Hi everyone! I am so glad I found this site, but I fear it may be too late. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have 1 CC that went to United Recovery Systems for collections. Two days ago I spoke with a collector for this company. At first he was nice, then when I told him my situation (my ex bf and I had split up, I am caring for my ill 2 yr old son, and struggling to find a place to live) and tried to explain that I couldn't pay the balance in full as demanded, he said "please hold, let me see what I can do for you." During this time, he called my ex's home and spoke to his grandmother who told him I was not available and she would give him a message since he claimed to be a friend. He then came back onto the line and proceeded to tell me that I am a liar, my story doesn't add up, he really wants to help me avoid future trouble, but I need to cooperate with him. At this point, I became extremely irritated and told him I didn't care. He then tells me that he is looking at my credit history and sees that I have several other lines of credit open with other companies and if I didn't want to have him put "refusual to pay" on my record, I would simply pay with another credit card and take care of business. My response was that I was surprised because I use two other credit cards that are maxed out at the moment, so it would be wonderful if he could tell me what credit cards he is looking at that are still open. He then sarcastically tells me "I can't do that...its confidential. Well, I still see that you are lying because all your other bills are getting paid on time, even your cell phone bill." I told him my ex pays for some of my expenses, so he demands to conference call my ex or I give him the phone numbers to reach him within the next 36 minutes. I refuse and tell him that I will have my ex contact him when he has time, and that I was done talking to him. Before I hang up, he warns me that my ex could face consequences too if he doesn't cooperate or help pay the balance. I slammed the phone down on him. Yesterday, I find out he call my ex's mom asking to speak to my "husband" and asking her for his phone number. My ex and I have never been married and I even told this to him numerous times when I spoke to him as I told him my ex is not responsible for my bills anymore and I didn't want him involved. Today I called URS again and was told my only options were to pay in full or settle for $3010. The orginial balance was $4998.00. I explained that I am more than willing to settle but could not come up with the money at that moment and to please give me a little time and I would like a letter comfirming the settlement agreement. The collector explained that the payment has to be turned in by the 15th and since I live in Hawaii and the company is in Texas, it is not possible to mail me a letter, although he could email or fax one due to the time constraints. I gave him my email address and have gotten the email but I am concerned that I just made more of a mess with this company. If I submit a payment to them without a written letter, proof, etc. could they make me pay the remainder of the balance owed? I want this situation to be settled and I have also been diagnosed with breast cancer and don't want to deal with these people which made me act a little too quickly. Please help! Is it too late to fix my situation? Should I just pay the settled amount of $3010? I have never been in this type of situation before and wish I researched this company and how to handle collections agencies! Thank you in advance for all of your help!
Its never too late. In fact you are getting in contact with us before this thing escalates any further and that is a good thing. Obviously you need to learn how to handle these phone calls instead of letting them browbeat you the way it appears they are doing now. My list of 18 questions to ask debt collectors every time they call is available in another post right here on this board. I just posted them a few days ago. You can do a search for 18questions and you will probably find it rather easily. Learn to control the call instead of letting them control the call and put you through all that agony. Not at all. After they put you through all that misery on the phone? I wouldn't give them a crying dime even if they promised to take me to the movies. (LOL) Just stay right here and be sure to check out my google docs links below because that has more than enough information to teach you how to deal with debt collectors.
