While I already have my own opinion about the subject, I would like to ask the opinion of people I consider to be far more knowledgable in these matters. As the title of my thread implies, I would like to know what my chances are of getting sued? Here's a little background: I have 5 charge-offs on my report right now, all of which have been sent to collection agences. The date of the charge-offs range from 2/2002-5/2002 so they are somewhat recent. For the most part, most of the collection agencies have given up collecting on their own without the use of validation and/or C&D letters. There are a couple who haven't given up as of yet and continue to call. The thing is that I am going to be going back to college soon and I am thinking of sending C&D letters to these CA's so they will stop calling as it is my parents phone and I don't want to put them through the harassment. I have read some posts that indicate if a CA recieves a C&D letter they might proceed with a lawsuit. I also want to note that as of now I have no money, no job, no assets of any kind. I am your typical college student who is stone broke. The debts in question are all under $2000 with most being under $1000 My opinon on this subject is that because the debts are so small and I have nothing to collect on it would be a waste of time for them to pursue legal action. Am I a fool for thinking this or should I just leave things as they are and do anything? Any advice would be appreciated.
I have no idea if you'll get sued or not but, I wouldn't be so quick to rule it out. They sue you and win and get a judgment. You go on with school and the judgment just lays around accuring interest for however long you state allows. The CA knows if you ever want a home you'll have to deal with them or, as you get closer to getting back in the work force, more employers are checking your credit. Point is, nobody is judgment proof. All it takes is one OC or CA with no sense of humor to truely screw that idea to the wall.
THIS IS JUST MY OPINION 1. The date of the charge-offs range from 2/2002-5/2002 so they are somewhat recent. It's too early to tell. Some wait until right at the SOL expiration to try to collect. 2. For the most part, most of the collection agencies have given up collecting on their own without the use of validation and/or C&D letters. There are a couple who haven't given up as of yet and continue to call. See #1 3. The thing is that I am going to be going back to college soon <snip> They may give up since they may perceive that you are broke (if they know you are in school) and waiting 4+ years for you to get some assets may not be worth it to them. On the other hand, they may know that students get cc's by the truckload and may pressure you to pay them that way. 4. I have read some posts that indicate if a CA recieves a C&D letter they might proceed with a lawsuit. They may feel like their back is against the wall and that court is their only means of collecting 5. I also want to note that as of now I have no money, no job, no assets of any kind. I am your typical college student who is stone broke. If they know that you are in school, they may wait until you are out, assuming that you will be making good money, and then try to collect since they will have a better chance of collecting. Fresh out of school+new job+getting established=collection opportunity 6. The debts in question are all under $2000 with most being under $1000. My opinon on this subject is that because the debts are so small and I have nothing to collect on it would be a waste of time for them to pursue legal action. That may be true but it also depends on how money hungry they are. Once again, this is just my opinion.
Re: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION Should I take a more proactive approach with this situation and begin the validation process? If the CA doesn't validate then the debt is uncollectable correct? Does it make a difference if the CA has purchased the debt as opposed to just being assigned the debt. The majorty of my charge-offs were sold to CA's
Re: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION I figured they'd just harass me for a while and then give up because the debts are so small and I have nothing.
Re: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION Perhaps you could work out a payment plan. I mean, don't wait until your out of school to deal with this. I did that, and now it's a pain in the a**. Even though you are in school, you need to get a part-time job if for no other reason than to try to cut down that debt.
Re: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION No, not validating just means they won't collect on it. They'll turn it back to the OC or sell it. Since the CO is so recent validation might be a piece of cake.
My opinion. I agree with the above post. As recent as these are, validation shouldn't be too hard. If it's your debt, get a job and pay them. Settle for deletion. If you want to be haunted for the next seven years (much more with a judgement), then don't pay them. Gib
Re: My opinion. Paying them at this point is not an option. When I go back to college I'll be making minimum wage and I have no financial support from my family so I need what little money I make to live on.
Re: My opinion. If a CA buys a debt from an OC can they turn the debt back to them? I was under the impression they could not.
Re: My opinion. It depends on if it was sold or assigned. If assigned to a CA, they can bump it back to the OC. If it was sold to the CA, the CA will then just sell it to another CA. Re: my above post about getting a part-time job... I also had to go to school and work a low paying job just to support myself w/o help from family, but looking back, I wish that I had taken a year off, worked and paid my bills. Just advice from someone who has been there. Now, I'm 24 and picking up the shattered pieces that were left behind 5 and 6 years ago. I guess what I would do in your shoes is validate first and see what happens. Alot of posters above are saying since the collection is so new, they might not validate and just sell it back. I have to say the opposite. They are more likely to be able to get records for the debts since they are so recent. I would validate just to see what turns up, but I wouldn't bank on them not validating. At that point, you should do whatever you can to prevent a judgement. I don't know what state you are in, but you don't want wage garnishment or anything like that. I would desperately try to pay these debts off and then not fall into the credit card trap again. That's just my honest opinion from someone who has been there.
Re: My opinion. I appreciate your honesty. I'm actually not that much younger than you...I'm 23. I still have another couple of years in college. I know what I am about to say might anger some of the purists on this board, but even if I had the money to pay there people...I'm not sure that I would right now. The fact is that these CA's purchased my alledged debt for 2 or 3 cents on the dollar and expect me to pay them full price for it. To me that just seems wrong. I also know that some might argue that you should always repay all of your debts no matter what. I know everyones situation is different, but mine was that I fell on hard times and at first I was honest with my creditors and tried to work out an amicable solution. What I found was that I hit with late fees, overlimit fees, and in some cases as much as 29.9% interest. I found no sympathy from my creditors and eventually I just walked away. They charged-off my debts, they wrote them off and sold them to the bottom feeders. In my opinion, if lenders were more cooperative with their customers then this situation probably wouldn't happen so much. For example...I've found that the government and companies that give out student loans are extremely helpful if you are in financial straights. If you can't pay right now, they give you forbearance. if your payment plan isn't working...they will agree to one that works for you. If you default...they let you rehabilitate them and restore your credit rating. If these companies can do this...why can't other lenders? "Oh we can't change your credit rating..." The sad truth is that most people don't know that their credit rating CAN be changed...I only found out a few months ago. They lie, they cheat, and they rape people with interest, and then they sell your debts to CA's. In my opinon, when they treat their customers like this, people who default are the cost of them doing business...plain and simple. If they treated us like human beings and not like like assets, scenarios like mine would happen less often. Just so everyone who reads this knows...I am not a deadbeat. Someday I will probably repay some of this debt and settle with my credtors...but it's going to be on MY terms and for substantially less than the full balance. I feel like I am writing an argumentative essay on why bill collectors are evil... I'd like to thank everyone who responded and please feel free to keep this thread going
Re: My opinion. I think I know exactly how you feel. I have certainly had those same thoughts. Maybe a different perspective though, just for the hell of it... When you got the credit (let's just assume credit cards for now) were you aware of the terms? Did they tell you about the late fees and the interest increases that would result? Did they offer to sell you some payment protection plan? Why did you expect them to treat you like anything more than an asset? Did they give you a different impression at any time? You ARE an asset. Sure, they make money off the float, but when you carry a balance they expect to make money on that too. I think when you begin a relationship with a big company, you need to realize that they are NOT going to be personal. They DON'T care about you, just their bottom line. You wanted the credit, they gave it to you. You knew the terms and made the choices that got you in trouble, not them. They are not a charity, they want your money. Now, all this is different if they were not upfront with everything. In either case it doesn't change the fact that they could care less about you, their customer, unless you are making them money. Of course, there are actually places out there that do care, they are just hard to find... footnote: I have no idea what compelled me to write that. I am NOT judging anyone in any way. Prices may vary in Alaska and Puerto Rico.
Re: My opinion. Oh, about paying a CA, I personally never consider paying anyone but the original creditor. If the OC has an agreement with the CA, _they_ can deal with it. I didn't incur the debt with the CA, so I will not pay the CA...
Re: My opinion. I competely agree with what you wrote about them not caring about their customers andt hat they do consider me to be just an asset and nothing more. The statements that I made were not inteded to dispute this, but rather to suggest an alternative attitude for these companies. I believe in the long run if they changed their business practices and treated their customers like people, a couple of things would haappen. First of all...less people would default on their loans/credit cards. I truly believe that the majority of people in our country would rather pay back their debts if they felt they were not trying to be taken advantage of. Secondly...people would start talking about companies who treated their customers like gold and word of mouth advertising is priceless. Said companies would start to recieve business that they otherwise might not have gotten. The point is that both examples would eventually lead to one conclusion. They would make MORE money being LESS greedy. It would be a win-win situation for everyone. People would have the pride of paying off their debts and restoring their credit without having to go through all of the hassles so many people in this forum have experienced and lenders would have less defaults and more business. Granted I know this is an ideal situation and it doesn't take into account people who charge stuff and have no intention of repaying the credit card companies, but I believe the majority of people in our society are not like this. They walk away because they feel as though they have no hope of ever getting ahead, not because they are trying to screw someone. Just something for the industry in this country to think about...
Re: My opinion. Are you sure of this? Are these CC debts, if so, which cards? It's my understanding they'll pay more for newer debts, so it's likely they paid 10-20 cents, if they did in fact buy them. From my experience, many OCs assign debts to the CAs after charge off but don't sell them immediately. Your oldest CO is from early 2002. It's very likely the OC hasn't sold it yet and won't until later this year - as part of year-end bookkeeping. Hubby and I have 8 COs from late-1999 to mid-2000 and to the best of my knowledge, 3 were sold to CAs in late 2001. The CAs for these 3 admitted they bought the debts. Based on CR dates and letters from previous CAs, I can estimate the date they were sold - all sold between Nov-Feb, approx 1 year after CO. The other 5 are still reported by the OCs and we have not received any mail indicating they were bought - CAs write us occassionally to demand payment on behalf of the OC. Your best bet is to either ignore them or attempt to settle for 25-40%. (You'll be lucky if they go for less than 40%, even if they paid 2 cents.) Validation this early may come back complete and if it does, they might go for a judgement, figuring in 4 or 5 years you'll have a job and want to buy a house - then you'll need to pay it off. If you ignore them and wait for 2-3 years, validation has a better chance of failing. But if your last known address/phone is your parents, ignoring them will be much harder - you'll need to send a C&D.
