My daughter who is in college got a call today from a citi bank credit card debt collector.In her first year in college(she is now in her 3rd year) she ran up a credit card under a 1000.00 this was three years ago.Now they called her and told her he was going to submit a summons for her to appear in court if she did not pay this, he pursuaded her to give him her banking account number for a draft. She does good being a college kid to have less than 100.00 in her acct. Is this legal to file a court summons, and to pursuaded her to give him her acct number. She was crying that someone was going to take her to court,shes a good college kid that made a mistake her first year in college and doesnt have the funds to pay it back right now. Please someone out there HELP me out if you have ever had this happen!!!!Please tell me if it is LEGAL to tell you they are sending you a court summons and you are going to court. Thanks Marilyn
Yes its legal, she owes citibank money. She has a choice, to pay it back or not, and they have the choice to sue you to get their money. The right thing to do would be to arrange a payment plan or settlement, i assume her credit is ruined for 7 years already..
Have her call her bank and have it "frozen" so Citi cannot remove any funds from it. She made a mistake in giving out the account number. Others here can most likely give you good information on where to go and what to do in this situation.
Thank you so much for the reply I have to call the credit card company this morning. My daughter is off at college and it is really scary for her.I will try to work out a payment plan with them but they have tacked on soooo much interest. What was about a 1000.0o balance they have gotten up to 3,000.00. no wonder people dont want to pay any of it back. Credit card companies prey on the innocent and nieve college kids..... Marilyn
Thanks Sam for your reply, I was so concerned about her being away at college and getting a court summons, she was very upset they were going to put her in jail. My main consern was if they could legally file a summons on her. I have never heard of a credit card company doing that, especially after 3 years, I would have figured they would have wrote it off too bad debit. These credit card companies set up on college campus and prey on the young nieve college kids. She has definatly learned her lesson and watches her finances very carefully.
Okay, not sure I fully understand - but a collector is not allowed to threaten suit unless they fully intend to follow through with it. However, we know how that probably goes. If it happens again, I would refuse the call and ask for everything in writing, including the intent of the collector to sue you (your daughter). I would call my bank and have my account frozen or switched. It is most likely not citibank who will remove funds but whatever collection company that contacted your daughter instead.
Heh. This is america, you don't go to jail for debt. Likewise, if you don't appear in court for the summons, you'll get a summary judgement placed against you. The best solution, is to work out a lump sum settlement amount and pay it for her, and then make her pay you back.. Personally, i don't buy the b/s that CC companies prey on college students: 1. They are adults, old enough to have sex/marry, go to war, get a job. 2. They are most certainly responsible for their own actions, and its about time mommy and daddy lets them stand on their own two feet. 3. I think its the responsibility of the parents,(since the government doesn't do this) to teach your kids what credit cards are, how to use them, and the consequences of improper use. Hell i think this should be a required course in school. *rant mode off flame suit on*
Sam, my mom didn't teach me.....I had 11 cards at age 18. Now five years later, I am kicking myself.... chele + credit cards = bad LOL
Yes Credit Card companies do prey on the College Kids, because they know if they charge up credit cards "and they will!" MOMMY and DADDY will pay them off. You should go to the campus on registering day, they are lined up ready to give out there "free"koozies and "free"t-shirts. I saw a documentary on TV where kids are committing suicide because they didnt want to tell there parents they were in credit card debt, and felt like there was no way out. You can teach and preach to your teenagers that go off to college till you have no voice left, but when they are off at College away from parents they are going to do what they want to do and worry about the reprecussions later. Yes my daughter made this mistake (3) years ago but she has also learned from it. She is very good her finances now, and this did teach her a lesson in return. "HIND SITE IS 20-20". PS. Just wondering do you have College Kids? Thanks for the reply Marilyn
And whats stopping your college kid from getting a jobbie-job to pay the debt? I sure as heck had to work a job to pay my bills, my college tuition, and my credit cards...
Sam My Daughter goes to school 16 hours this semester, has a job, hardly any free time, when shes not at school shes working (30 hrs a week). Doesnt take any summers off from college.Pays her own apt rent and bills. Marilyn
I just wonder if we can start from the beginning here? A question or so. 1. Is this now in the hands of a 3rd party debt collector? 2. Do you have any of the collection letters they sent you and if so, how many do you have? 3. Has any actual suit been filied? If so, when? 4. Has she or you made any attempt to dispute the debt with the collector? 5. Is any attorney involved at this time? I'd have a few more, but the main question is do you actually want to pay $3000 for a debt with an actual value of $1000? Why even try to set up any payment plans when the fact is that if you pay them off your daughter will have to live with the bad credit ratings for 7 years after the last payment is made? Better just to tell them where to go and how fast and wipe it off the records once and for all. That's what I think
I have to reply here. I am a full-time college student and I work full-time. I have bills too, and I also have debt. My parents NEVER taught me about money. NEVER. I had to learn on my own. Especially when AT&T gave me a platinum card with no job. As a college student, remembering my freshman year, I was HAPPY to get away from my parents telling me no to something I wanted. A credit card to an 18 year old is like a 4 year old in a candy store. They buy what they want and figure that they will pay for it later, or in the case of the 4 year old, mommy and daddy will take care of it. When we are young, we are taught by our parents that they will take care of us. That whole unconditional love thing. When we grow up and become adults, it is hard to break that learned behavior. I am not trying to explain anything for anyone, I'm just telling you from my point of view. As far as the original poster is concerned, tell your daughter to not take any more phone calls from these people and to get all correspondence in writing. It is illegal for a collection agency to threaten to sue for payment when they have no intention to sue. You need to make sure that they are in fact going to sue and proceed forward from there. If she can send them $50/month and have them freeze the interest, at least she is not getting further in debt. I'm sure that they will be happy with anything that she can send them, even if it's only $2. EVERYTHING needs to be in writing. Search the sample letter database for a payment for deletion letter and make it suit her needs. You need to let her handle this if she is going to learn to be more responsible. Hope this helps.
Hi Marilyn, I'm Linda - the one you've been emailing. Ignore Sam and listen to Erica. Sam's gf must've cut him off this week.
Give Marilyn a break, Sam. There is no need to be "jobbie-job" condescending. This reminds he of the time you accused me of trying to extract a profit (spamming) by posting an MSN Web site that offered discount credit reports. (I was posting as Darrell back then.) I didn't appreciate your post to me, and it's hard to respect the tone you took with a Mom who is clearly concerned about the situation confronting her daughter. This young college student, I believe, should open a new checking account with a new number and close the old one. She then should seek expert help from someone at the university in a position of trust, from Legal Aid or from a professional. I agree with Bill. More info is needed to develop a strategy. It is important for the young woman to determine the identity of the collector and to order credit reports from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Each has a dot.com web address. Example: www.experian.com. Marilyn: There is no debtor's prison in the United States. Criminal charges cannot be brought. What we're talking about here, I believe, is a LOW possibility that Citibank or its agents will file a civil lawsuit for breach of the credit-card agreement. Good luck to you, Mom and daughter.
Maurice: read Heh. This is america, you don't go to jail for debt. Likewise, if you don't appear in court for the summons, you'll get a summary judgement placed against you I said this already. Also read: my daughter made this mistake (3) years ago but she has also learned from it. She is very good her finances now, and this did teach her a lesson in return. My vote marilyn, introduce her to this message forum, where SHE can learn to handle this OLD issue and repair her damaged credit and settle this.
