Hi. This is such a great resource! I've read as much as I can to get up to speed, but I have questions about my particular situation. Here goes as briefly as possible: I've always had excellent credit, and have had my 3 credit cards for a good 10 years. Last year I took on a lot of debt to help finance a new business. Since then, as of winter of 2005, the monthly payment minimums have gone up as have interest rates. The business has not generated enough to pay everything, and credit cards had to take lowest priority. Each card has a good $20,000 on it, for a total of $60K. I continued to make payments for a couple of months since then even though I wasn't charging the cards anymore because of concern about paying back. I haven't paid Citibank for about 5 months and now a collection agent, GC Limited, is calling me. The other two cards are not in collection yet, but they are requesting to set up payment plans. I did make one small payment in good faith to one of these two. GC has been calling my neighbors, who have posted phone numbers on my door. They call me constantly at work, and call repeatedly on my cell phone. I spoke to them only once at work, but did not tell them not to call me there. I did not admit that I owed anybody anything. I tried to get their mailing address, but they wouldn't give it to me. I don't think I'll be able to pay down this huge debt so I might be looking at 3 lawsuits. I assume the amounts are large enough for them to go after me. Here are my questions: 1. How do I get GC Limited's address so I can ask them to verify the debt (this is necessary at this point?) 2. Do I request GC to stop calling me, or let them call and hope they violate the law? Do I need witnesses to any notes I take? 3. If I am sued (likely???) I have only 1 asset. I own part of a house with 2 other brothers. My stake is 25%, and I took out a mortgage on this 25%. All 3 brothers are on the loan. Can they put a lien on the house even though I am a minority owner in the house? 4. My business is an LLC, and is pretty much a cash business. I file as a sole proprietor, and the business will be included on Schedule C. Neither I nor the business will have much income. Does this insulate me from wage garnishment? I have not yet filed for 2005. 5. Can my business be garnished for my personal debt since it is shown on my personal income tax? 6. I have been considering to set up a trust. I am not yet being sued by anybody, so is it likely to stand up to scrutiny? I hope this describes my situation accurately. I hope to be able to pay down debt in the future, but just can't now. I'm not too worried about bad credit, and am thinking I might be insulated enough from wage garnishment or bank account seizure. Citibank really upset me because I originally paid up one late month in good faith to get current and then they raised my interest up to 30%. I told them I couldn't possibly pay that much on $20,000, but they didn't budge. That's the one in collection now. GC says I now owe $27,000, but I did not admit to anything. Any comments would be very welcome as I am ready to take some action. The best action would be to pay things off, but unfortunately I think I'm going to have to play the "wait it out" and try to negotiate a settlement down the road. Thanks, bushka
Did GC contact you via letter? When was the first contact? Did you respond to any letter? If you have any letters with contact information from GC you can write to them and state that "you dispute this alleged account in its entirety and that complete validation is demanded." You can also write CMRR to tell them that it is "inconvenient" for them to telephone you at home or your place of employment. If they contact you, you do not need to have witnesses to the conversation. You should definitely memorialize any conversation that is not recorded with time/date/names and the content of the conversation. Be sure to keep it in a neutral tone of "he said/ I said". This is major money in play and there'll be tremendous interest in the account. Do you have a personal or business attorney? I'd recommend finding a www.naca.net attorney or consumer attorney in your area. There may be an opportunity to re-negotiate since you do have a long credit history but again, I'd recommend an attorney. Citbank plays hardball but if you have violations, you also have leverage but you need to protect your assets. That's why an attorney would be invaluable.
Thanks for the reply. I did find the letter from GC and, duh, their address is right there. The envelope is postmarked March 24, so I am well within 30 days. I have not responded to them, and am not taking any more of their calls until I educate myself a little better. I can request verification, but I know that I do owe the money. Is there a point to verification other than dragging things out? You refer to CMRR, saying that it is inconvenient for them to contact me. Not to seem dense, but who is CMRR? Thanks again, bushka
One more thing I forgot. Remember that I have 3 of these large accounts. Only 1 is in collections now. If I can't make an acceptable payment plan on the other 2, I have to think my exposure will be much reduced on these other two. (?) The house issue could be the only exception though. bushka
The letter dated March 24 is your *first* contact from the collector? Then you write: " RE: alleged account 1234566 I dispute this alleged debt in its entirety and full validation is demanded." Keep it simple, just write the short sentence above and send it certified mail return receipt requested. (CMRR) You say "I know I owe the money". You know you have/had a cc with Citibank, you do not have any knowledge of this particular entity nor do you have an account with them. You also don't know if what they're alleging is either true or accurate. This is about civil rights and a legal process, it's not about not paying a debt. You, as a consumer, have every right to demand validation from this entity and they must comply with a full accounting right down to the penny. Follow the process and dispute and demand validation from them promptly. In the meantime, you can also explore avenues to reach an accommodation with Citibank perhaps with an attorney re-negotiating the current debt.
This is critical because you stated: "GC has been calling my neighbors, who have posted phone numbers on my door. They call me constantly at work, and call repeatedly on my cell phone." If the neighbors have posted numbers on your door, go talk to each one and ask them to tell you *specifically* what GC told them when they telephoned. Did you keep the notes that were tacked on to your door by the neighbors? *IF* GC revealed to a third party - your neighbors -that you were being sought in regards to a debt that's a $1,000 violation. That's $1,000 each time it happened. See below:-- section(2) is important to building your possible case for leverage. § 804. Acquisition of location information [15 USC 1692b] Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall -- (1) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer; (2) not state that such consumer owes any debt; (3) not communicate with any such person more than once unless requested to do so by such person or unless the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and that such person now has correct or complete location information;
Thanks for your replies. I have notes received from two neighbors, but they didn't discuss the nature of the call. They did make up a story and say something like they knew me or something and they couldn't get in touch with me. At work, they did talk to my girlfriend who works with me. They even called her cell number several times, and she had a shouting match with them. They did call more than once in the same morning. In no instance did I admit owing anything. I told them I wanted to check out who they were. They didn't like that much and just tried to shout me down. The letter was not the first contact I had with them. They have been calling for at least several weeks if not longer. When they have called my work, they tell the person who answers that the call is of a personal nature. They give their name to that person but won't say what company they work for. I'm not sure if any of this is helpful, but your help is appreciated. bushka
You need to contact the collection agency by CMRR and tell them specifically in writing that it is "inconvenient" for them to contact you at home and your employer does not allow for personal telephone calls.
Maybe if I let them keep calling they will accumulate some violations??? If they can't call me do you think they might go for a lawsuit more quickly? I assume they will pursue something since the amount is about $20K. thanks again, bushka
