Just like the title says. I had a loan with WFF that due to some circumstances I will not go into on this forum defaulted. WFF sent the loan to Alliance One for collections. I was sent a letter of offer to "settle" this account if I paid a lesser sum within a couple of days. At the time I was unable to do so. Now about 3 weeks later another "offer to settle" has come in with a higher amount than the first offer. When I contacted Alliance One by phone, they indicated that the amount was more because WFF added more interest? I then contacted WFF to confirm but was unsuccessful in finding anyone in the organization that would verify that they added more in interest. The only thing they said was that the loan was out of their hands as Alliance One was who I had to deal with in regards to this account. The rep? @ Alliance One stands firmly in saying that WFF added the amount. Now they have sent me a pre-authorized payment form for me to fill out and attach a blank cheque for them to make a one time payment to them in an amount that is still lower than the original loan amount was for but I am leary of sending this to them. I am able to pay the whole amount by certified cheque, bank draft, money order, etc. But the rep tells me that "we" should do this as WFF "might" add more interest at the end of the month?? Does this sound hokey to anybody else? I was under the belief that once an account has been signed over or bought out by the collections agency that only the original amount could be collected and that no "interest" could be added by either the original lender or the collections agency. Any advice would be much appreciated. I want to clear this account the best way possible, I know that my credit is in the toilet already but don't want to "flush" LOL. Thanks. P.S. I live in Saskatchewan Canada. Not sure if that makes much of a difference, but I see a lot of information on this site is geared towards U.S. residents and each State having differing applicable laws.
Whatever you pay them make sure that: a) the payment will settle the debt completely, i.e. if it's less than what they claim the debt is, they may consider your payment an installement and not a settlement. That has a lot of bad repercussions for you. If you make any payments, you want to make one and only one. b) they'll remove any collection entries from your credit report, this may cost more, i.e. they may not do this unless you settle for the full amount they claim). c) they have validated the debt in accordance with the FDCPA and your satisfaction. If they can't validate, they probably don't have enough evidence to sue you for it either (although that doesn't mean the won't try). If they can't prove you owe the debt, then why on earth would you pay it?
Whatever you agree to paying - NEVER EVER give them your banking information for them to withdraw the funds. AS a matter of fact just send them money orders or cashier checks, and not a personal check - because the personal check contains all the information that they want.
I knew that it was not a good idea, and now that I have been given a couple of pointers I am not in such a big hurry to pay them at all. I did make the mistake of giving them my fax # so hope that they do not use it any more. I also made the mistake of admitting the fact that I do owe WFF for a loan. Never gave any reference to an account # or anything. Is it legal for them to add "interest" of "finance charges" to the original debt amount? I did read the Hall of Fame page here and see lot of things I have done and was prepared to do but now see that they were all big No-No's. Thanks for the advice. On the page the Coll Agency faxed me it does not say anywhere that this is to pay off the account in full, just that it is a one time payment in the amount of 4XXX.XX towards the account in question. Should I answer anymore phonecalls or respond to any further faxes or should I request all further correspondence be in writing? Thanks again for the tips.
Funny I haven't heard a word from them today at all. Usually I hear them call at least 3 times a day....... Persistent little buggers..... LOL Anyone else from Canada on the site. Just wondering so as to compare stories regarding Canadian collection laws/rules etc. I know that they are not allowed to call your place of employment. Found that one out from RCMP and harrassment issue. That was a while back and maybe that has changed not sure. This fortunately is the only credit issue that has plagued me for a long time. Want it to go away like everyone else here but I want it to go away the right way so it does not haunt me for the next 6-7 years...... Excellent site. Stumbled across it purely by accident but glad I did. Good source of information. A lot to take in but well worth the reading.
I will be in touch with my lawyer on a different matter on Friday. Wonder if I should run this situation by him and ask for his advice. I will already be there in person and I'm sure he won't mind a couple of extra questions. After all I am going to be giving him a small fortune for providing the services he already is preforming. Any thoughts on asking his opinion. I am not sure if this is his area of expertise but I will ask none the less. I wonder if he will suggest sending a letter asking for validation of the debt as well, and see where it goes from there........................... : ) A good friend of mine Ret. Army Sgt. once told me " What are they gonna do? Take away your birthday?" Kind of puts things in perspective. Things are not always as bad as they seem.
You may be well advised to run this past counsel insofar as I doubt many folks here are familiar with Canadian law, if any. I, for one, don't know the first thing about it in terms of procedure or substance. I do wonder how Alliance One, who is based in Ohio, can collect a debt in Canada. Seems odd and makes the likelyhood of litigation seem rather remote. I also wonder if you can apply the FDCPA insofar as you're not a U.S. citizen. Conversely, I wonder if you can apply Canadian law to a U.S. company (I would be inclined to say yes since their availing themselves to it by engaging in business within its provinces). In any event, all the more reasons to run it past a Canadian attorney.
But make sure however you pay them that you can prove you paid them. They might say later, "We never got any money from Joe Blow, show us the cancelled checks."
I am going in to see the lawyer tomorrow and will ask. The biggest problem here is that I know I owed money to WFF and would be able to pay them in full next week, but now that it has been turned over to these "goons" I want to be very careful in dealing with them for the exact reasons that members here have already posted. IE no proof, never give banking info, etc. I am not trying to get out of paying this debt but if there is a way for them to go away properly I am game. Will post after my meeting tomorrow with Lawyer and let everyone know what he recommends. Thanks again for the responses.
Update, I have not heard so much as a phonecall since the letter was faxed to me asking for me to put a personal cheque marked void. I am beginning to wonder if they know they have a slim to no chance collecting this debt as I have been asking the questions I have learned from this site to ask. Question: I will be in a position to pay the debt off in it's entirety to A) Original creditor WFF or B) Alliance One CO. Should I wait to hear from either one of these companies or send the money and clear it off ASAP. My biggest fear is spending the money put aside for this issue and then have to deal with the CA all over again. Would like to make this whole issue disappear and forget I even borrowed the money in the first place. I just want this to go away!! I just don't trust either one of these companies as when the amount changed from the first letter of offer to settle I questioned both companies and they both put the blame on each other. I asked Alliance One why the amount was different and they said that WFF added more interest? I asked all over WFF and noone could verify that they would do such a thing. They categorically denied any of the allegations. They said that the account was written off to the CA and they have nothing to do with it any longer. Still looking for some advice................Thanks all.
You need to find out who owns this. The inference to be drawn from what WFF stated is that they no longer own this account and thereby, could not add any further fees. However, Alliance One is not generally a debt purchaser. Therefore, I would inquire who the owner in interest is now . . . If Alliance One is the holder (not necessarily in due course) I'd be reluctant to pay at all much less at full price. A request for validation would certainly be in order as would a dispute of any associated tradeline. However, your citizenship still begs the questions as to whether the FDCPA or FCRA applies.
Well now, I guess I get what I ask for........ Asked Alliance One during a phone call which I know is a NO-NO how they came to be the owener of the deb, and what the amount was originally. I received a response fax today for a "Manager" stating my name and adress, Creditor: WF ; FACS Account: #@#$%^ ; Amount Owed: way more than the original debt I believe they are trying to collect on, and the following sentence : " The above is the amount owing as of Feruary 5 2008. Be aware that the interest on this account accumulates daily and all payments are due and payable in full. Sincerely Mr. Little Manager. I wrote them a letter and this is what I put in it. Please give me some feedback on it so I may see if this was done correctly. " Maybe I was not clear in my request Feb 4 2008 during a telephone conversation with you. I had requested a chronological letter indicating where this debt came from, their account # and terms, as well as how you came upon collecting this debt and how much it was for. I also asked for a letter indicating how the amount came to be what it is. I received a fax dated Feb 5 2008 from a Mr. #%^&? I do not know who this person is or if this was the letter I requested from you Mr. @#%@*. The amount owing on this letter indicates $XXXX.XX. I require information on this amount and what interest is â??accumulating dailyâ? at what rate? This is required by law to be disclosed to me. Please forward this letter to me by mail at the following address: 123 Any Street Yourtown, BF XXX XXX This letter is also to inform you that all correspondence will be by mail only. I will not respond to telephone calls or messages sent by fax. Please direct your response to me by this method only. Sincerely, Me
You might say that it is "inconvenient to answer telephone calls at any hour on any day" (this matches the language of the FDCPA). If you limit their communication options to just mail, they might respond by mailing you a summons because that's the only way you've left them to communicate with you. If your goal is to go to court and settle, the type of language you use would certainly help in that effort. If your goal is to communicate and work this out, then limiting communication methods might run counter to that goal. One way to keep the paper trail going if they only want to communicate by phone is to take detailed notes and then draft them a memo recounting the conversation and send them a copy (IMO, tape recording is easier, but that has its own issues). But, again, it all depends on where you want to go with this in the end.
Funny how when questioned they want to charge the whole amount no offer to settle etc. To my satisfaction they have not proven that they now own the debt, or are acting on behalf of WFF, etc. They have also not shown how they arrived at the present figure, so I will wait for the response to the letter I sent. Not sure if sending it attn: Mr. X will slow things down at all or if it even matters, however I am willing to take my chances that these people actually exist.......have to laugh when they want you to be honest and give them all kinds of information, but they never do themselves. I appreciate the feedback and tips when dealing with these wonderful businesses. Not sure if I could do that type of work for a living,...........
well too late to stop the letter it has went out in the mail already. I just wanted to be clear in what I was asking for, so that they couldn't come back and say "that's not what you said" or "that's not how I understood your request" Thought it would be clearer that way. No I don't want to skip out on paying for this if indeed it is the debt I think it is. Not sure anymore and want to know what kind of "interest" is accumulating daily?!?!? I know there was a recent court decision regarding the Payday loan companies and the interest rate they are allowed to charge. Not sure if this applies to Collection agencies as well, but there has to be some kind of cap put on what these agencies can charge. I was thinking of proposing to them that I would pay the original offer of 3100.00 and change and see if they bite? not up to over 7 grand. I can't afford that so we will wait and see I guess.
I was away for a couple of days and had only one call from Alliance One asking for me to return a phonecall. Not sure what their next step is going to be. Like I said in previous post, if they can show me what the amount is and how they came to the current figure I will consider the repayment of such. Now that it has come to this stage, I imagine that repayment of original debt to original creditor would be out of the question and it probably wouldn't make a difference on the credit report right? As soon as there is a response to my letter, I will report back... Thanks for the advice. Keep up the good work here on Cnet, awesome job!!!!
Yes, it seems that payment to the original holder is not an option and no, it wouldn't do any good even if it were.
Well, now it has been over a week since I have heard so much as a phone call from CA. No reply letter, no phonecall, no e-mail, no fax nothing......Sorry but line of work I am in makes me suspicious, are they crossing t's and dotting i's with legal response or are they just gone away and not going to bother with giving me validation on this debt? I.E. don't have, or can't provide. I imagine it could be a while before I hear from them, is there any time requirements for them to respond or can they come back at me 2 years from now? Would much rather clear this matter up ASAP. Want and need to clear this up so as to move on with my life. A hard lesson learned with irresponsible use of credit. Certainly do not want to repeat any of the last year financially.....Have no plans to skip out on this debt if it is entirely mine and only for the original amount. Funny during this whole time, I have managed to secure a refinanced mortgage without too much difficulty so either this whole thing is a lot of hot air or they just haven't gotten around to placing it on my CR.
