I've been trying to settle an MBNA account that is 150 days past due. An account rep just threatened me with a lawsuit and that they will take "anything and everything" I own. Is there a violation here???
Was this by phone or mail? If its by mail, keep it, if its by phone, get a name? write down time? Document the entire phone call? Cause that is a violation right there.
Yes, if your state laws does not allow them to take personal property, that would be making false threats, violation of the FDCPA.
This was by phone and I have her name -- I have been working with a VP at MBNA -- should I call her now and report this to her ?
If you are in a state where you can record calls without the other person's consent, I would call her back, purposely bring up what she told you earlier so that she can restate it and confirm what she said in the previous call and nail her!
Be careful of that "VP" at MBNA. The person you may be speaking with might be the "VP" of the "BS" department. Get everything in writing. Don't worry about what state your in when it comes to recording calls. Your doing for your protection and if you need to use their threats on the phone to you, I highly doubt they are aware of what states you can record and those that you cannot. Most of the time, it's not that you can't record just for the fact of recording but what you do with the recording. If you work for a governmental agency, have them call you at work. There is no expectation of privacy on anyones part when they call a gov't phone line. Record all you want. You need to protect yourself first. No prosecutor worth his weight would go after a person for recording calls with a creditor. Not in a million years.
Susanna, My personal opinion, but I don't think they're bluffing. You owe $18K and have exchanged a flurry of faxes trying to settle for 60%. They know you have money or, access to money. I don't know how to advise you but be careful. BK may be the most realistic option. Save your MIL's money for rebuilding.
kozman, I disagree. I had a friend record a phone call in a state where it was not allowed without permission. He was putting together a case against a crook who had defrauded investors out of millions. When it came out that the phone all was recorded illegally, the defense attorney pressured the prosecutor to prosecute my friend for this felony. And, the prosecutor did. My friend had to get an attorney and defend himself against a felony. He got off, but it was unbelievable stress.
Sorry to hear that. I'm sure there is more to that story that you may not know about. Why would the defense attorney care about prosecuting that guy. Doesn't do anything for his case, the phone call was obviously thrown out, that's all he cares about. I'd still do it in a minute. File all the charges you want but it still takes a judge or jury to find you guilty and if someone is threatening me like some of these creditors do, I take a chane with the judge or jury understanding why I did it. Each to his own.
How did your friend "get off the charges?" Dropped, not guilty? That's the chance we all take when we take measures to protect ourselves. Anyone can file whatever they want on you. That's the way are system is set up unfortunately, but in the end, right does win out, usually
By the way, wherever your friend lives has a spineless prosecutor. He should have told the def. atty. to jump off the nearest cliff, I don't have def. atty's dictating who I charge.
His attorney prevailed on the prosecutor to drop the charges. But, he was still arrested, still had to post bail, had to hire an attorney. I was very much involved in it and, no, there was nothing more to it. The defense attorney for the bad guy used a lot of pressure to get the prosecutor to file. That is something I would never go through.
Sounds like that whole situation arose out of a worthless PA who wouldn't stand up to the scary little def. atty.
Keepmine, A sr. account exec called me and said he was listening in on the call...offered to settle the account for 9K, no deletions. What should I do?
Kozman, I have tried -- they say it is MBNA policy and will only report "accurate" information to the CRAs...If I don't take the settlement, they say they'll refer this to a third party for arbitration. Not sure what to do here...(I have to borrow this money for my MIL)
Has anyone here ever gone to arbitration? Maybe there you could get a decent deal and the deletion that you want. Look at your paperwork that came witht he account. See who, if anyone is listed, conducts the arbitration. You can still bring legal representation with you to the arbitration hearing. Or maybe tell them you want to go to arbitration and wait it out for a few and see if they warm-up a little to your offer as the meeting date draws nearer. Be leary of arbitration, a good attorney in a court of law can do alot of damage to a creditor. I know everyone bad mouths the court systm but sometimes it does do what it suppose to do. Sometimes arbitration says, "OK, I won't fight to hard for my rights."
Susanna, Before I borrowed another nickel from family, I'd file bk. But, if your not willing to do that, I'd say take the deal.
