Hi, I'm new here. I've been researching for the last few days and am just getting more confused. Sorry post is so long. I was unemployed last year and stupidly let my 2 Capital One credit cards get delinquent. Last payments were in Jan 08, I am now able to pay these including the ridiculous amount of late fees and charges. This is how it breaks down: Card 1 - starting debt $300.....now $1150 Card 2 - starting debt $600.....now $1617 I starting getting collection calls last spring and sent cease & desist letters. Rcv'd letter from law office last Sept and I sent a cease & desist letter stating I wanted to work out an agreement directly with Cap One. Made several attempts to talk with Cap One by phone and was consistently given the run around once even transferred to the card protection salesperson who knew nothing about my accts. Kept on hold for up to one hour at a time before giving up. And in the end always forwarded on to their "attorney network". After a few months of this, I decided to go ahead and talk with the attorneys office to see if we could work something out. I called stating I just wanted to clear this up. They answered they could not speak with me unless I faxed a letter rescinding the cease & desist letter previously sent. I faxed a letter stating that I would like to be able to speak with them concerning the account but did not want them to contact me. I was told to call back after Friday because it would need to go before review. Monday I was served with a summons on the $1617. (which they are still adding charges/fees and are now reporting to CRA as $1960 but only suing for $1617 on a $600 debt) I had 8 days notice to appear. I appeared yesterday and denied the debt, basically to buy myself some time. So now I have a trial date in late April. I really just want to clear this mess up and can pay the balances but am finding it incredibly hard to do. I would like to find a way to resolve this with the least amount of damage to my credit. My question is: What should my next step be? Should I call or mail OC or law office? Should I offer Cap One a PFD letter? Should I send a verification letter? I am so confused! What an idiot I have been with this.
First of all, this is the main reason that you should NEVER send a cease and desist letter (especially on a debt that is still in statute). Once you do that, their only option is to sue you. They may be willing to talk about a settlement now that you have appeared in court. I would send them a letter (make sure everything is in writing) with your settlement offer. Don't start with what you are willing to pay. Start with something less, let them counter, you may counter that, until you get to a number you can both live with.
Yes, send the lawyer a demand for validation. If they move forward with the case without providing the demanded validation they violate FDCPA and you can sue them for that in federal court. Send Cap One a PFD letter only if you wish to waste another $5.00. They won't do it under any circumstances. You say you filed an answer to the court. Did you also send a copy of the response to the attorney? If not do so by certified mail return receipt requested. Be sure to include a certificate of mailing. If you have the funds to pay the full amount demanded then take your checkbook to court with you and tell the judge you have the funds to pay and will cut them a check right now if they prove you owe the money they demand and agree to dismiss the case with prejudice. Have the check all made out and ready to put their name on it if they will only prove how much you owe and agree to dismiss the case with prejudice in writing and show the judge the check. Tell the judge you are willing to deposit the check with the court's escrow account until they comply.
First, ask for a continuance. Dispute the Cap One tradelines on your credit reports through the credit reporting agencies in writing via CMMRR. They won't mark it as being disputed. That's three FCRA violations per account. File your Answer with sworn denials and demands for strict proof along with your Counters for FCRA violations and you won't pay a thing. You're welcome . . .
Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it! My plan is to send a validation letter to the lawyer anddispute the credit report with the CRAs. I'll need to check on how to filing an answer. I just showed up in court for the summons and the judge told everyone if you think you do not owe or if you think the amt is not correct to deny. And then send all your documentation to the atty's office. I was there for 5 minutes. I was amazed at how many people were being sued by Cap One on that day. There were at least 25 and the poplulation here is only 10,000. Amazing
cap1sucks, I do have the funds to pay these both in full and was attempting to come to some sort of arrangement with them when I was hit with the summons. These guys are ruthless. Anyway, I guess there is no way to get these downgraded or removed my credit report even if I pay them? Would I be able to file disputes after paying and then possibly get them removed?
You sure are right about that. I wouldn't pay them a crying dime under any circumstances myself. They want to play courtroom games then fine, let's get the show on the road and see who comes out winner. Yes, I would expect to lose in local court no matter what I did. That's just about par for the course. But what are they going to do with their judgment? First of all a judgment is only a court order saying that the defendant owes the money but it does not address the problem of getting any of the money collected. That takes a garnishment order. Even that is totally and completely ineffective against people who know how to defend their wages and all their other assets against garnishment. That includes bank accounts as well. Big banks and insurance companies have what is known as a toxic assets recovery program. We all know about that and if we don't we can simply google that term and find out all about it. We are going to be paying for that almost forever through taxation. You are the owner, (proud or otherwise) of a couple of those toxic assets they keep talking about on the news. (LOL) Don't feel bad about that. There are millions of people out there just like you and some of them have a barrel full of those toxic assets. A few of them have their own toxic asset recovery program and the debt collectors don't like that at all. (LOL) Congratulations! You guessed it right!! When you pay them you admit that the debt is valid and also that you owed it. How are you going to dispute that after the fact?
Really? So you will take on an original creditor over real money? Dumb Bob can't see how they'll lose. If you know a way, do tell. Oh. So you are going to lose, you just don't care because you are going to live in your car for the rest of your life. Note that the car has to be worth less than your state's limits on what the judgment creditor can take via some type of attachment. You mean by not having any? You have to be clear how far you are willing to go on this. If you are just a person, just a person with the usual limits, this is tough stuff. You've got to go to the wall. You aren't telling this person that. That's true, you can't pay and dispute that you owe it at the same time, at least Dumb Bob can't think of how right now.
Yes, I would take on an original creditor over real money. Not a problem. Yes, I and most other people facing a local court action will lose almost every time. And yes, I just don't care and I am not going to live in any car, state park, local creek bank, rescue mission or cardboard box in some back alley. The car has to be worth less than state limits? I don't think so. It would not make any difference if it were a brand new Masserati or Ferrari that I had bought with cash on the barrel head, with the proper protections in place they still can't touch it. Go to the wall? No, you have to be ready, willing and able to take them to the wall. It isn't the least bit difficult to do. The wall has a proper name and that name is U.S. federal district court for what ever district you happen to live in. An example of that is a couple who were foreclosed on. They lost in a foreclosure case, the home was sold at public auction to the highest bidder and the court confirmed the sale. The sheriff came to their door a few days ago and gave them their eviction notice. They went back to court and filed a motion to vacate the confirmation order and the judge granted them a hearing set for this afternoon at 3:30. Granted, I can't foretell what the outcome of this afternoon's hearing will be but even if the judge grants their motion for a new confirmation hearing that won't be the last of it by a long ways. They will have to come up with a reason to sue the alleged creditor. That won't be hard to do. They will file at least one action in local court and at least one in federal court. They will get a mortgage fraud audit done quickly and that will produce more than sufficient grounds to sue the lawyer and the alleged creditor in both state and local courts. If they go to the wall, they will be in their home for many years and may come out getting the house free and clear for nothing. Even if that don't happen, they will not be likely to lose their home. The evidence is clear. Those that learn how to fight effectively stay in their homes and those who don't lose everything. Another lesson that is equally clear is that those who learn how to fight back effectively keep their wages, cars and all other assets safe from garnishment and seizure. Those who fail to learn how to fight back or just give up and roll over lose their bank accounts, get their wages garnished, lose their vehicles, homes and many end up living in the tent cities that are springing up all over the country. And yes, they do have to be willing to go to the wall to get the job done. It isn't free and it isn't necessarily easy but it can be done. Keeping your wages free from garnishment is going to cost at least a couple of thousand dollars but that is cheap if you owe a substantial amount of money. It is a different story with vehicles. Those can be protected from any garnishment almost free. Maybe a hundred bucks or so at most. Same thing with all the goodies in your home. Not a big deal to protect those from any sheriff coming to the door wanting to do a search to see what they can grab to sell. The only things that can't be protected very well is cash in bank accounts, stocks or bonds and some private pension funds such as 401K plans. That's true, you can't pay and dispute that you owe it at the same time, at least Dumb Bob can't think of how right now.[/quote]It certainly isn't easy but I suppose that some people have done it through sheer luck.
new development So yesterday I got a Motion for Continuance in the mail. The atty's office has requested "additional time to attempt settlement negotiations and to conduct discovery to limit issues". They are requesting the court date be changed from Apr 29 to Oct 28, 6 months. What would be the purpose of this? Stalling, so they can rack up more interest charges and crap in the meantime? Stalling for time to get their "witness" here from Virginia? I live in Hawaii. Something I noticed is the declaration states "I have contacted the opposing party or their attorney and they will not agree to the continuance or I have tried several times to contact them by telephone and/or mail and they have not returned my calls or answered my letters" This is bull, they have never tried to contact me since the summons to appear. I've given them an address and an email address for contact. Nothing. Also, there is a box on the bottom for certification by the court. It's blank. I'm thinking I'll probably be getting one certified by the court by registered mail soon. I have seven days to answer.
So if you can read court cases and if the original creditor almost always wins, why take them on if you can avoid it? That's a straight up answer. Have you written a book? Dumb Bob is a mere mortal. You started out telling Dumb Bob to sue original creditors. Now you are talking about mortgages. Dumb Bob feels there's a recurring theme here. You said supra: "Go to the wall? No, you have to be ready, willing and able to take them to the wall. It isn't the least bit difficult to do." Either it is difficult or it isn't. It is obviously rarely done.
