My little brother has a Sears Credit Card. They issued the card to him when he was 16 with a $2100, he didn't even have a job. Ofcourse he was irresponsible with the card. Sears threaten to send a letter to the government stopping his Grants for College. They can't do that can they? I work at Sear Corporate HQ as a Consultant and I know they have unethical collection practices. They are calling my mothers house constantly! What can we do to get them to stop? He is paying the bill, but only in small amounts and even when he pays on time they still call and harass him.
Need a letter for Creditor to I need to write a letter today to stop creditor harassment. Anyone have a sample letter to have creditors stop contacting you?
The card must have a cosigner if he was 16. The law states that you must be of legal age (18) to enter into an agreement with creditors.
No Co-Signer The card does not have a cosigner. My brothers name is the only name on the card. They sent him a pre-approved offer with just his name on it. He signed it sent it back and the card was issued in his name only. When Sears found out that he was under 18 they did not close the account. Now my brother is 19. I spoke with the Collection company NCSC today. I was going to pay the bill off for him in full for them to leave him alone. The account is already a charge off account. The woman was so rude to me! She told me flat out if he didn't pay the account they would just keep reaging the account so it would never drop off his credit report. When I told her that was illegal she got angry said she didn't have to talk to me (she was more than willing to talk to me when I was going to write a 2500 check), it wasn't my account and she hung up. I called back and got the address. I'm going to send them a letter today FedEx to have them stoping my Mothers home all hours of the day and night and all day on the weekends. They call on Sunday. These people are as bad as CCB. They have called on Christmas Eve. I am disappointed in my little brother for being irresponsible. My mother and I have both paid on the card. When he was underaged we begged Sears to stop letting him charge so we could pay the account. We took the card from him, but when he went to Sears all he had to do was show his drivers license and he could charge all he wanted. I am more than willing to just pay the bill. They are soooo rude they won't even talk to me. Anyone have any dealings with NCSC out of KS?
First of all, the government is not going to stop his college grants because of this debt. Next time they threaten that, laugh at them. To give you an idea how Sear's operates, listen to this. They told one of my clients that they would go to the court that was serving as an intermediary for receipt of child support payments and not only collect the money that her abusive ex-husband was sending for child support, but also tell the court to give this lowlife his ex-wife's address. Imagine the panic that caused this woman. To this day, I don't know how Sear's got this info, I suspect my client may have given more info over the phone to a collection's agent than she should have. Moral of story: tell collection agents nothing!!! Sear's obviously wants your kid brother to think they have an enormous amount of power. They don't. Second, much larger issue. If Sear's issued your brother a card in his own name (no adult co-signer) when he was 16, then they are out of luck. He can't endorse a contract until he his 18. Write a letter stating that he was 16 when the account was opened. You might want to find an attorney to write this letter for you. They will be able to quote line and verse exact state law regarding credit and minors.
RE: Need a letter for Creditor is it an original creditor, or a collection agency? (the latter is constrained, while the former is not, except in rare circumstances by the FDCPA)
RE: Need a letter for Creditor Eboni: "Stop It! A Consumer's Guide To Effectively Stopping Collection Agency Harassment" by Bud Hibbs came out in l992, & offers a Cease and Desist form letter, shows you how to eliminate the collection agency and deal with the original creditor in setting up a PAYMENT PLAN to PAY OFF the debt. I imagine the book's out of print by now, so maybe the library would have a copy, but the credits say for more info write to: Media Coordinator @ Equitable Media Services, P.O. Box 9822, Fort Worth TX 76147-2822. The form puts into the legalese the collection agenecies are so fond of that you are formally telling them not to contact you after they receive the letter, and suggests sending this to them certified, so you know when they got it. If you end up at the library, or e-library, refer to Public Law 95-109 The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, (95th Congress 8-20-77) and the Federal Trade Commission's Fair Debt Collection FAQs. Yes, Congress actually saw there was a need for a law to protect consumers from unfair debt collection practices. I am certainly not advocating skipping out on your bills, but this book summarizes all aspects of one's rights when managing one's debts.
RE: Need a letter for Creditor Eboni, Here is a link to a sample cease and desist letter to a collection agency. There is a link there to download. http://creditinfocenter.com/forms/sampleletter7.shtml Good Luck
somewhere here I read a minor - someone under the age of 18 - cannot be held accountable (liable) for a credit card debt. Shame on Sears for giving a child 2K in credit...I think that's the law.
RE: Need a letter for Creditor Go to creditmania.com it is a great site for credit repair and sample letters.
