HELP me please!!! I am in a bit of a quandry and need some advice! I have a credit card with Home Depot which went delinquent. I am embarrased to say that it was for $15K. There is no excuse except I became unemployed and unable to make payments. Unfortunately, I have LTD financial calling saying that they are going to sue me and they need to take a deposition. Not only from me but from my friends, neighbors, relatives you name it! I need to resolve this and need advise on the best course forward on how to go about doing it. Please help
They may very well sue you, but there would be no reason to take a deposition, or tell you they need to, before actually suing you. Nor would there be any reason to take depositions from your friends, neighbors, relatives, etc, even if they did sue you. What you are dealing with is an FDCPA violation for harassment by their threatening to embarass you by disclosing the debt to third parties, another if they fail to sue you as they threatened, and another if they actually did communicate with a third party as they threatened to: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#805 "(b) COMMUNICATION WITH THIRD PARTIES. Except as provided in section 804, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector. " At this point, what are your prospects for paying off the debt?
I am so humiliated but at this point there is no option of paying off the debt in full! I can make small payments, $100 per month, but am not in a position at the moment to pay off the entire thing. This is my one big debt and I realize that I incurred it and should be responsible for it. I must elaborate because this is through the Home Depot business cards - hence I am liable as a business. I never incorporated, yes, totally stupid I know!, and was still given a $15K limit. So, the Credit Card is in the business name and my initials are on the card with my last name. Thanks so much Ontrack!!!
help ontrack please!!!! I just found out these people called my mother, an old tenant of hers leaving the same messages. Basically saying that they were sending someone out to evaluate her!! assets and liabilities. She has nothing to do with this!! And, they told the same thing to her old tenant. The messages are horrible and they sound as though they are going to take her to court! Ontrack I did both fax and send the letter you suggested. Thanks for that!
"I just found out these people called my mother, an old tenant of hers leaving the same messages. Basically saying that they were sending someone out to evaluate her!! assets and liabilities. She has nothing to do with this!!" No she doesn't. Assuming she is not a guarantor or cosigner on the debt, it appears that they are trying to intimidate her into paying your debt. She could sue them herself, under FDCPA, for their threats and harassment, including their implication that she owes a debt, or that they are intending to sue her to collect a debt (What else can "evaluating her assets and liabilities" mean to an unsophisticated consumer?), regardless of any debt you owe. She might have additional damages if they have been harassing her tenants. Have they pulled her credit reports? In fact, if they have found that she has acted afraid of them, they are likely to continue harassment, if she has money, and they think they can get her to pay. That would be little different from extortion. She would be wise to contact an attorney herself, or possibly her local district attorney. How old is she? In addition, you could separately sue for their disclosure of the debt to a third party. Actually I don't see a suggestion of a letter, but you could do the usual dispute/request validation, with a request that they not call, and see what additional violations they rack up. If they already have your address and have contacted you there, there is no reason to be contacting anyone else, since they don't have to locate you. Keep in mind that for $15K, assuming the debt is recent and within SOL, there is little reason for them not to sue, other than you appear totally broke, but that is the case whether they harass you or not, so you might as well insist that they stop harassing you, even if they can obtain a judgement. Since they apparently are embarked on a campaign of contacting and harassing third parties, including relatives, and it is probable that they know what they are doing is illegal but they figure you can't do anything since your actions are pinned by owing $15K, it may be unlikely that they will stop with just a letter. You should contact an attorney that deals with FDCPA violations. Maybe their actions are blatant enough that you can sue and/or negotiate something off the debt, and in any case, you have to stop this. And in any case, for $15K, you may need one eventually anyway. You might check: www.naca.net
