Okay to my surprise I called Citibank to make a payment and they tell me that my account has been turned over to a "legal" department. I call and they would not accept my payment unless I paid the account in full or the 400 dollars that my account was overlimit. I had not made a payment in a few months and was trying to catch up. Now I am recieving a letter from Gulf State Credit, LLC Litigation Network saying that Citibank is considering filing a lawsuit against me. They gave me 2 payment options (Neither of the 2 I can afford). Help what do I do. If I do not pay will it just show on my credit report? Or is this a lawsuit that could go to court and all that. Please someone help!!!
I would suggest LKH, LizardKing, or PsychDoc's help here. I wuld like to offer my opinion, but their's is probably a bit better.
Hi Nia, I am assuming you just got a letter from gulf state within the last 30 days? If this is correct, you need to send them a validation letter asap. You can find it in the letter section or do a search here for validation letter. Send it to them asap, certified mail, return receipt requested. In all likelyhood, they will not respond. At that point you send them an estoppel. When you get to that point, let us know and we will steer you in the right direction. What a validation does is make the collection agency prove the validity of the debt and show that you have some obligation to them (which you don't). So send the validation for now.
Thanks sooo much! I just called Shantel and she told me the same thing. She also told me to work with Citibank and see if they will take payments from me. I just got the letter today. Does anyone have history on Gulf State?
If you do work something out with citi, make sure it is going to benefit you, ie: no negatives on your credit report. If they will only report it as a paid charge off or similar, it does you no good as a pd. and unpaid chargeoff on your reports are both just as bad in the eyes of credit grantors.
Nia, When you made your last payment on the CitiBank account, was the account already delinquent? CardKid
Give them a sob story about why you got delinquent and that you really want to take care of this and keep a good relationship with them. Ask them to reinstate it after you catch up and to remove all delinquencies from your report. They probably won't do it but it doesn't hurt to ask. And if you do come to an agreement, get it in writing.
Hi, first I just want to thank you all for all of you help. I have just got off the phone with Citibank and they could not help me. They said that OSI has my account. The letter came from Gulf State. I was wondering if you could help me with negotiating with them. First I am going to try and type up a letter to get them to verify the dept. But if they do verify it how do I need to deal with them. What is the best way to handle this situation. LKH thanks so much, I sent you an e-mail.
Okay now, I'm panicking. I just got off the phone with a Gulf State rep. Thanks to this board I did not acknowledge a dept. I told him that I would contact him in writing. He said that he is trying to help me settle my account before it goes to an attorney on 12/30/01. I was working on the validation letter before he called. He gave me his number and told him to call him back to avoid the dept going to an attorney. Question 1. Should I call him back and negotiate the debt. (In no way am I saying that I actually occurred the debt) Question2. Should I just go ahead with the letter even though he said that I have until 12/30/01. Will the letter get there on time. He said that if I send the letter to Florida it won't help because he is in GA. HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPP... Thanks in advance hate to be such a bother.
First, you should be aware that Gulf State is one of the absolute sleaziest collection agencies. Don't believe a SINGLE WORD they say unless you have it in writing. Second, how much was the total amount of this debt? That has a huge influence on whether you might be sued over it? Third, DON'T EVER TALK TO THEM ON THE PHONE. Tell them only to communicate with you in writing. If they call you after you have told them not to, they are violating the FDCPA. Fourth, send the VALIDATION request immediately via certified / return receipt mail. It forces them to prove that the debt is actually yours. In the letter, be sure to state that you only wish to communicate in writing. Fifth, collection agencies always want to impose FALSE DEADLINES and other URGENCY MEASURES against people in order to intimidate them. Don't believe it. It 90% likely that the agent was lying to you. Besides, if they were going to sue you, they'd have to be able to provide the court with SAME VALIDATION of the debt that you are legally entitled to request. Hope this helps. Don't be intimidated by Gulf State slime. Greg
Thanks Greg...Can you believe they just called back and hung up on me. I'm gonna get this letter done right now and send it off tomorrow certified return reciept. I have been recearching this company via this board and it seems that everyone has the same opionion.
Well I had a conversation just like yours back in 1998. I haven't heard from the lawyer yet. Don't talk to them. And if they are calling and hanging up on you then record it document it and you have good evidence to use in court against them.
Hi. Sorry to jump in late but I have a few questions. I also have a Citi account listed in collections. It listed with OSI and Asset Acceptance on TU, Asset Acceptance and Gulf State on Eq, and Asset Acceptance on Ex. The original debt was $1800 and was past due $62. Asset Acceptance now list the debt at just over $3K, go figure. OSI and Gulf State both still list it at $1862. I never received any corespondence from either of this companies and I would like to clear up this matter. Last correspondence from Citi was back in 95-96. How should I address this situation.
If the date of last activity was in 1995, I wouldn't address it at all as it should fall off your reports this year. And, if it is that old, most likely the statute of limitations has run so they are sol. The only thing I would do is dispute it with the cra's.
Nia, Don't take any crap from these crooks. Assuming you received the first letter from gulf state within the past 30 days, they cannot continue collection activity if you send them the validation, until they do validate. Send a cease and desist letter with the validation stating you will only accept correspondence from them via mail. If they call, tell them the same thing and hang up. I sent them a validation in August and they still haven't validated despite receiving 2 more letters since then. I filed a lawsuit against them last week and will have them served in the near future. Do everything by mail and they will hang themselves. By the way, I didn't get your email.
