power posted:

I haven't had a look at my Credit report, and know that is step 1. We can go as far as to assume its ugly. The "pay for delete" option in the US is very intriguing. I was making 50+K a year for the last 2 years, and couldn't get even a $500 secured card, which is incredibly limiting when it comes to online transactions, traveling, etc. It's kind of sad driving a brand new vehicle and being unable to book a hotel room!

Any Canadian credit expert goons able to lend some insight?

shop posted:

OK any help here would be great. Due to similar stupidity seen in various parts of this thread I owe $24,000.00 CDN that I blew off 2 years ago when I moved to the States. I just received a piece of mail from the collections agency stating that my debt has been assigned to them and they have called a few times and left voicemails. Being that I live in the States but plan on heading back to Canada someday what should my course of action be here?

Also can I go back to CIBC (original debt) after this is sorted or will they have already got rid of my account? Will I be able to get another bank account easily when I return?

Thanks a ton, I know nothing.

Safe and Secure! posted:

I just found out that I'm on the hook for $300 that wasn't paid by my mom's insurance for an urgent care center visit six months ago. They told me I'd be notified if there was anything for me to pay after the insurance paid their share, but I never received any notification until now, when I found out that the sum has been sent to a collections agency.

If I just pay this right now, I'm guessing that I'm going to take a credit hit, right? Should I ask for a debt verification and try to get a pay-for-delete, then? Do I need to sign and date my debt verification request letter? I noticed a post on CreditBoards that said "Don't sign anything sent to a CA. Signatures have a pesky way of jumping from one document to another." Is that true?

Is this an appropriate debt verification request letter? It's copied right from the OP:

AuntBuck posted:

You the consumer have 30 days to send a debt validation request before losing a bunch of your rights, but unfortunately there is no time limit for collection companies to respond. However what they sent you isn't really a proper validation, and including an academic calendar is actually laughably bad. IANAL but personally I would respond saying that's not proper validation and request actual documentation. Read up on the FDCPA before you do that. Since the amount is so small I would be surprised if they put much more effort into collecting it.

Redfont posted:

If the companies haven't updated to the latest owners of the dispute, I would imagine that that would be the best course for you to take. Maybe even call the original owners of the debt, tell them you're disputing it online and that they should confirm that you're no longer responsible for the account. I don't know what they're like but if you can get them to cooperate with you (I don't see why they wouldn't since they no longer own the debt) things should be much easier.

they might also give the bureaus the updated information and change the collections information back to open and send you back to square one. I dunno how that works.

Powdered Toast Man posted:

Uh...why would they sue me?

Powdered Toast Man posted:

Well, the original letters from the two collection agencies said nothing about whether they were assigned or had purchased the debt, so how am I supposed to know what the status is? I thought they had to tell you everything.

Also, considering that both original accounts show charge-offs I assumed that meant they had sold the debts.

Powdered Toast Man posted:

Well, this is an interesting development.

As I said earlier, I sent verification requests to both collection agencies that contacted me. I got nothing back...until today.

The original creditor for one of the accounts sent me a package of all of my statements for the entire time I had the card (all the way back to 2007; impressive) and a copy of my signed agreement. The accompanying letter, direct from the creditor, essentially said "pay all of this, and pay it now." Interestingly it says nothing about what will happen if I don't, but maybe they aren't allowed to threaten? Even more interesting, it describes my request for verification as a "dispute of liability," which is inaccurate considering that I specifically said in the verification letter that I was not refusing to pay. There is no mention whatsoever of the collection agency in the letter. I'm confused, to say the least. So, uh...wtf?

(also, it's amusing that they didn't send this certified)

LorneReams posted:

I would just sue if you have all your ducks in a row...but I like suing.

woozle wuzzle posted:

Having negative balances with banks can hurt your ability to work with other major banks, apart from your credit score. They use an internal Check System thing, so if some one went on a spree of bad checks they'd get caught same-day to minimize the damage. The same system makes it hard for you to open new accounts with a lingering negative balance. But I think it also fixes pretty quickly if you take care of it. I'm not an expert in the Check System thing at all, but I know it exists.

Sazpaimon posted:

Also, as far as I know the debt hasn't been sold off to any 3rd party agency.

baleze posted:

deptstoremook posted:

"Dear deptstoremook,

Based on the information provided to us, we have instructed the three major credit reporting agencies to delete the above referenced [...] account from your credit file."

Just by following the instructions in the OP! I have several other such accounts, and I'm wondering if I should be actively pursuing deletions and settlements with them. They are not contacting me right now, so my usual "street smart" impulse says to let sleeping dogs lie, but they are negative marks on my credit report that are not set to expire any time soon. Thoughts? I'm really glad this thread worked for even one account, though!

Tide posted:

Long story short...

Defaulted on a BoA credit card.
Debt went into collection.
I demanded verification of said debt with 30 days of receipt of my letter (I have signed verification they received it).
30 days have now past.

Debt is now considered not valid, correct? Meaning I can now send them (BoA and DC) to remove the debt from my tradeline?

Tide posted:

That can't be right.

Everything I've read indicates the whole purpose of the debt verification letter is to require them to prove they own the debt, obtained it legally, yadda yadda yadda. If they don't validate it, they (the debt collector) can't collect and any further attempts after the 30 day window are in violation of the FDCPA. They can't just sit on it, can they?

Panthrax posted:

So, I'm stupid and ended up paying a bill late. Two days after the hospital deposited the check (or it at least showed up in my checking account) I received a collections letter. I sent a verification letter and all that hoping they'd talk to the hospital and see that oh, he paid, we'll just go away. That didn't happen, and they sent me an itemized bill. Who do I talk to about this? Do I call the collections place and tell them it's been paid already? Do I call the hospital and tell them to call off the dogs? How does this work?

Spatchcent posted:

I'm posting an update to let you all know that I sent a letter to Resurgence Legal Group. I simply stated that I do not acknowledge the debt and to ask them to provide me a hard copy of the debt they claim to own. In the event that they decide to sue me, I have intent to show up in court to dispute the collection. I have no money to settle with so this is my best option. I hope I made this clear enough to them that I am serious about my financial situation, and I refuse to let a group I never heard of to take claim of my life I still struggle to rebuild.

Faded Mars posted:

Are there any Canadian goons who have dealt with Canadian-related debt issues?

quote:

Section 22. (1) If a debtor sends a collection agency or collector, by registered mail, a letter stating that the debtor disputes the debt and suggests that the matter be taken to court, the collection agency or collector shall not thereafter contact or attempt to contact the debtor, unless the debtor consents to or requests the contact.

I Am A Robot posted:

My girlfriend got into a car accident about three years ago. She hit a car in front of her which then bumped the car in front of it. The police came and reports were made.

Turns out her insurance company has this insane policy where she needs to pay a $10 yearly fee in order to remain insured. She missed paying this fee and so unknown to her, when the accident happened her insurance had been lapsed for about a week.

The first debt collection agency went after her pretty aggressively, the guy was a huge rear end in a top hat. She basically ended up settling over the phone for a percentage which amounted to a couple thousand which her father was nice enough to pay.

The second debt collection agency was at least much nicer about it. It was about $800 in damages which they let her pay off in increments as low as $10 a month. So she has been doing that for almost three years now and it's down to about $450. She was just getting ready to pay it off after getting a tax refund when she saw the most recent statement said she suddenly owed $24,000 for "PIPI and UMBI" (I have no idea what these are and Google is oddly no help). This is an insane amount of money for her that would take her 5-10 years to realistically pay off.

She called them and asked why suddenly the balance was so high and the guy explained that that was what the lady got in medical damages. We're absolutely certain that the lady must have been trying to milk the insurance companies for money. This was the lady in front of the car my girlfriend hit. There was only $800 in damages to her car. Her bumper basically had a dent in it. She would have felt more force hitting a bad pothole than this accident.

The debt guy waived 90% so she only has to pay $2,400 but the whole thing just feels really slimy. And in the back of my mind I can't help but wonder if some other random charge is just going to be added to the account every three years.

Queen Elizatits posted:

Hey friends, I'm kind of stumped and I would love some advice please. I have an old Federal Student Loan from Canada that went to collections 10+ years ago. Terrible excuse but what happened was after I had started paying off my Ontario Student Loan and Federal Student Loan the loan holders split each loan into two loans, this happened to everyone with these loans, and for whatever reason 1 of the 4 loans stopped coming out of my bank account automatically. I wasn't in the best place and eventually ended up homeless for awhile and just wasn't paying enough attention to my back account. The loan eventually went to a bill collector in Canada.

So anyway! I just paid off in full 3 of the 4 loans. The last one of the three I paid off with a cheque. With the cheque I sent a letter to the bank asking what was happening with the other loan. I received a letter from them stating I owed ~$4000 on the last loan. Within a couple of days of that letter I received a letter from a bill collection place in the US stating I owed ~$6500 and wanting me to pay them. The $6500 I assume is the loan plus interest. I sent a letter to the bank asking them to confirm if I should be paying the bank for the loan or if it had gone to this bill collection place. At the same time I sent a registered letter to the BC asking them to prove they actually had the loan. The registered letter came back to me as undeliverable about a month after I sent it. This was back in February. I just got a letter from the bank confirming the BC people do have the loan and I should contact them to pay it.

Sorry for the wordiness I wasn't sure what if any of that was relevant. I acknowledge I have this debt and I want to pay it. Ideally I am hoping they will settle.

Is it normal for a bill collector to change PO boxes frequently? That is what the post office guessed happened which seems kind of silly if they want people to pay them money. Should I try and find another address for the BC and send them a letter offering say $2000? Is an agreement to delete letter appropriate in this situation? Should I be doing something else?

pathetic little tramp posted:

stuff

Lotus Brony posted:

Alright fellow goons, I need your opinion on next steps for this scenario that I'm currently dealing with. This is in Colorado, USA.

History: So about a year or two ago, my daughter smacked mouth first into the head of another girl while running in the school hallways (she knows better now). Other girl was fine, my daughter ended up needing emergency tooth work. Wife didn't realize that we had dental at the time (I was in between jobs), so she applied for credit as the emergency dentist wanting to get paid for the procedure. Finances were bad at the time, so we ended up not paying a lot of our bills. Fast forward to today. The debt can't be sold because of HIPPA (the credit has to do with medical stuff), so the ORIGINAL loan company sued us to collect. We have court next week.

I've been proactive and talked with the company's lawyer. They are willing to settle for less than the amount originally borrowed, so that's a yay. They won't do a line delete, which from reading as much as I can on this board, original loan companies will NOT do. I did ask the lawyer if they were willing to put it in writing that they (lawyer or original creditor)would send a letter (or something) to the credit bureaus stating that the debt had been settled, but the lawyer refused to do this stating that I would have to do this piece myself. So, in essence, paying this debt would not change my credit without more work from me, and if I don't agree to the current payment, I would have to go to court.

Fellow Debt-Goons, which would be preferable, court or...? Would the judge be even more lenient or make us pay even less than what we offered? Or take the offer without anything moving our credit score for the better? My initial offer was way too high, about $50 less than amount originally owed, and I feel that I should have started way lower, like at $400 less than original amount.

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.

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.

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.