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antwizzle posted:This line is so hilarious I'm almost tempted to call one of my junk debt buyers just so I can use it on them I would still attempt the PFD, even if you're unlikely to get it. If they outright refuse, counter with what you currently have. If you're excessively anal you can also ask them to have the agreement returned notarized, but I only slip that in with JDBs that are settling with me. With the economy in its current terrible state, collectors (even OCs) are starting to take nearly any offer they can get. Lowball like crazy and demand a PFD. They won't stop negotiating with you if they think they can get anything on an account.
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Dec 10, 2010 13:11
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Also, a quick heads-up on a collection tactic that is popping back up recently: Never cash a check from a debt collector that was sent to you unprompted. They typically are small checks ($10 or less) that are sent to you under the pretense of 'interest owed' or some kind of accounting error on their end. When you cash it, they know you're active/they have your proper address. If you cash it in your personal account, they now know where you bank and will use that if they can get a judgment against you to attach your accounts.
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Dec 10, 2010 13:19
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Cloud City Computer posted:They sent me a copy of some sort of medical billing statement and I can make no sense of it. But for all intents and purposes it looks like it's validated. Give them a few more weeks to tally up violations. Outside of hiring an actual lawyer (who probably won't take a case like this without good money up front) your goal is much like theirs when it comes to legal action - attempt to settle. Most of the time your letter will be ignored, but it sets up a paper trail if you do file a lawsuit. The first thing you should do is prepare your Complaint for court. You probably won't be going to court, but it's good to have the Complaint available (search Google for samples, or ask on credit repair-centric boards.) Attach the complaint to your ITS letter with the following: quote:Enclosed is a copy of the Complaint I will be filing 45 days after the receipt of this letter in the absence of a reasonable settlement, including but not limited to: Send it off CMRRR and wait 45 days from the time you get the green slip back. Be ready to sue if they don't respond.
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Dec 14, 2010 22:29
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Cloud City Computer posted:Thanks for the reponse. From the other credit repair boards I've been reading it seems like this is what the warning is as if it's going to be a bad thing that I actually sue. There's no reason to send an Intent to Sue if you don't actually intend to sue. They'll toss it in the trash much the same way a debtor tosses the dunning letter in the trash, and if nothing comes of it, it meant nothing. TWiNKiE is right in that this really isn't (at this point, there's always the possibility they become harassing or otherwise lawsuit-friendly) the kind of case where you're going to get them to cut you a check. Try to make sense of the billing statement. Is this an outside company collecting? Can they provide you with a chain of custody (a bill of sale showing they bought the debt, things of that nature?) Does the statement match what they're attempting to collect? If not, why not? You have the right to request a full, fair accounting of the debt so they can show you why you owe what you owe, and what fees/interest/etc they're trying to collect - and you can then square that with the laws of your state and see if they're playing by the rules or not. Never jump to a lawsuit. If you go in unprepared, you're going to get laughed out of court, likely be out the money it cost to file, and have a newly zealous collector trying to squeeze more from you (since you could pay to file a suit, you've likely got money they can grab!)
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Dec 15, 2010 00:36
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antisocial posted:I found out from the court officer that the levy was from a law office and they only gave me a number to contact them and the amount I owe for a credit card. Liens are a massive pain in the rear end. At least until Monday, there's probably little or nothing you can do to have the account unfrozen (but try calling the law office tomorrow anyway in case they're staffed, but they likely aren't.) Depending on the law office, the amount you owe, and the Christmas spirit, you may be able to get them to unfreeze the account with a promise to pay or some form of down payment. But, again, they've done enough to start seizure proceedings on your accounts, so there's a very big chance they won't do anything but extract what they've been awarded on their schedule. If you were never served, you might be able to get the judgment vacated but that's going to be difficult to do on short notice, with Christmas in a week and most dockets on reduced schedules. Also it looks like New Jersey has rules allowing service to be done via newspaper posting if a defendant cannot be reached by other means, so it's possible they did that. Either way, talk to the law office ASAP and let us know what they say.
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Dec 19, 2010 02:07
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Intrepid posted:Now, because I was an idiot and just ignored everything for years now, am I screwed in reference to the quote above? After reading this thread, and given the amount of time that's passed, I'm sure that a lot of these assholes have no way to validate the original debt. I'm just fearful that because I never disputed it in the first place, I don't have a leg to stand on. My credit is pretty abysmal (550) and I really want to fix that. You can still dispute, but since it's 30 days after their first contact/dunning letter, they have no obligation to respond to your request. You can bring up in court that they refuse to validate, and most firms will still validate the debt on request, but that may also put you on their radar if they've not been bothering you about the debt recently. As Knightmare said, do you need your score fixed right now? If the debt is going out of statute in less than a year, you can probably just sit it out and dispute/delete those tradelines once they're out of statute in NY. Just keep an eye on those tradelines in case the JDBs/CAs try to re-age them and keep them on.
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Dec 19, 2010 14:28
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In some ways, the big debt relief companies can be even worse than doing it yourself (or having your lawyer/someone working personally with you do it) because once you're in their system they often just dump form letters at your negatives and often push their clients to settle when the possibility of a deletion is there if you keep going. Recently I helped a friend of my mother's take her credit from 478 to nearly 800 in about a year. LL quoted her something like $1500 plus settlement offers and a longer timeframe. I did it for her for about $250 and a big dinner at Topolobampo near the end of it. Either do it yourself or hire someone small to do it so you know you're getting personalized advice.
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Feb 21, 2011 10:20
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They may not have to validate the debt, but in my experience requesting validation is a good way to get even past-30 creditors off your back. I think a lot of the time consumers who show spine and even a casual understanding of the FDCPA get shoved to the "Don't bother with/re-sell ASAP" file and once some new sucker company buys your debt you can take a second crack at validation. Friends of mine who I'm working with on debt repair have been seeing unprompted offers from some of the CAs starting at 45% or lower right now. The economy sucks and they're taking what they can get which means you're in the driver's seat in determining payment amounts and terms.
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Feb 21, 2011 21:01
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