Hello, About one year I stopped paying on my Bank of America gold loan of 30k balance. I simply got in over my head and could not afford the payments, much less the amount it would take to crawl my way out of debt. Of course losing my job only compounded my problem. I expected to be sued right away because the amount of debt is so large, I am young and able bodied, and I live in the relatively good economic climate of San Francisco (as opposed to somewhere like Michigan). Oddly enough, I have not been sued yet and it has surprising how little Bank of America actually attempted to call me or write me a letter. I have not communicated to them at all in one year. Just the other day I received a letter from Professional Recovery Services out of New jersey saying that I have one month to contact them to make payment arrangements or they will get a judgment. How realistic is this? I know they can't just get a judgment and potentially garnish my wages without first serving me and taking me to court, actually showing, and winning before the judge can issue the judgment and therefore the right to garnish wages. Does this sound like a bluff? How likely am I to get sued when it hasn't happened for a year? Is it likely to just be sold to another collector 6 months down the road with the same threats? I could care less about my credit and a judgment on my record, I just don't want to go through the hassle of having my wages garnished and losing 25% of each paycheck (I have a new job now, albeit at significantly lower wage than previously). My plan was to simply wait and see if I get sued and if I did, just file chapter 7. (I already met an attorney and found out I qualify). But the fact that I haven't been sued or really contacted gave me the impression I might somehow not have to deal with this and eventually after 48 months they cannot even sue me and eventually after 7 years it would fall off my credit report. Also, I have not used any credit cards since this went down a year ago. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated. Thanks Brad
There's always a possibility that they're simply posturing with the threatening language of their initial dunning letter, but that in and of itself is a violation of 15 USC §1692e if they have no intentions of following through with it. I'm assuming that this is also the very first communication you've gotten in the mail from PRS. Does the letter also state that you have 30 days to dispute the vailidity of it? If not, that's a violation of 15 USC §1692g(a). If I were you, though, I would take the threat of a judgment seriously as they're very nasty things once a CA obtains one against you, and why force yourself to utilize the "final option" of Chapter 7 if you don't have to? Your best bet right now, especially since it's so early in the game, is to send a simple validation letter to the collection agency's corporate address via Certified Mail with a Return Receipt. The key is to keep it concise. It should say no more than: "I hereby dispute and request validation of this debt." and "It is inconvenient for me to receive phone calls at any time or place. Please conduct all future communications solely in writing to my address above." That's about all the advice I can really give you. A validation letter isn't an aegis against a lawsuit, but it does send a clear message to the CA that you aren't going to be another roll over debtor or an easy target for a default judgment. Good luck.
