Hey all its been awhile sense I posted here lost my wife to breast cancer in November and have been busy with that. I need some input. I had a TL on my CRA's from Mercury Finance which I disputed 02/03 well ever sense them I have been getting collection letters from Consumer Portfolio Services sent them got a collection letter from them on 02/28/2003 saying I owed them 8,000 on the car that they had repoed and sold with the typical " this is an attempt to collect a debt" I found out that in 2002 they acquired Mercury Finance . I sent them out a dispute letter on 3/07/03 asking for validation as of this date have never received any form of validation yet they have harassed me with over 20 collection calls 15 collection letters they have pulled 3 hards on my credit reports two within a two month period with EX, one by Mercury Finance in Feb 03 and the last collection letter I got from them stated this is the final demand prior to referral to an attorney in your area. My question is they are a loan company that makes high interest car loans with car dealers but they have a collection department, I am getting ready to sue them in Federal court and I was was wondering do I have FDCPA violations as well as OC violations or are they Just considered the OC. ANother note all the letters I got from them after the first one does not have the "this is an attempt to collect a debt" it just says loan servicing center. I need Help guys . Also have a tape of one of their collectors calling me and Idiot and telling me I could not sue them cause all I have is a P. O. box address and that I can't serve a lawsuit to a PO box.
ok just so we can clarify. mercury was the OC and sold your loan - not to a collection agency but to another creditor. you are being harassed by their inhouse collectors. are the collectors using the same business name as the main company or a seperate name? i do know that *some aspects* of the FDCPA do not apply to the OC's. i think not validating and calling you names would apply to them however.
Yes Mercury was the OC and CPS baught out Mercury Finance and they are now trying to collect through their in house collection Division they have their own collection Division. Hope this clears this up.
Was your car repo'd when it was Mercury Finance, or had the purchase by CPS already taken place, and they repo'd it? Aren't you in TX, or am I confused? Thinkin' out loud again...
caveat: I have never dealt with a debt large enough to warrant being sued, I´ve only dealth with small money stuff. Before you go to court, you might want to rack up more violations against them. You state that you sent out a validation letter on 3/7/03, did you send it Certified Return Receipt Requested? Did you use the validation letter included in the sample letters section: http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25 I would go through the whole validation series in the sample letters section, mailed to the parent company Consumer Portfolio Services, who would be considered an OC I believe. Once you are through the series, you should have plenty on them to get them good in court. One question, if they repoed the car, do you actually owe them any money? Are they saying the sale of the car didn´t cover your debt? Or do they not realize they repoed the car in the first place and are coming after you for everything originally due?
OK to jlynns question 1 no am in Ohio, 2 Mercury Repoed it just before CPS bought them out. now to the post just above mine Forgot his name. have them on about 30 violations they never listed it with any of the CRA's as in Dispute and I ALWAYS send all letter out CMRRR so there is 3 violations they pulled 3 hards on my experian credit report in a 3 month period pulled my Eq report 2 times in a two month period they have never validated this debt as mine or what its for yet have received about 7 collection letters and 15 collection calls. so what are we at so far... 8 FCRA violations and about 25 FDCPA violations oh and they verified it with all 3 CRA but never validated it with me so there is 3 more. I am not afraid to go to federal Court with them in fact have done 4 suits in federal court have one pending now on Physicans Credit Bureau, just trying to figure out if I can use FDCPA as well as FCRA in my suit. Hope this clears things up a bit. if they say I owe that much after they respoed the car and sold it auction and they in fact never notified me of the sale they sold a 14,000 Olds Bavadra for around 6,000 and that is F**Ked up.
Mercury Repoed it just before CPS bought them out. lsmith15 ><- <>- ><- <> I think I just read a post the other day that said if the debt was in default or delinquent at the time of purchase the buyer becomes a CA or Debt collector. If this is true it automatically makes CPS a CA regarding this debt even though their main business is an OC.
Take a look at this one, and see what you think: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/arbuckle.htm
Yes thanks jlynn I owe u a big kiss that answers my question for me. I am now just waiting to see what CPS is gonna do if they do file a suit against me in my home town thats when I will pull the trigger and sue them in Federal Court, and they know what I am waiting for have told about 4 of there employees in collections and two people who say they are the collection lawyers for Mercury and CPS......so if they sue me I will sue them if they leave me alone I leave them alone.
