Collection debt agency question.

Well, I see you are getting some good info and some bad info, the worst of which is that you should send a cease & desist letter. Don't even mention the phrase in any letter to any debt collector. FDCPA provides the proper wording so people don't have to use that phrase.

Why are you even worried about Statute of Limitations? It can vary and might be anything from 3 years to 6 years since it is based on a written contract, not an open ended contract as so many like to claim. Judges will rule that it is a written contract every time. So much for the shorter 5 year SOL in your state.

And where did you get your DV letter? I wouldn't give two cents for any and all of the DV letters on the internet even if I found the .02 in the parking lot at the local 7-11 store.

 

I didn't say anything about your having paid any money. What I said is that I wouldn't give two cents for all the DV letters I could find on the internet. That statement has nothing to do with anyone else.

What five years? What state law are we talking about here. You said that a written contract carries a 6 year SOL by the laws of your state. If you want to claim some other statute applies then you will have to show the judge what statute you refer to and how it applies to your situation or the 6 year will apply.

Far more harm than good in most situations. Stands a great change of getting you sued in many instances because you have left them no other way to communicate with you.

Maybe you would get lucky and they ignore you. That happens and when it does you have a cause of action for federal court.

So?

So why would you want to do that? I wouldn't.

 

Nowhere here was the dollar amount of the alleged debt mentioned. Although I am definitely NOT suggesting OP send a cease and desist letter, for debts that are small enough, this can be a valid strategy. Many people have told me that for debts under $300, the chances of a lawsuit are so small that a C & D would not be a bad idea. For debts in the $300 to $500 range, it may or may not be a good strategy depending on the creditor. For debts above that, it will definitely result in a law suit.

In any case, I have never tried sending a C & D letter, because it was easier to avoid creditor harassment by simply getting rid of my cellphone, getting a home phone with unlisted number, and never answering calls from unknown persons.

 

I would say that the only safe situations to send a C&D under are the following.

You don't owe the debt and are well prepared to prove it. Maybe that would hold true if the alleged debt is outside stat. or you really can prove that you did nothing to incur the debt. There are a few other reasons why you can prove they got the wrong party.

Maybe you already paid the debt and can prove it.

You got rid of your cellphone just to avoid creditor harassment? Did you not realize that cellphones have contact lists and once a call is made from someone you don't want to deal with all you need is to put them in your contact list and when their name shows up you just ignore it. Salesmen, creditors alike. Don't get rid of the phone. Get rid of the nuisance the easy way. Put them in your contact list.

Never answer calls from unknown persons? How else will you know whether you want to talk to them or not? Might be a call you really wanted or maybe better yet a call from a debt collector. Wouldn't want to miss one of those now, would we?

 

Actually, I didn't get rid of the cellphone to avoid creditor harassment, but it did have that effect. I made the mistake of using the phone for my job rather than accepting a payroll deduction for a company phone and ended up with a huge overage that I couldn't afford to pay. I tried to get the cellphone provider to reduce the bill but they wouldn't budge so I quit paying on it and let it charge off. However, since that cellphone number was on file with other creditors that I quit paying when my hours were cut at work, I was getting collection calls on it. Now I never get them, and I'm very happy about that.

 

Personally, I would do nothing. The more time that passes without a payment, and without the creditors taking legal action, the more likely that you can eventually settle for much less money. That is the strategy I am employing, and hopefully it will be successful.

Currently, I have 2 charged off credit cards, a charged off cellphone contract, a charged off bank account, and several medical bills which have gone to collections and been charged off. All of the debts were charged off from 2008 to 2009. I have received settlement offers in the mail on most of these debts, however the percent that they're asking for is too high, and I am currently not working, so I could not pay even if I wanted to. However, as time progressed, I got more generous settlement offers from some of the creditors. Discover Card was willing to settle for 50 percent, and T-Mobile was willing to settle for 40 percent.

For me, it's a moot point, because due to repeated layoffs and a general decline of the industry in which I was working, I decided to take my family's advice and go to college. As a full-time student, I don't have the money, or the desire to pay anything on these debts ever again. In the event of a lawsuit, I will file for bankruptcy protection.

Depending on how large your total debts are compared to your income, you might want to consider that as well.