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Cryte Lynn posted:When I entered college at 18, I took out student loans (around $2,500/semester). After a year and a half, I dropped out and applied for a Citi credit card, which I maxed out at my cap of $5,000. I made regular payments for a short while, I don't remember how long, but unemployment and lovely life situations hit me & I was unable to keep paying. I've not improved my situation much since then but right now I owe two ~$2,500 student loans and one ~$6,000 credit card debt. I'm just going off of what I've read in this thread, but I'd guess you're still on the hook for the student loans. Garnishing wages sounds like they've got a judgment, so you should check state/county laws to see if you should have been served in person or if mail is ok. Check to make sure which loan it's referencing, because you still should have options for the CC debt unless you've got a judgment already. If you have any money now you could try negotiating with a sob story, but if they can truly garnish your wages they are more than happy to wait until you have wages, especially if your judgment is accruing interest. Check to see there's a court number as obviously you didn't know you had a court date (or did you?) and hope you can find something about how they didn't let you know you had a court date.
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Feb 12, 2010 20:47
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TskMgr posted:Is the OP still active in this thread? i'm in a debt situation similar, but handled it differently, and would love some advice. If you looked two posts up you'd see he replied two days ago! You may as well post your situation here though, lots of people have gotten good advice from not just him.
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Feb 15, 2010 21:55
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Topper Harley posted:Got a BS traffic ticket while driving across the country about 5 years ago and spoke with the court who told me they'd take care of it and call me back. Lost all the information in a house fire and forgot about it completely. Just received a letter asking for me to pay ~$250. Called the collection agency and explained the situation and offered $120. Guy wouldn't take it but said they could set me up to pay the full amount back at $20 a month. I asked about a pay by deletion and he asked me what that was. I got his name and hung up. Right now I'm interning and not making a lot of money; what options do I have? Did you look up your credit report and see if it's actually on there? If it's five years old there may be statute of limitation options. I'd send them a debt verification letter proving how the debt is yours if you can't find anything about the statute of limitations. Records of the parking ticket for your vehicle, vehicle records proving it's your vehicle at the time of the ticket, and finally how they came up with the $250 figure. I've only had parking tickets that threatened to suspend my license priveleges if I didn't pay, but that's in my home state DMV where I'm registered. Out of state is different I'm sure. Also note that I'm not a lawyer and I'm literally only relaying suggestions I've come up with while reading through this thread.
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Feb 20, 2010 00:06
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Topper Harley posted:Thanks, Knightmare. I recall the ticket would have been for a specific amount so when I inquired on the phone how they came up with the total he informed me that they added $49 fee to the original amount. Seems pretty legit. I last checked my credit in December and don't think it was on there at that time. I'll most likely suck it up and pay the amount in total but drat if it doesn't piss me off (I was actually shooting a documentary at the time and had video footage proving that I was not speeding, spoke with the court multiple times about sending the video in as evidence but they stopped returning my calls and a house fire destroyed my notes and the tape 2 years ago). I'm not 100% on this but if it's really not on your credit report and you pay them, there might be a chance it gets "updated" to your credit that you had an outstanding debt that you did settle, but would possibly drop your score a bit. Send a debt validation letter, and if they actually can prove the debt is yours then offer $40 for a pay-for-delete. That way it won't show up on your credit, and if it's truly not on your credit as of this moment it might just be best to let it slip by the statute of limitations if it hasn't already.
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Feb 22, 2010 18:44
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zharmad posted:I'm helping my cousin on this one. We sent a debt validation letter to NCO financial systems, inc. who were trying to collect on an old card my cousin had. So old he can't remember the original creditor, but he remembers it was sold to providian, then to SST, where he defaulted, then to NCO for collections. The response he got from the validation letter in the op was They need all that poo poo to collect the debt and the fact they're asking you for it is pretty hilarious. Is the debt on your cousin's credit report? You should be able to contest it if so, as they can't prove the debt is yours. You should also be able to write a cease communications letter unless they can validate the debt. There might be another step that CubsWoo knows of, but there should be examples of how to do both of these things above from earlier in the thread.
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Mar 5, 2010 23:15
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Offrampmotel posted:I'm a bit confused here...I have 2 different collection agencies attempting to collect the same debt. Is one of them breaking the law? Knowing collection agencies, that isn't that surprising. Tell both to validate the debt.
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Apr 3, 2010 08:08
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YummyTarts posted:I'm in credit card debt, and owe a few other unsecured things around. I'm going to file bankruptcy soon so I can just get rid of it, but where can I find a list of everyone I owe to? I'm worried I'll leave something out of the bankruptcy, but I don't know how that will work. I get calls from collectors all the time, but I've never answered because I know what they want. What my best course of action for cleaning this up in a timely manner? Have you checked out your credit report lately? You could start doing debt validation letters, and once they validate you could send a pay for delete offer along with a notice to stop calling you all the drat time. Do you have the means to pay a fraction of some of your debts?
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Apr 8, 2010 21:17
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Hoodwink posted:So I sent my letter to the guys trying to collect on my debt. It has been over the 30 days that I gave them to prove that I own that debt, its been 45 days. What is recommended to send them telling them to delete the debt from my records or face a suit? Do you have proof that they received your letter?
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Apr 12, 2010 22:45
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cocteau posted:I also have about 30K in student loans that right now I am delaying with a temporary forebearance. I'm not going to touch the other stuff, as it sounds like the CC's are still under the original creditor? With the student loans, try looking into consolidating either with the company they are through right now or start looking for student loan consolidators. I have a little more in student loans right now that I was paying $500/month for until I got them consolidated into $200/month payments. Obviously that stretches out the life of the loans and I usually pay more when I can. Buying a newish car doesn't sound like the greatest idea ever, either.
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Jun 7, 2010 21:40
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Trans-Angeles posted:Suggestions ? I think because of you actually paying the debt, the debt verification is a little unneeded. I suppose you can request one anyway just to make sure they have all the info they need to collect, however. Your parents should send a certified letter or record a phone call saying that you no longer live there. After that, they should start recording all future collection calls as I believe that's a violation. Make sure the state they're in allows one-party recorded calls. I'm not sure what the magic number is where they can start to sue, but I don't think it's a lot. Also, you can try a pay for delete offer after the debt verification but again, as you've been paying it right now I don't know how much weight that would have.
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Jul 16, 2010 06:04
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kalisperas posted:I can pay off the two smaller debts, I'm just concerned with making sure I do so in such a way as to best benefit my credit (and if I can get them to settle for less than the full amount in the process, all the better). And with the student loan, I'm just worried about the bank officer telling me that the collection agency may not report payments to the reporting agencies. Since it's time-sensitive you probably don't want to wait out the statute of limitations, but you do need to get those off your credit ASAP it sounds like? Send debt verifications to all of them (even the student loan one), if they come back complete start the PFD process. Might not work with the student loan one but worth a shot. You'll have a better understanding of what you need to pay or not pay in a month after doing this. Still, that's not a lot of debt and if you can't afford $200/mo extra to pay these off in a year you probably shouldn't buy a house.
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Jul 17, 2010 02:47
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beergod posted:So if you send a verification letter and the 3rd-party debt collector doesn't respond, can you somehow get the ORIGINAL creditors to take the bad mark off of your credit card? Or do you essentially need to get a Dunning letter from the ORIGINAL creditor, send a verification, and then get nothing back? Send a dispute form to the credit bureaus. If the collection agencies can't verify your debt to you, then they can't to the bureaus and they'll wipe them off your report.
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Aug 6, 2010 05:14
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OzzyBlood posted:In 2000, I moved from the U.S. to Canada and in about 2004 I started attending an online school and I got some student loans to pay for it (american student loans). Definitely have to see who owns the debt first. If you have a lump sum saved, absolutely get in contact with them to see if they'd take it (don't offer what you've saved, offer lower and work from there). I remember some people in BFC saying it worked for them, but as student loans don't go away they may not take the offer.
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Aug 17, 2010 22:57
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Also I don't think they can go after it if you were 17 at the time.
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Sep 21, 2010 02:49
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transient posted:I can pay, but would rather not. According to the letter I will be missing the full amount of the debt out of my paycheck come Wednesday. I do plan on calling the provided number in the morning. You could look at the statute of limitations to see if this is an outdated debt. Might be if it really goes back to 2002. Not having paperwork isn't helping you, especially if there was a judgment against you which I think is the only way they can put an earnings withholding on you. See what you can find out when you call them in the morning. It may be on your credit, check up on it tonight so you can gather dates and such before calling.
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Sep 21, 2010 21:15
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Brady posted:Quick question here, but first a little background. Pinnacle may have sold it, start over with a DV to NCO. Check your credit when you can.
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Nov 2, 2010 18:54
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Gaff Tape posted:Anybody? The car may be set in stone, but if you can dispute the late payments on your report with the credit agencies, the car dealership may not dispute it has been paid by now. As for the medical bills, send a DV. When/if they validate, offer a pay for delete.
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Nov 29, 2010 03:08
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Intrepid posted:Can I still dispute these, and what's the best way - directly to the collection companies, or through the credit bureaus? Also, I'm in New York state (and was when all of these debts were incurred). Can you wait out the statute of limitations on any of these or is it something you'd like to get fixed now? New York looks like a 6 year period, which is coming up for the 2005 debts. I'd be fine waiting a while if they're not harassing you. If you want to take care of it (and have cash for pay-for-deletes) I'd start firing off verification letters. Dispute invalids, offer PFD's for valids.
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Dec 19, 2010 05:34
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Good god, find out if you're actually traceable to this account. If you are, do a standard debt validation and a pay for delete offer. If not, do a debt validation letter and send them a picture of your balls telling them to suck it.
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Jan 22, 2011 09:35
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Anti-Hero posted:Two questions. 1) You settled and disputed afterwards with the bureaus? I thought I read in here that you can try a dispute with the credit bureau's on the paid-in-full, and since the CA has been paid they may let it go. 2) I don't think you'll get much accomplished over the phone, and it's best to have a paper trail with that kind of stuff.
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Feb 18, 2011 23:10
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I said come in! posted:My parents are saying they are willing to pay for the debt, would it be possible to transfer it over to their name, as if they were the ones that the collection was going after originally? So it won't hurt my credit. It's your debt, go the insurance route first to see if that covers it. If not, do the pay for delete route with your parents money and it'll be removed from your credit report. Don't give your parents a black mark on their credit report (I don't think you can do this anyway).
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Mar 4, 2011 15:26
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Jadaris posted:I've got an old medical bill from a year or so ago that I just got a debt collection letter for last month. I sent in a DV letter thanks to this thread, and a week and a half later they responded with I have confirmed with my client that Jadaris owes me a thousand dollars. Pay up, Jadaris. Ask them again, make them prove why you owe them money.
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Mar 11, 2011 19:53
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UrbanFarmer posted:Why should #2 never happen? I thought that's what has been recommended a lot in this thread? Sending a PFD has been recommended a lot, but that's for after they prove you owe them money. You'd never want to do both at the same time.
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Mar 14, 2011 19:24
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uapyro posted:If you get a letter from a loan company due to lack of credit, can you ask them for a copy of your credit report and or credit score? I think I remember something like this, but I can't remember what all you could actually ask for. I want to say they have to provide the reason if denying you, I don't think they have to provide a credit report/score.
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Mar 16, 2011 21:35
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7thBatallion posted:I have officially stopped paying one of my bills. They raised my APR to 29.99 for no loving reason, slapped random rear end fees on my account, run it 300 over the limit, and now I'm facing an average monthly payment of 400 bucks, then 800, then 1600. I've called them, asked for help, pleaded for mercy, and received none. My honesty was only met with callousness and a refusal to do anything in my favor. DV is only for collection agencies. Their purpose is when a CA buys your debt from an original creditor (OC), they may not have the binding documents that prove you actually owe them money. Right now, this sounds like the OC owns your soon-to-be-debt so sending a DV wouldn't result in much. If you're going to wait this out, you'll have to wait until they charge it off and sell to a CA, which will take months and probably end up in an even greater balance. This isn't the end of the world, unfortunately I don't know much about what to do when it's still in the OC's hands, but I'd definitely look for a checking account that doesn't require a $1500 minimum balance if I were you. Unless it's easy to keep $1500 in there and has great interest or something. BusinessWallet posted:I called one of the CA's because they keep sending me these settlement letters, they're for half of the original debt, so I figured that they'd take the PFD since it's the same as what they were offering. Today I got a letter from them with the same generic offer, not honoring any of the terms I asked for. I called them asking about the letter and they basically bashed me and wouldn't answer any questions. I asked them what would be the tradeline on my credit report if I paid half like their offer letter states and they said they couldn't tell me how it would affect my credit or what tradeline it would produce, they just kept bashing that I should have just paid the original creditor. Not really sure what to do, this account is from 2007 and I just want it off my credit report. I don't care if I have to pay the full amount. Do you know what the statute of limitations are on your debt? From the 50% settlement offers it sounds like it's getting close.
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Apr 7, 2011 22:26
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EVG posted:What's my best legal recourse to stop these freakin' calls? They're calling my cell while I'm at work and it's really Not Good. Think you can send them a letter, not sure if "stop calling me" is enforceable but saying you're not the debt owner is. Send it certified mail with return receipt, and start logging everytime they call you from that date. Threaten to sue them after a bunch of calls rack up, now they'll settle with YOU.
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Apr 7, 2011 22:30
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If it comes back valid and you're considering paying, try a pay for delete instead so it comes off her credit report.
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Apr 15, 2011 21:05
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Big Taint posted:I got a letter from Williams and Fudge about a student loan I haven't made a payment on in a little over a year. The total amount is about $5500, but the only amount on the letter is what's past due, $900. Basically it says that if I don't pay them, they will decide if they want to sue me. It's not a Dunning letter per se, since it's regarding a student loan, so should I still send them a gently caress-off letter, or just let it go and hope they realize that I don't have enough income for them to garnish, or any assets to take away. (Income <$13,000/yr, no car/house/anything of significant value.) Student loans never go away and will follow you through a bankruptcy. You can try the usual stuff mentioned in this thread but you're going to have to pay this at some point.
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Jun 9, 2011 22:55
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