I mean, REALLY PO'ed! OK, I've got a problem that I figure somebody here has experience with. Let me 'splain it in a nutshell first, then give the details: I had a large debt with Citibank and was being sued by their attorneys. I was able to come up with the money to pay it off in two payments, which was about $24,000. I got a letter stating that if I paid, this would clear up the matter and they would take no further action. So I make the payments and am waiting for their letter that says they dismissed the matter in court. They said I should receive a copy of the dismissal today. Instead, I receive a letter from another law firm saying that the matter has been turned over to them, and I owe $3000! Also, I just had a credit report pulled and the account shows $3000 still outstanding. So I just about turned purple and hit the roof. So, if you have any experience with this kind of problem maybe you can read through the stuff below. ITEM 1 is the original stipulated settlement with Citibank's attorneys. ITEM 2 is the letter I just got today. I should mention that I got advice from two attorneys regarding this stipulation, and that it was OK to go ahead and pay. ITEM 1 STIPULATED SETTLEMENT Citibank (South Dakota) N.A. Plaintiff vs. me (bushka) Defendant Docket No. xxx Superior Court of NJ Civil Action - Stipulation of Settlement It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the parties hereto as follows: 1. That there is due the Plaintiff from the Defendant the sum of $24,368.33. 2. That no further action shall be taken in this matter by the Plaintiff provided Defendant shall pay on account of the debt hereinabove stated to the plaintiff's attorneys as follows: * The sum of $12,184.17 by February 7, 2007; and then * $12,184.16 by March 7, 2007 until the sum specified in Paragraph One (1) herein is paid in full. 3. In the event of a default of any payment to be made by the Defendant hereunder which shall continue for a period of more than five (5) days, then upon filing a certification of such default by Plaintiff's attorneys without notice, Plaintiff may proceed to enter judgment for the sum set forth in the complaint, less any payments made hereunder, plus interest and costs. 4. Upon timely receipt and clearance of the above noted settlement payments, Plaintiff will file a Notice of Dismissal with the XXXXX County Superior Court. Dated: February 5, 2007 Signed by Attorneys for Plaintiff and by myself I should note that I sent payments return receipt, and both were well with in 5 days of the dates stated. ITEM 2 April 3, 2007 Re: Citibank South Dakota, N.A. Account Balance: $3,008.41 Account number: (credit card number) Dear Bushka: Our law firm is substituting in for (original law firm in ITEM 1) as legal council for Citibank South Dakota, N.A. What that means to you is that going forward, (Citibank's original attorneys in ITEM 1) is no longer involved in representing Citibank in collection of the account mentioned above. This change in representation will not affect any on-going litigation or otherwise negate any legal action that may have been taken already. If you had an active payment agreement in place with the previous attorney you may continue to make payments to this office. Please include the new file number located at the bottom of this letter on your check or money order. If you have any questions, or wish to discuss your account with one of our representatives, please do not hesitate to call us. This communication is from a debt collerctor and is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Unless you notify this office within thirty (30) days after receipt of this letter that you dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector. If you notify us in writing within the thrity (30) day period that the debt, or any portion othereof, is disputed, we will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to you by the debt collector. We will also provide you, upon written request within the thirty (30) day period, the name and address of the original creditor if different from the current creditor. Failure to dispute the validity of a debt withing the prescribed thirty (30) day period may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability on your part. If payment is made by personal check, a $35.00 charge will be assessed to your account for any checks returned by your bank. Very truly yours, New Attorneys. So this is where things stand now. I was waiting for the dismissal letter because I need to forward it to my realtor's financing agent. He was going to submit the letter and help speed up the repair of that credit line. (I'm trying to buy a house). Instead, I get this letter saying I owe more. I didn't want to contact the new attorney before getting some opinions here first. The new law firm is actually just down the street from my business. My inclination is to go over there with the letter and stick it up somebody's bleep. But, that probably wouldn't be the best course of action. I have an idea what I should do from here, but want to see what others think first. Comments from anybody who has gone through this kind of thing before??? Is there some loophole in the original letter that I don't see? Thanks a lot, Bushka
This might be too obvious, but can you call the original attorney and ask them "what's up?" At the very least, if they say you can dispute, then dispute it (because you have a previous agreement) and ask for validation. It could be someone is trying to scam you, but something doesn't sound right.
Yeah, logically the first thing to do is to call them like you say. I couldn't do that because it is the weekend already, and I also didn't want to do something I would regret later. You see people on here doing things that made the situation worse, and regretted that they didn't learn more here first. The dispute thing is odd, too. I may be wrong, but I don't remember seeing any other dispute disclaimer mention that if I don't respond within 30 days, it doesn't mean in court that I admit anything. thanks, bushka
Something is very strange with Citibank S. Dakota. I received a letter from them about 2 months ago stating that they had sent a check to me in October of last year and it had not been cashed as of January 2007. The check was a refund on a closed account that was overpaid. It instructed me to cash it if in my possession or call them and verify my correct address so they can send another and stop payment on the first. I figured they must have made a mistake and called the number to see what was going on. I gave them the account number listed on the letter (I didn't not recognize it) and the woman claimed it was a refund for an overpayment on an account and then asked me to verify my social security number. I told her I didn't feel comfortable giving that info out when I didn't know what was going on or who the account was for. She told me there wasn't much she could do unless she had it, so I reluctantly gave her the last 4 digits. She simply told me another check would be sent out, the account was Sears, and ended the conversation. I called Sears, who knew nothing about this. A couple of weeks later, I decided to give Citibank a call and try to get more info (We did go through CCCS recently and I thought maybe they misdirected funds). I was told by the Citibank rep that the account number on the letter didn't exist and they had no clue what I was talking about. Has anyone had anything like this happen to them? I searched on the internet to see if there was possibly a scam operating under Citibank's name.
Bushka, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to take over your thread, I got carried away telling my story to compare my dealing with Citibank S. Dakota. You should not deal with whoever sent the second letter until you get verification from the first that it's accurate. Better safe than sorry- check it out before you contact them. Collectors can be pretty sneaky.
Fico, I don't think you took over the thread. If I were in the OP's shoes I'd absolutely be interested in your story just because it relates to what you first said: something's fishy. Bushka, I'm certainly no expert but if I were you I'd most definitely call the place you had a payment arrangement with and ask what the heck is going on! I don't see how they can decide to turn it over to someone else if you had a payment arrangement in place. Secondly, it very well may be a scam on the second party's part. Call now for your peace of mind but follow up with a letter. AND I would go ahead and respond with a dispute to this newest letter and ask for validation that they are in fact the ones who should be handling this account at this point. If you had a signed settlement agreement in place, I don't see how they can suddenly switch pitchers and tack on more money. I'd run the whole thing by the same attorney you used before. Good luck...and I'm really sorry you're having such problems!
Agreed, no problem here! The original attorneys/bill collectors were VERY difficult to deal with. It got to the point where I had the money but they wouldn't accept it. I figured I'd just keep the money and deal with the consequences. But, of course, they eventually called me back and agreed to add the verbiage that they would cancel the judgment after I paid. I'll call the original attorneys first on Monday and go from there. I didn't want to make a mistake by contacting the new attorneys, though. thanks.
OK, so I'm not so mad anymore! I called the CA and it appears this is a "mistake" (ahem). The CA I paid off said that I do not owe Citicorp any more money, period. I called the new attorneys and they said this kind of thing happens fairly often, and just to send them the letter showing the debt has been taken care of. Now I'm still waiting on that letter from the original CA, but they basically said "it's in the mail." So we'll see. Thanks for the comments.
Good idea. If I don't receive it on Monday, I'll give them a call. Of course, I'm sure they'll find a way not to do that.
