Hello everyone I hope someone can help me. I have a account with citi card in the amount of 3650.00 that is only about 7 months old. It is being shown as charged off on my credit report and I have been getting calls from a collection company called NCS. I have contacted citi trying to get a settlement or payment plan and they wont talk to me. I tried talking to the collection company but they are very rude and pushy. I know I owe the money and want to pay but I dont want to deal with NSC. Also they have contacted my parents and told them some of my account info and my balance. I was wondering also if that violates any laws and if so what action I can take or use this as leverage agains them. Thank you everyone for your help I just want to take care of this ASAP and keep damage minimal.
If it was the collection agency that shared your info with your parents, yes it is a violation of the law. Not to be rude, but charge offs usually don't occur for 5-6 months from first delinquency, and if the account is only 7 months old it doesn't sound like you made a payment. I'm not surprised that Citi won't enter into a payment plan now. I am surprised that they won't take a lump some settlement offer from you - assuming it is a large percentage of the balance. Have you received anything in writing from NCS?
I have had the account for about 3 years with no late payments. It has just been delinquent for the past 6 months. I have not recived anything in writing from anyone. When I called Citi they said I needed to contact NCS. What should I do about them violating the law
Also I dont have the cash to pay one lump some. I am willing to put 1200 up front put I dont know if i should try to deal with citi again or NCS
They have not mailed anything, but they have been calling myself and family about 4 times a day for about 3 or 4 weeks. I talked to them once but after the guy was pushing me to give him a post dated check for the full amount I have not spoken to them since.
Collection people are only interested in getting you to pay as much as possible as fast as possible.They are not interested in anything else period.Unless you are able to satisfy that need your waisting your time talking to them period.
Will the collection company give me a settlement and a payment plan or do I need to pay it in a lump sum, or should I try to call and talk to citi cards again. I would like to avoid dealing with NCS if it is at all possible.
Also if I deal with NCS will I be able to get this off my credit report or do I need to deal with Citi. How do I get them to deal with me. Please any advice would be very helpful.
Before you pay anyone anything, send NCS a validation letter. Ask them to send proof that the debt is yours, an accounting of how they arrived at the balance, and proof that they can legally collect the debt. If you want, include the statement that is in inconvenient for you to take calls at any time at any number, and that all future communications should be conducted in writing through the mail. Mail it certified mail, return receipt requested. Don't answer the phone for a while. If you do talk to them, record if it's legal in your state.
I know the debt is mine and I dont really want to go through this. I just want to take care of it and try and get it off my report. Is there any chance that citi still owns this. It showed up on my report as charge off in the last month. I just want to settle this soon.
While you may know it's your debt, how do you know that the amount is right? How do you know that NCS is legally entitled to collect? You may not want to "go through this," but how would you like to go through paying this, and next month another collection agency shows up, saying you owe them the debt because they bought it and it no longer belonged to NCS. Or maybe they have YOUR debt, and the one you paid to NCS belonged to someone with a similar name that owed an amount that was close to the same company. Maybe next year another one will show up. You really need proof of the three things I mentioned before you pay anyone, so you don't pay this multiple times. Besides, you didn't borrow the money from NCS, so why are you so anxious to pay them? You may be able to keep your money in your pocket. I'm not saying you shouldn't settle after you make sure that it's yours, the amount is right, and they have the right to it. I'm just saying make sure that those conditions are met before you pay anyone anything.
No send it NOW. If they have been calling for as long as you write, they will claim they sent you a notice already. Send it tomorrow CMRRR.
It is possible that telling the collection agency they can't contact you might cause them to decide they should sue you. So I might keep that in mind when considering what to do.
Note I never said to tell them not to contact you. However, you can tell them that it is inconvenient for you to take calls and they must contact you in writing. They are still allowed to contact you. I agree that a full cease and desist is asking for a lawsuit, but they are not allowed to telephone if they have been informed that it is inconvenient.
I'm afraid that that's a decision that you made some months ago. When the collection agency calls you and talks to you, do you ever ask them these sorts of questions? Because they are very good questions. And you can ask them, even over the phone. They might not answer at first but you might point out that you need to know this information before you can possibly make an informed response to any offer they might make.
These seem like examples that violate the FDCPA in number of calls and in providing debt information to third parties. I wonder how you can use that seriously to your advantage given that the only way to get them is to sue them and they'll just counterclaim you for what they are collecting on. Of course you might be able to avoid that by using the federal courts. The problem is, will they believe that you are up to doing that to them, really? If you had a lawyer and the lawyer showed them documentation that you'd collected of their violations over a period of time, that might change things. It turns out that the FDCPA has fee shifting and that means that those lawyer fees can be a considerable threat if the collection agency really is in serious violation.
