As a prior enlisted and a soon to be commissioned officer, no where in the Soldier, Sailors, Relief Act does it state that you are excused from your bills. You can take this to JAG, but good luck. As a previous poster stated, it is best to inform your chain of command before they find out on their own!
I appreciate all the input. Here is a copy of a portion of the letter I was given by the Marines to send to creditors...so I may have screwed myself but at their direction. The SSCRA of 1940 amemnded, Title 30, U.S.C. Appropriate sections 501-510 states: In matters such as this, only a court may resolve this issue when a service person's ability to comply with the terms of this obligation is materially affected by reason of military service. A delay or reduction in income by reason of military service is considered to be an appropriate cause to SUSPEND or MODIFY installment contracts. In view of my circumstances and Federal Law, it is requested that you suspend my payments until my financial circumstances improve. I assure you that this arrangement is temporary, and I intend to fulfill my obligation to you. Straight from my recruiter...not much I can do now...improvise, adapt, overcome...........
No...not on stationary and no recruiter signature. In hindsight I should be shot for thinking what I had for a recruiter in anyway resembled intelligence! I have tried to contact the OC, but since they have sold to CA they will not have conversations with me...they say to deal with CA. Interestingly enough, the CRA's have deleted the entries from the CA, but not the OC. So I am not sure where to go since I certainly do not want the CA to put the tradeline back on my report.
All may not be lost Pibb. Print out what I said about "good faith reliance" and go ahead and see JAG in the morning. Also be sure and advice your Commander of your delimna. Keep us posted.
[COLOR=35007] Here is my two cents! As a a Devil Dog who had some disciplinary issues while serving, I suggest you, not only seek advice from the legal rescources available, but also explain your situation to your NCOIC. If you let this drag on long enough and for some reason, they are looking for an excuse to burn you this would be their opportunity. As long as you have the attitude that you want to take care of the issues at hand you shouldn't have any problems. Be careful though . Sometimes, if you show an attitude of "you got screwed... It is someone elses fault..." etc , folks in your chain of command might not take your side. Durring my last year in, there was a CA that kept calling my shop. My NCOIC, who was a GSGT, told the CA I was not allowed to recieve these type of calls at work and not to call. they stopped. You will find that some CAs will take advantage of you being "in the service". They threatened me by telling me they knew all about the UCMJ and that I was in violation and they were going to rat me out to my CO. If I only understoof the FDCPA back then, I could have delt with them with ease. I am just finishing my sentence to the debtors prison because I chose to wait and see. Don't do this . As it as been mentioned earlier "USE TACT IN WHATEVER ACTION YOU TAKE" I wish you the best of luck. Stay Motivated! [/color]
In reply to the person who asked me a question.....I intend to use the Soldiers & Sailors Relief act to reduce my APR. I also intend to schedule payments ahead of time with my bank. I also don't schedule my car payments online, I write checks, so I intend to write the checks out and put a mail date on them. I'll be gone for 25 weeks, so that's alot of planning. That's another reason why I plan to use the SSRA to my advantage. Anyone else have any suggestions?
Erica, here's my advice. Invoke the PsychDoc Soldier's Relief Policy (PSRP). This policy excuses you from paying your bills for at least 6 months so long as you contend that your recruiter said this was permissable. It works! Doc
Doc, As much as I love you, that's the crappyiest advice you could have given to me. *wink* Do you think I'm doing enough planning?
Erica, make sure that the Trusted Person you leave the ready-to-be-mailed checks with is also the getting the monthly bills that need to be paid. Also, give Trusted Person a limited power of attorney to handle your bills and adjust your automatic withdrawals if need be. That way, Trusted Person can make sure that what's going out matches the invoices coming in, and adjust accordingly if need be.
No better yet - just throw your hands up, admit defeat and live with the trashed CR for the next 7 years. Walk away with your tail between your legs. Geez.
the trusted person is my dad, and the car note is the same every month. SO that's not bad. I want to schedule the payments for the CC's with my online banking service in advance. It doesn't matter what my statement says, I'm gonna schedule the payments over the minimum. Right now they are about $25 a piece, I'm gonna schedule it for $100. SO no worries there. I am not gonna have to spend money on anything while I'm there, so I can get some of the bills gone
Honestly, I'd still give your dad a POA, one that just allows him to deal with these things (at least for talking with your CC co's about your bills.) One thing I've learned through 6 deployments with my DH is that if something can go wrong while they're gone, it will. If you schedule them in advance then there *shouldn't* be any problem, but you're always taking the risk that DFAS will mess up your pay, or your bank's software will have a glitch and the payment won't be made, etc. But that's JMO and I would want that safeguard there just in case BTW, thanks for making a great choice to join the military and defend our country. I for one am thankful for each and every serviceperson and the sacrifices they make for us.
I trust my dad and all, but I don't think that I would like to give him POA......I may do it later, but I am still not comfortable with Dad in my shit, you know? I appreciate your input, I just need to think about it some more, I don't leave until July 2003, so there's time. I just wanted to plan a bit ahead of time.
LOL. Doc P.S. For what it's worth, I have one of those "Trusted Dads Who Shouldn't Be In My Business" in my life too. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have grown up with a loving dad who couldn't be trusted with anything. Mine was the opposite: I would definitely trust my dad with my money -- I just could never trust him to ever be emotionally present or supportive.
