Pacific Coast Collection

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by Maddog, Oct 12, 2001.

  1. Maddog

    Maddog Member

    Thank God for finding this board.

    I have a collection account with Saks Fifth Ave that was opened in 1996 and chargeoff with a balance of about $3000. I them to try to payoff/settle and they told me it has been sent Pacific Coast Collection Agency? Anybody ever dealt with these folks? I know the debt is mine, do I still send them Agency a validation letter? Saks is reporting the debt on my credit report not the CA. If I am willing to pay how much should I offer them?

    Any help on this will be very much appreciated.
     
  2. roni

    roni Well-Known Member

    I would send a C&D letter... Saying you will only work with the original creditor and then nego with SAKS directly including deletion for payment.

    examples in www.budhibbs.com
     
  3. Maddog

    Maddog Member

    Do you think I will have a much easier time dealing with Saks than I will with the CA.
     
  4. author_22

    author_22 Well-Known Member

    My theory is yes. All Saks wants is money, and companies such as Saks that are CUSTOMER oriented, will often be nicer than the collection agencies...whose sole purpose is to get money and use any tactic possible: they know customers off the street don't come and buy their services. Saks on the other hand relies on such customers, creating a situation that is more for the benefit of you while the company gets money as well.

    Steph
     
  5. roni

    roni Well-Known Member

    Yes. But whatever you decide to do, get it in writing before you make any payment. You'll have zero power with the creditor or ca if you pay it without written guarantees.
     
  6. Maddog

    Maddog Member

    Thank you very much. I will send the c&d letter to the collection agency and get them to send the debt back to the Saks and try to work with them. I think your advise makes sense Saks is the one reporting the chargeoff on my record, they be the ones I deal with. Thanks.
     
  7. Maddog

    Maddog Member

    Can I send a cease and desist letter after CA validates the debt? I am thinking they might not the proper documentation to validate this debt since it was opened in 1996. What do you think?
     
  8. bbauer

    bbauer Banned

    A cease & desist is highly unlikely to do you much good. Collection agencies usually ignore them or write back with some kind of a protest.

    You need to start with a validation letter.
    A properly constructed validation letter almost forces them to break the law no matter what they do. You can usually get 2 or more violations of FDCPA out of a validation letter if it's properly worded.

    Once you have them in 2 or more violations of FDCPA, you can then move on with more letters which will be likely to cause them to commit even more violations of FDCPA. Once you have them in maybe 4 to 8 violations of FDCPA then you can threaten to sue them.

    We get rid of our customers debts that way and make the collection agency delete the listing from the credit bureaus too.

    The collection agencies really don't stand much of a chance of winning the game because there are so many ways for them to violate FDCPA and other laws.

    It's really easy if you know what you are doing.
     
  9. roni

    roni Well-Known Member


    If you acknowledge it is your debt and you want the negative info off your credit report as soon as possible, I would suggest skipping the validation letter and sending the C&D now. I would suggest finding the name of a manager with SAKS with the power to nego (the people who answer the telephone can not!) and send them a copy with a letter offering to settle the debt for deletion.

    If you want to skip out on payment, try to walk the legal tightrope, catch the ca breaking the laws and threaten to sue, then you could follow Bill's advice. That's your choice... but Bill's advice is the same to everyone for every situation...
     
  10. parallax1

    parallax1 Well-Known Member

    Bkev:

    What's your problem with BBauer? All I have seen you do the last little bit is put him down. The only advice I have really seen from you is stuff BB has been saying all along. It's really rather childish on your part as both of you seem to have the same goal (helping people here, which I do appreciate), so why not just try and compliment each other?
     
  11. bbauer

    bbauer Banned

    Let me clarify the differences here. Let's start with validation. A consumer's demand for validation is a document well defined in law by the decisions of many courtsand on just about every jurisdictional level.

    The answer that must be supplied by the 3rd party collector within a very specific time frame and their answer must conatin 5 items of information or "indices" and all of this is also well defined by higher courts in rather recent decisions handed down. See Spears v. Brennan (Indiana Circuit Court of Appeals, 7th District, March 2001) which is the most recent that I know of. Other less recent decisions have been the same, but Spears is the most difinitive that I have seen so far.

    So that decision can be pretty well relied upon not only because of the clarity of the decisional language, but also the outstanding integrity of the Indiana Court system which is known to be one of the fairest and most legally correct in the land.

    So a 3rd party collector whose validation letter fails to meet the exact standards set forth by the Indiana Court of Appeals can expect to be in boiling, (not just hot) water if he gets hauled into court by a knowledgeable consumer or his attorney. He would come out in worse shape than a scalded cat.

    Thank you for your compliment, Bkev.

    I do wish that things were so simple that I could be in the enviable position of having earned it. Here is why I am not quite worthy of your praise. It's actually a combination of factors.

    One of the first is the 3rd party collectors. I've never yet seen one that actually knew what they were doing or how to go about it. They always manage to keep getting things all bolixed up somehow. They are worse than Bill Cosby's kids who say the darndest things. So that brings quite a few variations into the equation at times.

    But at least they are more predictable than the Credit Bureaus who are much more adept at poking a long dirty stick between one's legs as one is running for the goalpost at breakneck speed.

    So what about a cease & desist instead of a validation letter? A cease & desist letter is also well defined in law. A true cease & desist can only be issued by a governmental entity such as an Attorney General or an agency such as the FTC, EPA or a court of law. A private entity has no power to issue a cease & desist. So it is little more than a letter begging another to stop whatever undesireable practice they may be doing but does carry the implied threat of legal action in the event the undesireable practice or activity is not refrained from. It's much more like telling the other party "If you don't stop doing that to me, I'm gonna tell my daddy on you"
    Daddy (judge or other governmental entity) may or may not listen and he may or may not do anything if he does listen.

    Even though I can't always give the same advice to everybody as I wish I could, I still advise that under any given condition one always does exactly same thing in exactly the same way. No one wants to go out skating on thin ice in uncharted waters. So dealing with credit related problems should be approached in the same way one approaches a complex software writing problem, i.e. in well defined steps.

    Only by doing things that way can one hope to achieve a predetermined outcome with any degree of certainty whatever. Just as computers can be programmed to perform in certain predictable ways even though one must use lots of "if then else" loops to get the job done.

    If one does not have a well defined goal and a well defined program to accomplish one's goal, he is soon skating on thin ice in uncharted waters. That's never a good position to be in. So one needs to be thoroughly familiar with what he is doing and where he intends to go. In other words, he must be ready, willing and able to go from the validation letter all the way to the court house and come out a winner no matter what the circumstances.

    Collection agencies and their attorneys are prepared to do that and they do it all the time. What they hope for is that by using various nefarious tactics designed to instill fear and intimidate they can get the debtor to give up the battle and his money before they ever get to the courthouse door. Things get too expensive if the debtor don't go along with their dog & pony show and they have to go to court. They too have found better relief in the outhouse than in the courthouse. So they try not to go to the courthouse if they can possibly keep from it.

    So if one's opponent is well prepared to do whatever it takes to get the job done and they always do things in a rational and well thought out manner, what makes anyone think they can fight and win against such opponents if they are not better prepared than their adversary? Or have someone working for them who is better prepared than their adversary?

    Thanks for the compliment, Bkev
     
  12. roni

    roni Well-Known Member


    Parallax:

    With 20 posts since September 2001, is it right for me to assume that you are new to the board? If so, please read deeper into the posts...

    I have given compliments when due to Bill (and others), but the fact is that he does have a one track mind for dealing with these situations. I welcome everyone sharing information. I realize that some there's more than one way to skin a cat. These are my opinions... based on education and experience. I'm not making a dime from giving my advice.

    There's an old saying... Follow the money. I think it's terrific that creditnet.com exists, but it is supported by sponsors. If it were my decision, no one would be able to spam the boards, but until PBM & the management puts their foot down, I can co-exist. Parallax, theres always two sides to a story. Interesting how you make me the bad guy. Can I ask what your affiliation with BBauer is?
     
  13. roni

    roni Well-Known Member

    No problem Bill. I'm sure the screen capture will make it to your website as a promotion soon (if it hasn't already). :)
     
  14. bbauer

    bbauer Banned

    Bkev:

    What screen capture are you talking about?
     
  15. roni

    roni Well-Known Member

    Why Bill... That would be all the screen capture (or photographed screen shots if you prefer) that appear on your website as testimonials for your services and complaint letters about credit repair companies like Junum and Lexington.

    Those....
     
  16. bbauer

    bbauer Banned

    Bkev:
    Ok! I see your train of thought now.

    You want to insinuate that I will most likely use Parallax1's comments as a testimonial on my website and do it either by screen capture or shooting a picture of it with one of my digital cameras.

    Well, that's a thought indeed. But I don't see where he said anything about his having used my services nor any comments about how good or bad he thought they might be in his personal experience.

    I must be missing something here??? Testimonials are always from someone who has used a service or a product and either like or dislike them. I didn't see any such thing in the post Parallax1 just made. Would you be so kind as to point out where he said anything about having used my services and either liked or disliked them?

    Be a nice girl now and tell me where you saw that.
     
  17. roni

    roni Well-Known Member

    Nope, as usual, you're in the wrong car buddy. I'm really beginning to believe you don't even bother to read these posts before responding with your standard answers...

    As if you didn't know (or maybe you are that dumb), I was talking about when you wrote in a response "thank you for your compliment, bkev". I'm sure you will be putting that on your website.

    My memory is not what it used to be Bill. Did you ever tell us how much you pay creditnet.com for these promotions? I mean you are copying information, not always with the person's permission, and using it for self promotion... even if you sometimes blur the names.
     
  18. parallax1

    parallax1 Well-Known Member

    BKev:

    I am new to posting here, but have been reading on and off since late last year. I am in the process of cleaning up a few negative items in the hopes of buying a house next year.

    As far as my affiliation with BB....none. It is a common tactic for people to use though (very common on USENET), that of accusing someone of either:

    1.) Being the same person that you disagree with.
    2). Having some type of friendship/family relationship with the person you disagree with.

    or

    3). Having a business relationship with that person.


    I'm not sure why it happens so often though. I come here for free advice, that's it. But it's hard to ignore the fact that if you 2 post on the same subject you always have some smart-a** remark to make after BB posts something. I could start a new thread with examples of this stuff from the posts you have made today.

    As I said, both of you seem to have the same goals and I have learned things from both of you (and I appreciate this), but I think it's time that you cut BB some slack or just ignore him altogether if you can't get along. The reason that I make you out as the bad person is because I have yet to see BB start anything. If you can find some examples of where he has done this please post them and then I will slap BB on the wrist as well! :)
     
  19. roni

    roni Well-Known Member

    Parallax

    Thanks for your interest, but such a defensive answer was not needed. You could have answered the question in one word- "none" and I would have believed you.
     
  20. parallax1

    parallax1 Well-Known Member

    Re: Parallax

    No problem, but since you implied a connection between BB and me I felt that it was necessary to point out that those types of accusations are common on the internet in similar situations. I still don't understand why you have such a problem with him though, and I noticed a few more jabs that you have taken just today.
     

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