Perplexed in Californiaâ?¦ Iâ??m looking for some suggestions on how to deal with my credit situation. I have read the boardâ??s here pretty thoroughly and I understand the process of verification with the CRA and validation with CAâ??s. However, Iâ??m still a little unsure of the order in which this procedure makes most sense in terms of what to do first, second, etc. A little background about my situation.. I live in the state of California. I have approximately 6-8 derogatory remarks on my credit report(s) stemming from approximately 5 credit cards totaling about 20,000 in debt originally. I do not have exact figures as to what this debt has turned into now with interest/feeâ??s, etc as I donâ??t open up any mail however I believe itâ??s in the neighborhood of $35K amongst these various CAâ??s. I frankly have no idea who is who in my credit report. None of the names that Iâ??ve seen in here have any resemblance to anybody Iâ??ve done business with. The SOL on these accounts have passed (4 years in CA). No payment has been made in over 4 years time. This was done intentionally. I have had pristine credit in the past, I got into trouble, started to work with one creditor, I was lied to and vowed to never talk to any of these creditors ever again. I simply disappeared though I still live at the same address and have the same phone number. I just havenâ??t responded to anything including answering the phone and I have thrown all mail away whom I donâ??t know who the sender is without even opening it. I have had NO conversations either by phone or mail in over 4 years time. I am self-employed and have no assets to my name other than a vehicle of which I own outright. I have not been sued; there is no judgment against me. These creditors have had ample time to bring a lawsuit but have failed to do so within the SOL. It is my desire to rid this debt off my credit report completely. I have carried some positive activity on my credit file during this time including a car payment that was paid perfectly over a 5 year period that ended just 6 months ago as well as a credit card with a $2K limit that I have maintained perfectly during this entire duration. It should also be noted that making my credit file pristine as it once was is of top priority and I would pay for this. I would pay either an agency, a personal advocate, an attorney, or even the creditor themselves in the form of a non acknowledgement of debt agreement with a creditor. The amount Iâ??d be willing to pay would probably not exceed more than about 10-15% of the original amount however ($2K â?? $3K). Paying $2 - $3K to make this go away easily would be the perfect scenario for me. Can you guys give me some pointers on how you would proceed if you were in my shoes? Do I contact the CRAâ??s and request verification first, then wait and when/if they verify then go to the CAâ??s? Also, if the CAâ??s, donâ??t verify â?? what proof do I have to go back to the CRAâ??s with that information? My biggest concern at this point is that if a I start disputing, requesting validation, etc, that some of the CAâ??s will fraudulently put fake payments into my history in an attempt to bring me out of the SOL. Has anybody ever heard of this happening? It seems when these debts maybe get sold, they are treated as â??newâ? on the credit report and these dates would all apply inside the SOL. I know this is a long read, drawn out etcâ?¦ I truly thank ANYBODY who could lend a helping hand in my situation and would vow to pass on anything I learn down the line should I be able to.. Thanks in advance, Alex
"Phantom payments" are a problem for many people. Throwing away old bills and dunning notices has deprived you of the proof you would need to dispose of the phantom payments easily, however the situation can still be handled. Keep the earliest credit reports you can get directly from the big 3. Start disputing. We'll help you battle from there.
Perhaps, but I'm not interested in waiting another 2+ years for that to happen. I want (need) these items to come off now.
Thank you flacorps... But do you recommend I do a blanket dispute to all three agencies for ALL the remarks on the CR or do I go with this "1-2 punch" approach by first sending off validation letters to all CA's and then, when I receive proof they've received it, send off dispute reports to the CA's.
There's no point in sending validation letters now. A validation letter forces the CA to stop attempting to collect until they provide the validation, but ONLY if you send the validation letter within 30 days of their initial contact with you. Since they've been sending you letters and you've been ignoring them, you've lost that opportunity.
Okay, so what you are telling me that if you don't require validation within the first letter they send you, there's no point ever to send a validation request? That doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever. If that were the case, how could anybody fight any claim against them beyond 30 days of when a CA initially contacts you? Incidentally, no mail that I've received has been certified... So what proof do the CA's have that they've even mailed me anything? Alex
In a court of law a judge will ask you do you owe this money?What's your answer?If it's no and they pull out statements and other things>Your screwed.The judge will rule for the ca.There's other ways to battle them.But you can't go into court and say i didn't receive the 20 letters they sent me.The court deals in black and white,yes or no.
Depending on how hard up the CA's are you may be able to settle for 10 to 15%, but then it's going to show as settled on your CBR, and the difference may be reported as income to the IRS. Plus, you're reaging the account by making payments on it and it'll be on your CBR for another seven years since there's activity on it. Dispute the accounts with the CBRs and see what happens.
In a court of law I can say "The debt was mine, however it's been beyond 4 years time and they've not sued me". I'm beyond the SOL. Shouldn't that secure me from judgement? If they are going to say they mailed me 20 letters saying I owed the debt, what's to stop me from saying I mailed them 20 letters saying "who the heck are you?". The point is that nobody has proof of those mailings because they've never bothered to send them certified receipt. Which brings me to another point, what does a green ticket really mean anyway? It doesn't verify the contents of the mailing. I could mail the CA coupons to the local grocery store, send it certified receipt and then tell the judge I sent them a letter of validation... It's all very foggy.... Alex
I wouldn't "settle" the accounts for any amount other than removal from the credit bureau reports.. I would happily pay them 10-15% of the original amount owed DESPITE me being past the SOL for these debts provided they'd remove it from the credit report. Alex
Inless your in a federal court your not going to find many judges consumer wise.Because of their work load they spend as little time as they can.And they usually side with the creditor.A judge will take their word before he/she takes your's.Even if it is past sol will not stop them from getting a judgement,thats why they file in small claims court where the judges just want to get through the work load.
Probably not. You need to file motion to dismiss and be able to back it up with proof If you don't have proof then use your discovery tools to see if you can get them to give you the date of last activity. Why don't you come up with something more reasonable? No, they usually don't have proof that they mailed any letters but they don't need proof. They are a business and courts universally accept as fact the statement of a business that they have done whatever they claim to have done. Courts routinely believe that businesses operate on a standard set of procedures and if their procedures call for something to be done at a certain time then that is what they do. Courts do not accept that the average person does things on a standard set of procedures as businesses do so average people have to prove that they did what they say they did. That's just the way the system works, like it or not.
But how does one PROVE they didn't pay down a debt? It would seem reasonable to put the burden of proof on the business that payment was made.
Absolutely! But you misunderstand. When the complaint is filed that puts the burden of proof on the defendant to refute the allegations in the complaint. The defendant starts off behind the curve as soon as the complaint is filed. Doesn't seem fair but that is just the way it is. Most don't understand that so they also start off on the wrong foot. Most defendants also think they have to answer the complaint but all they have to do is respond to the complaint. There is a big difference between an answer and a response. There are many possible responses depending on the situation. One response may be to simply deny everything. Another might be to file motion to dismiss for various reasons such as the debt being outside the statute of limitations. There are more possible responses but those are the most common viable responses.Sometimes lack of jurisdiction comes into play. Courts might lack geographical or subject matter jurisdiction. I've seen many attorneys who don't understand that difference go into court and try to argue that the defendant didn't file an answer and therefore the plaintiff should be granted judgment without further argument of delay. They quickly learn the hard way that a denial or a motion to dismiss is an answer. But simply filing a denial of all allegations won't necessarily put the burden of proof back on the plaintiff unless it is backed up with solid evidence. Defendants usually don't have that so they need to develop it through appropriate and skillful use of their discovery tools. Very few pro se litigants know anything about jurisdiction or discovery tools and how to use them. Most collection attorneys don't either although they use them very effectively against defendants who know much, much less. Attorneys are also very good at defeating discovery attempts by pro se litigants. That's why debtors lose in local courts most of the time. They owe the debt, they know they owe the debt and don't know how the system works so they are beat before they start but skillful use of discovery can turn that around. Even more important is knowing the tricks and traps that can be used against attorneys in and out of court. If you want to win you have to do your winning before the battle even starts. One of the keys to winning is never ignore phone calls from debt collectors or lawyers no matter how abusive they might be. Another is never throw away any collection letters, not even the envelopes they come in. Be sure to get your validation demands mailed off promptly using certified mail and that those validation letters do not contain any references to FDCPA, FCRA or any other law and do not demand anything other than that the debt collector validate the debt. Keep validation letters very, very simple.
Cap1Sucks... Thank you for your time and help in this matter.. Unfortunately, I am already way behind the eight ball here in that I have never answered their calls, and have not opened their letters. Of the 7-8 outstanding CA, OC's, etc, I only seem to get phone calls a couple of times a week and maybe 2-3 letters/month. It seems most have given up. But maybe they have not? Everything you state in your final paragraph seems to be contrary to everything else I've read here and in other places. I'm frankly now more in the dark than I was even a short time ago... At this point, considering I'm not employed and won't be for many years to come, I'm thinking disputing with the CBA's, while also negotiating with the CA's, OC's who resond to the CBA request might be my best bet. Alex
I don't know where you've been reading and getting your information. Some of the older posts here may have advocated not opening mail or answering phone calls, and at one time there were some elaborate validation letters. However, we have found that most of these don't work. If you can't handle talking on the phone, then don't answer the phone and include the "inconvenient to take calls" language in your validation letter. But you should keep every piece of paper you get to build your paper trail. And as CapOne says, keep the enveleopes, too. I always turn the envelope so that the long side of then envelope is along the long side of the paper (envelope on the back) and then staple them.
