Well, it's been a long time since I posted here, an a kind of weird situation has come up that has just got me floored. Here's the situation... Mid February I recieved a validation letter from a collection agency concerning a 16+ year old defaulted student loan. Well, since I am battling a life threatening disease and have just ended a 4 year battle with the IRS, who has imposed an insallment agreement utilizing every expendable dollar they could find in my budget, I wrote this CA an explained my circumstances, told them that I did not agree witht he amount they were billing me for, and that I did not recognize them as a valid creditor and that if and when my situation changes I'd call the Univ. I attended and not them (the CA), and "please don't waste any more of your time or mine by contacting me again about this issue. A week later I get a phone call from an agent of this CA, who symathized with my situation, and assured me that all he wanted to do was help me. (took lots of notes during this conversation, and had hubby on the other line listening) Essentially what he wanted me to do is lie about the status of my loan on a Sallie Mae application in order to get a consolidation loan that I have no means to repay, and then he said I could deferr the payments indeffinitaly. Altho I expressed concerns about the legality of what he was recommending, he insisted that if I'd just listen and do what he told me to do, everything would be ok for me. Sounded like crap to me, so I called Sallie Mae and was in informed that because I only had one outstanding loan that it could not be "consolidated" and that because I was in default status, I wouldn't qualify for any assistance from them anyway. The rep I spoke with was appalled at what this guy was recommending that I commit fraud. So then, because I thought the amount the guy was saying I owed was wrong, and he refused to provide me with an accurate breakdown of the charges, I called the Univ. and discovered that the CA was indeed charging me over $4600.00 more than they were allowed to charge according to the terms of the original contract. The nice lady in financial services was also appalled that this guy was insisting that I commit fraud. So far, I count 5 solid violations of the FDCPA. Altho I am prepared to sue, I'd really like to send the firm a letter saying send me $XXXX.OO within 10 days or I'll file suit. I could really use the financial bump for paying the upcoming taxes. The thing is, I've never been in this kind of situation, and I'm unsure about how much to demand. Is is $1000.00 per violation or just $1000.00. Either way, the money would sure be a godsend at this time. Also, what court would I file this in if push comes to shove, civil or small claims? Any advice would be deeply appreciated!
fyi, ca always try to sound sympathetic, right before they screw you dont talk to them again, and get everything in writing even then, dont trust em
Yes, I know that CA's are notorious liars...and after a year and a half of rebuilding my credit scores I know that they will screw you in a heartbeat...if you allow it. This guy tried to manipulate me into commiting fraud, and then tried to add insult to injury by trying to over charge me by over $4600 after I wrote and a.)disputed the amount of the debt, and b.) requested tht they not contact me again concerning the debt! He figured I was the average uninformed consumer, and as yet has not discovered how mistaken he is. The thing is, as I said, I spent 1 1/2 yrs rebuilding mine and DH's credit scores so we could get a consolidation loan to pay off all our outstanding debt. Just when our scores hit the 700 range, the IRS pulled our reports. Just these inquiries were enough to cause our app. to be denied. Now this almost 2 decades old student loan rears it's ugly head, so the tiny credit window I opened was effectively slammed shut for the next ten years, and the payments they imposed for the next ten years will insure that our situation will remain grim for at least that long. That's part of why I want to stick it to this CA and CA firm. I am so eternally tired of getting shoved back into the same hole (poverty) that I had almost dug myself out of (more than once). It's like... you just get to the edge of getting out in the daylight, only to be kicked in the face and knocked back into the dark. So I've wrote a letter of complaint to this firm, which I'd like someone to critique. Please let me know if I stand a chance of pulling this off: I know this is a very long letter (had to put it into several replys), but I am in hopes that the company will fire this guy after reading the details of his manipulations. Also, I'll be going to the courthouse this morning to pick up the paperwork to file this so that I can include a copy of the suit to be filed so they know I'm serious about suing them. Anyway, bombs away. Let me know what you guys think. And I could still... use a clue about which court to place this in...a heads up if anyone can think of any other violations this guy committed that I missed...and claification on how much the law allows on statutory damages, is it $1000 per case or $1000 per violation. Thanks everyone. Jo
To Whom It May Concern: I am writing today to file a formal complaint against an employee of your company, a Mr. Crook. Enclosed is a copy of a letter I sent your company on March 2, 2005 in response to your letter of Feb. 15, 2005. Despite the fact that I stated in my previous letter that I disputed the amount of the debt, and that I did not recognize your company as a valid creditor, and I requested that your company not contact me again concerning this debt, Mr. Crook contacted me by telephone on March 8, 2005 at approximately 10:00 am. After expressing sympathy for my situation and assuring me that he only wanted to help me, he informed me that my actual balance was not the amount reflected on the validation letter and that actually I owed â??about $20,000â?. When I disputed that inflated amount in comparison with the amount stated in your original letter, he insisted that I call 1-800-XXX-XXXto get the name of the lender holding my defaulted student loan and the current balance amount, then I was to call him back with that information. He told me that what we would do after I had that information was that he would help me consolidate my loans and then because of my financial and health issues, the payments could be deferred for up to a year. I told Mr. Crook that I didnâ??t think is would be right to apply for a loan that I knowingly have no means to honor, and he was quite insistent that if I just listened to him, everything would work out ok. I agreed to call him back by 10:00 am the next day, March 9, 2005. I did as Mr. Crook asked and called the 800 number and was informed that I had only one NDSL and that if I wanted the current balance I would need to call My Old University. I called Mr. Crook back at approximately 9:20 am on March 9, 2005 and got his voice mail. I left a message that I would have to be out of the house all day due to a family crisis, and that he could call me the next day. When I got home that evening (around 5:30 pm CST) there was a message on my voice mail from Mr. Crook stating that he would be in his office until 7:00 pm EST. I had forgotten about the time difference and went ahead and called him back. Turns out he was still in his office, although he had just turned his computer off to leave for the day. After assuring me that he had all the time in the world to work with me, I told him that the only information I could get from the phone number he gave me was that it was an NDSL. He said that was alright because he already had all the relevant information, and repeated everything he was already trying to get me to do. I again expressed my doubts as to the correctness of applying for a loan I couldnâ??t honor. I also explained that I felt it would be foolish of anyone to agree to pay a debt when they disputed the amount being billed without documentation showing the validity of the amount of the debt. I told him that what Iâ??d like, before I signed any loan application, was some kind of breakdown of the $7,783.24 in late fees and collection costs that he was quoting as part of my current balance, and that I would like to see a copy of the original contract(s) so that I would have proof that I owed the amount that he claimed. At this point, Mr. Crook became very agitated and aggressively insisted that he didnâ??t have the information I was requesting and that the government can charge whatever they want to charge, that the government doesnâ??t have to explain their billing, and whether I like it or not, I would have to pay the amount he was giving me, which amounted to $20,482.00. At this point Mr. Crook was being so insistent that I do what he instructed, raising his voice to override my objections and reservations, that I just wanted to get him off the line so that I could have a few minutes to think about what he was demanding, so I had him repeat what I was supposed to do so that I could take careful notes of his instructions. I was to go online immediately and go to smartloan.com and just fill out the application. He instructed me line by line on how I was to fill out the application, and I quote...â?hit apply online, then click next, then answer yes, yes, yes, to the three questions on the next page, hit next, fill in the required info, hit next, then next...â?, etc. Again, he insisted that if I would just do as he said, all my problems would be resolved, and repeated the instructions on how I was to fill in the application. He said that once I complied with his instructions that I was to call him back that evening and let him know that I had complied, and that if he wasnâ??t in his office, I was to contact a Mr. Second Crook at extension XXXX and inform him that I had complied. He also gave me the contact info for My Old Tech to be included on the application, which included an outdated contact phone number. When I got off the phone with Mr. Nichols, I decided to wait until the next day before complying with his instructions. This gave me some time to consider Mr. Crook proposed solution, and I still had serious doubt about the legality of what he was insisting I should do. The next morning, March 10, 2005, I went to smartloan.com, which turns out to be a website for the Sallie Mae organization, and began the online application process. When I got to the page with the three questions, I was unable to answer yes to the third question, which says, â??3. Do you currently have any federal education loans in grace, repayment, deferment, or forbearance (and not in default)?â? To answer this question with â??yesâ? as Mr. Crook instructed would be a lie. At that point, I began looking for a customer service number. I can only surmise by Mr. Crook familiarity of the website and application, that he was fully aware of the nature of all of those questions and that he was knowingly recommending that I lie on a government application in order to attain a loan that I had no means of honoring. I have learned since this conversation that there are more appropriate loan programs, such as Direct Loans, that Mr. Nichols would have been more correct to have directed me to. As a professional, Mr. Crook should have been aware of the more appropriate legal courses of actions that I needed to take in order to deal with this issue. I called the customer service number for Sallie Mae, and told the representative what Mr. Crook had recommended that I do. She was appalled with what Mr. Crook recommended and agreed that it would be considered fraudulent for me to have answered yes to the above referenced question on their online form, and that it would also be considered fraudulent for me to have applied for a loan that I had no means of repaying. After looking up my information, I was told that since I only had the one outstanding loan and it is in default, I wouldnâ??t qualify for a loan from them. Again, I can only surmise that Mr. Nichols must surely have been aware of the reasons I would not legally qualify for a loan from Sallie Mae. Next, I called My Old University and spoke with a woman named Angela in the Student Accounts office. Angela was also appalled with Mr. Crook instructions and the fact that he refused to give me a breakdown of the charges applied to my debt. She agreed that the amount that Mr. Crook was quoting was too much, and cheerfully agreed to call me with a complete breakdown of my current balance as soon as she can get that information from their head of collections. She called me back at 3:20 pm on the afternoon of March 11, 2005 and told me that the cap on the amount I am to be charged for collection costs was set at 25%, to be applied to the total of the outstanding debt ($12,691.25), which means that the only additional charges your company may have charged for collection costs is $3,175.25, which brings the total of what you might have been able to collect from me to $15,879.23, which is $4,605.77 less than the amount that Mr. Crook quoted me. Angela also told me that she has gotten â??quite a fewâ? Sallie Mae loan applications lately that were from consumers who were defaulted on their student loans and we both wondered how many of these people were victims of Mr. Crook and other collection agents who are recommending the same course of action to innocent but uninformed consumers who are ignorant of the laws concerning the collection of debts. Angela also confirmed the information I learned concerning the Direct Loan program.
Now I believe that your company and Mr. Crook have clearly violated several of the FDCPA laws, which I have specifically related throughout this letter of complaint. I believe your firm knew or should have known that any actions subsequent to my letter asking you to not contact me again would be considered inappropriate in accordance to the FDCPA, and that Mr. Crook should have aware that his recommendations could have caused me significant legal harm. I am well aware that it is my right to file suit against your company for violations of my rights as protected by the FDCPA, specifically but not limited to the following; sections 805(c); Ceasing Communication, 807(7), 807(10); False and Misleading Representation, 808(1); Unfair Practices, and 809(b), Validation of Debts, as well as any statutory damages as determined by the court. Be advised that I will take the appropriate legal actions to protect my rights unless the following non-negotiable terms are met within 10 days of receipt of this letter: 1.Your company forwards to me the sum of 4000.00. 2.Your company immediately returns my file to the original creditor, ie. Arkansas Tech University. Failure or refusal to comply with these terms will result in my immediate return visit to the Home County courthouse in Hometown, AR to file the enclosed suit on the 11th day after you receive this letter, as well as my immediate filing of formal complaints with the Department of Education, the Federal Trade Commission, the Attorney Generalâ??s in both Arkansas and New Hampshire, and the Better Business Bureau. Also, please be advised that any further telephone communication from your company will be tape-recorded. Sorry again for the length.
you said that the loan is more than 2 decades old...if that is the case and you have not made any payments on it in all those years, then you don't have to worry..it can not be reported on your CR's, since it is past the statutory 7 years reporting time frame. IF the CA does so, in a attempt to ruin your scores, for sure they would have illegally REAGED this debt. You are probably eligible to "rehabilitate" the loan with the original guarantor. You probably could get payments based on your ability to pay (income contingent). This could be as low as $5 or $10 a month, based on their formulas, and what you can afford. After some years (I believe 20 or 25 years) of income contingent payments, any outstand amount of the loan is forgiven. I'm not sure when they start counting the 25 years - from the date loan is first due, or from the date income contingent repayments begin. There should be someone at the Federal Student Loan agency that can advise you Good luck
You sent them a letter stating not to call you on Mar 2 but yet when he called on Mar 8 you spoke to him, and also TOLD HIM TO CALL YOU BACK the next day. You have probably revoked the limited cease and desist request you made in the letter. You should NOT be talking to them on the phone, You should insist all communications from them be in writing ONLY, and you will do nothing about it uless they have provided proper validation. There is not much they can to to your scores, or report since the debt is so old, only if you make some kind of payment now or promise to pay could they claim you have reaffirmed the debt and started the SOL clock over again. Your best bet is to enter a rehabilitation agreement witht he original federal guarantor
There may be a "CAP" on collection COSTS of 25% but they are still charging you interest for all those years at 8 or 9%!
Pd11604... I managed to get the defaulted loan info off my CRâ??s last year citing the fact that it had been reported for over 16 years and even unpaid tax liens are removed after 15 (I think). Iâ??ve been recently told that if this old loan is subrogated by the FEDâ??s (DOE) then more late charges could be applied and that they could report it for another 7 years. Itâ??s been recommended by several folks on another board that I contact Direct Loans who I will be eligible for assistance from, and my old university has agreed with this information, so I will be contacting them today. The thing is, Mr. Crook should have known that Sallie Mae would not have approved my loan app. for the stated reasons and should have been aware that the Direct Loan program is the appropriate program. Next, in my original letter to their validation notice, I clearly disputed the amount of the debt, explained my current financial situation, and put not a limited C&D, but a full C&D... â??IF there ever comes a day that my situation should improve, I will contact Arkansas Tech University, not you. I made the debt with them, and I will deal only with them. Please donâ??t waste your time or mine with further communication on this issueâ?. So just the fact that the guy called to make me this â??offerâ? is a violation of that C&D. As far as I know the only further communication after a full C&D would be to tell me what further actions they are going to take to deal with this claim.. I would like to try to take care of this issue, I mean after all, I do owe a sum of money, altho not what he is trying to get me to pay, and in the interest of trying to correct this issue, I listened to what the guy had to offer. So if Iâ??ve revoked the C&D, oh well...there are still several other violations here that even I, a â??dumb hickâ?, can identify, and thereâ??s probably a few more violations that I havenâ??t identified. As for the Cap on the interest, I of course discussed this with the financial services rep I spoke to at the univ. I attended, and according to her, my interest rate is 5% per year, and it is capped at 25% of the total outstanding debt, according to the terms of the contract I signed.
I don't know about dealing with the FEDS, it might be different, but it seems to me that the FCRA is pretty clear that adverse information can only be reported for 7 years from the date of first deliquency You do not clearly state "Do not communicate with me any further on this issue" You state "please do nort waste your time communicating with me"...you are making a request, and they might not consider it a "waste of time" to pursue you Well this is good for you
Good grief... I ask for advice and get a lecture. So I didn't phrase the C&D as a demand, and your saying I can't claim this violation. Fine. As for the rest of this issue, there's violations aplenty, and all I wanted was a little advice on just exactly how I should proceed. I see lots of folks cashing in on CA's violating the FDCPA, and thought I could get some help here, not to mention I could really use a little finacial bump just before our taxes are due to be paid. I've never to even threaten to sue someone, so I don't want to make mistakes. I know this could go pretty quick if I do it right, so come on guys, help a lady out! edited: Just looked at 805 (c), pd...look again...it doesn't say anything about a C&D needing to be phrased as a demand. Looks to me like my mildly stated "request" should have been sufficient.
If you are going to dance into court you'd better be sure your dance card is filled out correctly or else they will waltz you right out the door. I was not trying to lecture you, I wish you good luck on trying to cash in on them. I just wanted you to be aware of how they ( and their lawyers) look at things. They will look at it in a light most favorable to them, and their lawyer will argue that way before the judge...you have to be prepared for whatever they throw at you
Again pd...I know I need to have my ducks in a row or I'm wasting my time, that's why I came online with this issue, to get advice and assistance so I don't $crew up. So far, all I've gotten is obsession with the minor detail of whether my C&D was valid, revoked, whatever... and discouragement and no helpful advice from any direction on my correct course of action.
Gee... that's kinda smug. If I could afford a lawyer I wouldn't have had to come here. I'm not meaning to pi$$ you off pd, but that kind of advice kinda makes this site pointless. I was under the impression that this site and others like it were to help people deal with predatory CA's. Now by your making that statement, it looks like unless your already an authority on all the FDCPA legalities and one of the "In" crowd here, one gets nothing but a hard time, and no advice.. Sorry I bothered to come here if that is the case.
I'm not an authority, tried to explain all aspects of what you are trying to accomplish. It is illegal for non-lawyers to advise people on legal matters. For specific legal advice you need to speak to a lawyer. You could try to bring your case in small claims court...what happens if the company gets a change of venue to federal district court? like i said, i really hope you do sock it to some CA for damages. I just want to make sure you are aware of the consequences of your actions
you are getting away from your original question which was how to deal with the CA who is servicing your student loan. the best you can do is enter into an income contingent repayment play with the guarantor If the IRS is already enforcing a repayment agreement, and taking what little spending money is available, chances are if you do the worksheets and show that you have $0 or $5 or $10 a month left to pay for the student loan - Whatever it is they will take it - not the CA - the student loan people. After 6 or 12 on time payments, your loan will no longer be considered in defaut, and you can continue making payments using the income contingent formula every year to calculate your payment. After 25 years, any outstanding balance will be forgiven Perhaps the time that has passed is counted towards that 25 year limit...i don't know. That is why you need to speak to a lawyer about these things. The student loan people also have an "ombudsman's office" to help people with student loan problems, maybe they can work out something mutually agreeable. There is no easy way to avoid paying back student loans. The student loan people have made it easier to deal with them by providing various programs to help borrowers repay relatively painlessly, but you have to take that step and deal with them. they will not go away
Re: Re: Need some advice I've seen plenty of advice given around here that amounted to advice for legal maneuvers to protect oneself from predatory CA's. I have not asked for a legal advisor, just opinions on "what should I do" from anyone who has had experience dealing with this kind of issue. The only thing you "explained" was your opinion on the C&D issue. The rest of your input has been pretty much just to tell me repeatedly that I better not go waltzing into court with my ducks not in line, which I already knew. All I've tried to repeatedly do is to get someone here to help me assure that "my ducks are in a row". Well, that's a good question. I don't know, that's why I would come to a site such as this for opinions on what my next move should be. Sorry, but you have not enlightened me with any information I wasn't already aware of, except maybe the validity of my C&D request, and even there, I disagree with your interpretation of 805(c). Please, if you can't help me, then stop wasting my time and yours by sidestepping my questions with your smug and unhelpful statements!
