I have been going round and round with two CA's and keep getting two collection notices with different amounts, I have disputed the charges four times with these agencies yet they are still charging interest and fees up to providing a computer generated printout as validation. I have tried to contact the original creditor but they keep telling me to talk to the CA, I finally submitted a complaint to the BBB which they responded that they have only charged $17 in interest yet failed to mention the fees, I got a notice today that is $300 more than the last one I got, yet now the fee space is blank, but is obviously included. I know at this point, I only legitimately owe $498 but they are threatening to take "whatever steps necessary to collect" if I don't respond in 10 days, I have submitted a request for mediation through the BBB and can provide documents that they have falsified their defense, but I need to come up with a settlement letter and I have heard that mentioning filing bk can cause the to CA to settle for a lesser amount any advice is appreciated.
I'm not an expert, but they keep givin you different amounts, lying to the BBB, givin you paper with missing amounts, and you wanna be NICE and settle? HAHA (I'm not laughing at you) If it were me, I WOULDN'T pay them a dime. In fact, I'd demand money. Someone can step in and answer this right from a legal standpoint - but I know there's alot of things wrong
If you want to get laughed at then go ahead and tell them that if they don't do what you want you will file BK. They probably hear that dozens of times a day. The stock answer is usually something to the effect that they would like you to have your attorney contact you when you file. After that they keep on trying to collect. So that usually gets you nowhere at all. A better tactic is to file a federal lawsuit on them and then watch them provide you with a settlement letter instead of you hunting for one. The collection agencies usually wait until the Rule 26 hearing is about to take place and then come up with a settlement letter for you. Just depends on how good your case is and how well you have put it together.
EXACTLY... Charging fees not authorized by the agreement or state law... False and misleading representation of the amount, character, and legal status of the debt...
The filing fees are only $350 but you will need to take maybe $10 more with you if you are paying cash because you will have to pay for the service on them. So figure $360 by the time you get out the federal courthouse door. Best you don't take anything metal with you except your car keys and maybe your cellphone. As you may know most courthouses have metal detectors at their entrances. Seems they don't like people shoving sawed off 12 gauge shotguns down their pants legs and shooting judges anymore. LOL I always carry 2 knives with me. Both of them are Kershaw knives. One is actually a visegrip multiplier that has a knife in it. The other is just a plain lock blade. I forgot to leave the lock blade in the car and the guard asked me whether I wanted to take it back to my car or would I rather they dispose of it. Like I'm about to let them dispose of a $140 knife???? I park in a parking garage so I don't need to take any change with me so I leave that in the car too but just forgot the knife. Don't even take my wristwatch in with me. My cellphone will tell me what time it is if I need to know. I took my digital camera in one day also by mistake and they didn't complain about that but told me I couldn't take any pictures inside the building. They don't like any kind of tape or digital voice recorders either. I used to take a digital voice recorder with me but not since they put the metal detectors in the local courthouse. Don't wear a big belt buckle or steel toed shoes. They will make you take those off too. I wonder how women that have metal wires in their bra get through the durn things without having to take that off. After all, that little wire could actually be used as a garote. Those things aren't perfect howver. I went through them with a friend who was wearing dentures. He commented that it was funny his dentures didn't set the detectors off because he claimed that both his uppers and lowers had heavy silver wires buried in them. Said they had both broken from time to time and he used pure silver wire about as thick as paper clips to fix them.
