i am new here, just found the site through searching for answers. the situation briefly, discover card had initially been a pretty good card for the family uses, long story short, the card was at my max limit, had 4000 in credit with 1000 cash limit. i had been making payments regularly and then as most of us have done, i fell behind on a payment. my card balance was appor 3900 at the time, and the min payment was around 160. so when the payment went late, they charged late payment and over the limit fees. which hurt. but i paid them that month and called them to try and cancel the card so i wouldnt be accruing more fees and all. but the person i talked to was very unhelpfull and down right rude, telling me my only option was to make the payments on time or pay the balance. i tried on several occasions to resoplve the issues with the CCC, and after getting frustated at them telling me to pay the balance or else. i stopped the payments, therfore they started attaching the late payments and the over the limit fees and all to the card balance. now the balance is 5200.00 now to the question. they had me served with a civil summons friday. now it doesnt have any court date set, just a 30 day contact request. my question is what should i do, and where should i go from here. what should i expect, has any else went through this before. any help would be gretly appreciated.
its been a while, at least a year since i made the last payment and tried to get them to stop the fees and all. i was wondering if they would try the arbitrations first, considering i diddnt dispute the charges, only the late fees and the over the limit fees past the time i called them and tried to work it out, so the initial 3900 would be what i would consider legitamate. but without any court dates, i have to see what would be my best approach i am gonna call the legal aid dept this afternoon, but according to their site, i probably am out limits of income, i would consider myself lower middle class for income, and they are set up for the poverty level. so i would assume i wont meet the requirements. thanks for any help
Well, you're within the statute of limitations for sure so you need to respond. Since it's still with the original creditor you can bet they have supporting docs saying what you owe. If I were you I'd try calling the plaintiff's attorney and see if you can work out a settlement agreement. If you can't get any help there try responding to the summons with a sworn denial. You need to respond either way. Send the court a copy of the agreement or the denial depending on which route you go.
Like Phantom mentioned - try to negotiate a settlement/payment plan that YOU can afford. Don't let them BS you into a lump sum settlement payment but a payment plan. If they already know who you bank with and already have your account #, change banks.
Escrow? I have a related question. Say you have a debt you intend to pay, but due to unethical or illegal activities by the creditor which damage you; you refuse to pay until they remedy the problem. You refuse in writing and make them aware that you are placing their payments in escrow and will release payment when they remedy your complaint. If either party files a lawsuit, will you be in a strong position because you demonstrated a willingness to pay and have relatively hard evidence to support your position? Escrow isn't a complicated thing, and I think quite a few banks offer escrow accounts as an inexpensive service. It seems like that would be an important thing to do in a dispute like this one. It assumes you have the money to fund the escrow, but it appears that mikedb1972 could do that. Thoughts? Does anyone have experience with that sort of thing? Thanks, Sean
Don't think escrow accounts like that would work. What bank would you open this escrow account at? The creditor's?
Well, I'd set up the escrow at the bank at which I normally do business, so that I could do an easy electronic funds transfer. Unless I'm completely mistaken about what escrow is, I recall that it's a disclosed secure type of depository. You put funds on deposit with a trusted entity, and they disclose to the likely payee that you have an escrowed deposit of X amount which will transfer to them when a particular condition of the depositor is met. I'm not entirely sure how to set up an escrow account at my bank, but I'm pretty sure they offer escrow as a service. It's commonly done by landlords for holding security deposits on rental properties. A very friendly landlord who was an accountant by day explained some of escrow mechanics to me, and it appears to be an excellent and admissible good faith instrument. About 14 years ago, some friends in western MA had a disagreement with their landlord over septic system repairs. They thought the septic needed repairs, he thought bubbling sinks that smelled like sewage were normal. As a first step in their disagreement with him, they withheld rent, and put it in escrow. My friends had the escrow depository send the landlord relevant information about the escrow, and sent the landlord an explanation of the escrow and reiterated their complaint and their desired remedy. He tried to evict, and they countersued for relief and remedy (repairs). The judge denied the eviction and found for my friends. My friends think they won because they had the rent held in escrow and were able to present copies of their letters and the escrow paperwork. They weren't otherwise seeking damages, and the proceedings occurred in small claims court. Yes, they released the entirety of escrowed back rent to their landlord. Promptly. They owed, they paid. Would something like that be a strong strategy when dealing with a creditor? Could you sue a predatory OC or CA if the original agreement is changed unilaterally by them, or if they refuse to come to the table when you present them with a good faith offer to pay the principal debt in full? I know the unilateral change isn't kosher. That breaks the meeting of the minds concept necessary for any form of contract... Actually, is anyone a lawyer or judge here or have an experience which would affirm or undermine my pet theory? (Is that a legit question here, Mr. Moderator? Apologies if it's not.) If mikedb1972 can fix this problem, how would you keep it fixed if you were him? Timely preventative or maintenance activities are almost always more effective and less stressful than remedial solutions no matter what you're doing... Thanks, -S
