, or that paying would actually damage it, I would just send in the insignificant amount, preferably to the utility rather than some collectors. tl;dr - guy with excellent credit gets collections notice for insignificant amount with questionable backup.
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Feb 6, 2010 23:32
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bear is driving! posted:I'm thinking that I respond with a letter giving the last four of my social and explaining to them that if they have enough info to report to experian then they don't need anything else.
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May 9, 2010 16:38
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You should be able to access all three unless you've viewed them within the past year. Did you go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp and not one of the knock-off sites that try to charge you for it? If you got an error it's possible you've been a victim of identity theft, at which point it might be worth paying to check your credit more often. In any case, get a good idea of what's being associated with you and object to any that aren't yours.
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Apr 30, 2011 19:19
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Just got another letter trying to collect a power bill from before I or my roommates moved in. It doesn't have any of our names on it, instead showing the name of the renting company of the apartment (i.e. "LLC (address of company)"), but it looks like the account number is the same. I keep handing it to the rent agency, and they said they're dealing with it, though the letters keep popping up occasionally. I want to respond and dispute the debt, but I'm afraid of giving them my name on the letter, especially if it has the same account number. It seems they have ZERO information about who lives here or who owes the debt. Conversely, I don't want to give up my 30 days to dispute. I've got 6+ months of on-time in-full payment of the utility in question, so I don't know what the deal is. It's never showed up on any of the regular utility bills. What's the best way to proceed?
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Jul 1, 2011 02:13
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I've dealt with CBCS before. I got something that looked like it was typed in NotePad as "proof". After my DV letter I just ignored their obvious attempts to get (illegitimate) money from me and it went away.
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Oct 25, 2011 04:27
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Yeah, if they're recording themselves they have essentially given consent for you to record as well. I am not a lawyer, but I've heard of other cases where this counted as a reasonable expectation that the call was recorded. But really, don't talk to the jerks on the phone.
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Dec 1, 2011 19:09
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As far as I know there's no way to escape a student loan. If he owes it, they're going to find some way of getting it, usually by garnishing wages or taking it from tax returns. If he doesn't owe it, it may be worth talking to a lawyer about.
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Jan 5, 2012 02:27
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I haven't had much personal experience with this, but a recurring theme of the thread is that all correspondence should be in writing. The laws are different for original creditors than they are for debt collectors, but it's still a good idea to get everything in writing. If you ARE dealing with a debt collector, there are a lot of laws you can use to your advantage.
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Feb 16, 2012 21:17
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Is that the original creditor, or a collection agency? Is the information they have about the account right? Does the information in it conclusively prove that the debt is real, that you own it, and they're entitled to collect it? Honestly, if it's a collection agency it sounds like a scare letter. They carefully dance around the threat of a lawsuit (because threatening to sue without following it up is a violation) and they're pushing you to call RIGHT NOW. What your options are depend on what you're willing to do to your credit score, how much money you have, and how you and the collections agents have pursued this issue in the past. My only experience with this has been reading the thread, so take my advice with a huge grain of salt.
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Feb 27, 2012 00:00
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lapse just gave some very good advice, to which I'll add: the general principle is how much credit people are willing to extend to you vs. how much of it you've used. In general, if you want to increase your score find a manageable line of credit without monthly/yearly fees and keep it paid off (or don't even use it at all). Agencies will see you have thousands of dollars in credit extended to you that you aren't using and a long history of paying off all your debts, meaning any further credit they extend to you will also likely be paid off in full. The low risk to them and their money makes you a valuable commodity. They will then allow larger and larger balances on their credit cards and will lend money to you at lower and lower rates, and as long as you have the discipline not to use them except responsibly your credit score will continue to rise. This is also why you can paradoxically lower your credit score by paying off a credit card and then closing the account, because that avenue of credit becomes closed to you. Caveat: I haven't ever had to rebuild my credit, but these are the principles I was taught when I first started managing my money and they have served me well.
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Apr 22, 2012 21:01
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Roger_Mudd posted:Off the top of my head, I'd say it resets the clock. (not a lawyer or experienced in collecting money from violations) E: VVV That's what I meant to say explicitly, and forgot. Typing on phones is hard 
DarkHorse fucked around with this message at 15:51 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 14:09
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There's also the issue of plausible deniability of deals made over the phone unless there's a recording of the phone calls, whereas most people save letters. Even if you decide for some weird reason to negotiate over the phone, get everything in writing and check off you got everything you bargained for. But really, just keep all correspondence written.
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Oct 20, 2012 19:36
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I've heard PFD can be against the TOS of some companies or banks, meaning those agencies are reluctant to do that sort of thing if it will make their other clients mad at them. I think it's because they fear it makes reporting unreliable.
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Dec 16, 2012 22:15
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Don't talk to them on the phone if you can help it, get everything in writing. I think the whole "getting a lawyer" is them trying to rattle your cage; they probably already have a lawyer on retainer in your area and just want to get you nervous about legal action since they can't legally threaten you with a lawsuit unless they're already prepared to sue. Have they sent proof and confirmation of the debt, that the debt is yours, and that they're allowed to collect that debt (licensed in your state, authorized by the creditor or bought the debt, etc.)? Have you provided information or evidence to that effect?
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Jan 18, 2013 17:31
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Comcast pulled that poo poo with me when I canceled my account way back ~2004. I don't believe it's ever shown up on my credit report, but then I did spend most of a week trying to get through their lovely customer support so I could yell at someone. I never yell at people, especially customer service people who usually have no control over what caused the issue and deal with enough lovely customers mad at them for no reason. But I yelled after I spent literally four hours on long-distance calls because Comcast didn't have their poo poo together. tl;dr - This may or may not ever end up on a credit report, depending on how well Comcast knows what they're doing on that particular day.
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Dec 31, 2014 03:49
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OssiansFolly posted:I'd say don't pay it. Keep making your normal payments, bring the proof you've been doing that to the court house, and then when your case is called ask them to prove the debt is yours with a copy of the account or written contract/agreement.
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Sep 3, 2015 23:17
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I keep getting a call from some scammy zombie debt business. I've just blocked the number, but I'm wondering if I should go through the trouble of trying to extract money from them. I've already called them once and they hung up on me, and revmoo's post made me wonder if I shouldn't fight the good fight.
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Nov 20, 2015 00:46
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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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The Azn Sensation posted:Just saw this thread. I had a few collections that I paid off, but I didn't get pay for delete. If they have been paid off am I basically SOL? Is there any other way to clear the paid collections from my report, or am I just hosed until 2022? Yeah, don't worry about it. Getting pay for delete is difficult at the best of times and the credit bureaus have been cracking down on it lately. Paid off debt won't hurt you too badly, and it will drop off soon enough. Congrats on paying them off! 
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Dec 31, 2016 20:31
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Bleh Maestro posted:I have a couple debts in various collection agencies that are around $200-500. They are pretty old and my credit report says they are estimated to be removed in ~2019. Should I try and pay for delete or just wait for that? You're almost certainly not going to get a PFD, credit agencies have cracked down on them and they're not supposed to do it. As for your score, are you trying to get a car or house or other high-dollar loan soon? If not your score doesn't matter too much. Pay your bills on time and pay in full if you can. The longer you do the better your credit history becomes. Don't close paid-off credit that's been extended to you if they don't charge fees - having unused credit will increase your score because it shows you have options and the discipline not to use them. The Credit Karma website will give you more specific suggestions and is free I believe. Longer-term goals to help your finances: Start a budget and stick to it. There are other threads in BFC that can help. Pay off credit cards in full if you can. If not, pay them down until you can, and then don't carry a balance. You pay way more in interest and fees than if you just paid it directly. Once you pay it off in full each month you won't be charged interest at all. Mathematically it's best to pay off the highest interest loans first, but some people like to do a debt "snowball" where they pay off the smallest one first, then use the money that would have gone to that on the next-lowest, so on and so on until they're still paying the same per month but are attacking their debt aggressively by the end.
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Apr 12, 2017 14:44
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IANAL but at best it's just going to provide a little evidentiary support to a future lawsuit. It's not going to be enough on its own, all it will prevent is someone saying "well they didn't contest it at the time, move to dismiss the charges" - which writing something in your diary would accomplish, too.
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Jul 25, 2017 17:53
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Lat us know once you’re no longer under seal!  I hope they get turbofucked by your lawyer
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Feb 24, 2018 21:04
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Pellisworth posted:Oh definitely. You might be able to get them to cancel the court appearance but contact the clerk and make sure they actually cancel. Absolutely do not agree to anything until you get proof in writing. Don't discuss over the phone (or if you do, assume it's all bullshit and they're recording you to try and get you to admit the debt is yours)
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Aug 7, 2019 12:11
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:I didn't mention in the other thread but absolutely make them prove this debt is yours and owned by them before you offer any sort of payment whatsoever. If they can't prove they own it they can pound sand. Yeah some of the scummier sorts will buy debt, try to collect, then sell it on but still try collecting it later. So you pay one of them and then some other company shows up saying they now own the bill.
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Nov 5, 2019 23:57
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Lester Shy posted:My mother is 75, on Medicare with supplemental insurance, and she always pays her bills on time. As she gets older, I'm having to get more involved in her financial affairs. Hospitals in my experience send things off to collections at the first opportunity. I've been waiting for bills and never receive one from the hospital but get one from collections. In those cases I usually contact the hospital directly since it's something I was expecting, and so far the collection activity stopped after I did so.
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Oct 4, 2021 13:16
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GordonComstock posted:Thanks for this, I may have to revisit attorneys, since the first one said “just pay it”. Today I received notice Experian is deleting the debt from my credit report, is it a reasonable assumption that the other two agencies will follow suit? Not really, though it does increase the odds since one of them found something actionable
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Oct 18, 2021 23:31
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You're solidly in "ask a lawyer" territory. She had a default judgment against her, and after there's a judgment it's hard to escape without legal wrangling. The 7 years applies to debts and records, but I don't know if that applies to a legal decision whose obligations haven't been fulfilled. And since it's a judgment and garnishment I doubt there's reporting requirements because the legal system has already decided they can't be relied on to responsibly pay.
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Oct 30, 2021 16:04
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Yeah don't give them anything.
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Jan 11, 2024 20:32
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