Just Got Letter - RJM Acq.

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by KreditKard, Mar 9, 2010.

  1. KreditKard

    KreditKard New Member

    I just got a letter from RJM acquisitions regarding an outstanding debt that they had purchased from Wells Fargo Bank (it says checking account overdrawn). I am unfamiliar with how to handle this situation as I have never dealt with this type of stuff before. The debt is for a small amount (barely over 100 bucks) and it is from the year 2002. I don't really remember where this came from or what I did. The letter is giving me 3 "opportunities" to settle the debt. I read the back and fine print and I learned that I need to write them within 30 days or they assume that this is a valid debt. Do I just type up a short letter and mail it in? I would appreciate some advice on how to handle this situation. Is 2002 within the SOL for California? Thank you for your help.
     
  2. Bndpdler

    Bndpdler Member

    Cease and desist Letter. I had an issue with WAMU during their purchase by Chase.They mis-credited my account and became overdrawn $500. CA went after me, letters calls and then sent a cease and desist.That was in 2008, last month a NEW CA bought is and now will settle for $200......Cease and Desist going out in the AM
     
  3. billbauer

    billbauer Well-Known Member

    I assume that you are going to pay me $5,000 for responding to your post too. I assume lots of things but just because I assume something don't make it true. Maybe, in lots of cases wish would be a more appropriate word than assume. But one thing I do know and that is that a duck knows something more than either a debt collector or a debt collection lawyer and that is where to stick his bill. [/quote] Do I just type up a short letter and mail it in? I would appreciate some advice on how to handle this situation. Is 2002 within the SOL for California? Thank you for your help.[/quote]Statute of limitations in California is 4 years. A short letter? Yes, I like short letters very much. The shorter the better. I had a lady call me last evening and tell me about this great debt validation letter she got from somewhere. Five pages long. She said it had lots of great questions debt collectors have to answer. Problem with that is that nowhere in FDCPA does it give you the right to ask them anything at all. Of course neither does it say you can't ask them any questions but that is beside the point. The point is that asking them anything is pointless.
    My debt validation letter don't ask them anything, it tells them what I want and what I want is all that matters to me. As far as I am concerned anything else is irrelevant.

    As a matter of fact, my letter is now just 3 short paragraphs long and I'm thinking of getting rid of one of those. That first paragraph seems important but in reality about all it does is confuse many of those who attempt to use my letter. I think it would be better to just take it out entirely and get the job done with my DUH letter which is nothing more than a photo copy of the letter they sent me stapled to my debt validation letter. The other two paragraphs are also short and sweet. I just tell them what I want. I'm not interested in teaching them how smart I am. All I want to know is how smart they are. If I have to educate them then I'm going to make their education as expensive as possible for them. I charge at least $1,000 per lesson and more if I can get it. I got one lawyer I'm getting ready to teach pretty soon. Right now that lawyer needs about 5 or 6 lessons and the fight hasn't even got going good yet.

    Now then, about that statute of limitations thing. Why are you even worried about that at this time other than as general information to be used at a later time? In the case of a dishonored check I'd say that the start of the statute of limitations would have started 30 days after the check bounced or maybe even when it bounced the second time. The statute of limitations runs until such a time as they file a lawsuit or it expires because of the 4 year limitation in California law.
    So what does that mean to you? Does it mean that they can't continue to attempt to collect after the 4 years or does it mean they can't file a lawsuit after the 4 years has passed? Truth is they can do either one forever with no time limitation. Nothing in the law says they can't attempt to collect after the 4 years and nothing in the law says they can't file a lawsuit after the 4 years. But then nothing in the law says they can't go fly a kite or jump in a lake either. So the final outcome is up to you, not them. You have two choices. You can either use the Caspar Milquetoast method of credit repair and make the debt go away quite easily or you can take a much more agressive approach and quite possibly end up getting paid to teach them a few lessons they really don't want to learn. Its up to you but in either case I'd recommend starting off with a nice short validation letter accompanied by a DUH letter
     
  4. billbauer

    billbauer Well-Known Member

    I certainly hope you read this before you send any cease and desist letters unless you want to get sued that is. I sure wish I had a buck for every time I've had to pull people out of the trap they got themselves into by listening to the dumb advice of Bud Hibbs and other fools who advise people to send debt collectors a cease and desist letter because they don't owe the debt collector the time of day and only want to deal with the original creditor.

    I must admit that there are those times when a cease and desist letter is appropriate and useful but they are few and far between. Sending a debt collector a cease & desist letter leaves them no way to contact you except by filing a lawsuit against you. So if you want them to file a lawsuit against you then go ahead and send them that cease & desist letter. I doubt that you will be glad you did.
     
  5. Hedwig

    Hedwig Well-Known Member

    One other thing that you need to consider here is that this is a bounced check. In some states (I don't know about California) this is actually a criminal act. There may be different laws and different statutes of limitations on collecting a bounced check.

    It might be worth a quick consultation with an attorney. Many give you an initial consultation free.

    And Bill is right--please, NO cease and desist letters.
     
  6. billbauer

    billbauer Well-Known Member

    That is true, there are different laws and different statutes of limitations on collecting a bounced check in most states but debt collectors won't turn a bounced check over to the law because they would lose their commissions if they did. Even worse for them most prosecuting attorneys won't touch a check submitted to them by a CA because that turns it into a 3rd party check. Also, no Prosecuting Attorney will touch a check that is older than about 30 days. They want their bum checks nice and fresh. Police don't have time to run down every hot check artist so the longer it is before they get the check the more likely it becomes that the check writer is long gone.

    This person has little or nothing to worry about from the criminal aspect any more.
     

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