I have been reading this board for hours today trying to soak up everything like a sponge. However i still have one question about the first step to take. Basically whats going on is that im dealing with a CA right now over a discover card that was charged off in the amount of $8,000. But what im wondering is my first step to just fire the CA by sending them a cease and desist? or should a send a validation letter to the oc instead and go that route of trying to get it validated? because what happens if they are able to validate the debt where does that leave me? or am i completely misguided in general. Would love any advice i can get thanks. JD
Well, the first step is to take a few deep breaths... Clear your head... The last thing that you want to do is to make a hasty decision... You need to plan out your roadmap on how you can achieve your goal... And think of the answers to these questions... 1) How much is the alleged debt? 2) What is the date of last activity for the alleged debt? 3) What state was the alleged debt entered into in? 4) What state do you live in now? 5) What do you want to happen?
What lbrown was saying in their delicate way, was in answer to you're last question. If you go the route that you were thinking about going, you would be making every fatal mistake at the same time. I was trying to lead you there, instead of using the sledgehammer... The reason for all of my questions were to lead you to deciding whether or not there is a chance that you could actually be sued, and lose... Because if you don't know the answer to that question, correctly there is a chance that you'll make dozens of fatal mistakes. This is not what we want, and it is not what you want. You don't want anyone to get a judgement, not for $8.00, and surely not for $8,000.00... And $8,000.00 is large enough that they may even actually be determined enough to sue you, even if you are not local to the CA.
You said that you were here hours today... If today is the first day you've tried to read everything, you won't be ready to do anything yet. You need to literally know more than the CAs you are fighting with, before you begin. You need to actually know the facts to counteract any thing that they say, and that takes more than just a few hours on one day. Butch said in a number of posts that he forced himself to sit on his hands for at least a month when he was beginning, why, because it allowed him to know everything well enough that he wouldn't make a mistake. I did a lot of my research independently even before coming here; reading the FDCPA, FCRA, etc, both from the FTC web site, and from a copy of 15 USC that I downloaded from the U.S. House web site in doc format. And, even though I had already researched everything else, the one time that a CA quick-filed against me before I could get a response that their validation wasn't sufficient, I spent the three weeks from when I was served, to the date of the hearing doing nothing but reading the FDCPA, FCRA, etc, even more than I had before. It pays dividends when you can see a violation as soon as it happens, and you know your rights to make sure that you don't step in any of the fatal traps that they will try to force you to stumble into. If you do C&D, you want to do only a limited C&D only ceasing communications in any manner except for written communications to your address, no phone calls, no third party communications. The phone is their weapon of choice, they use it to their greatest advantage. They want you to say something on tape, that they can use against you. But they also want to be in control of the tape, they will try to threaten you, brow beat you, intimidate you, threaten you with everything under the sun. Because they want to scare you into making a fatal mistake. You can be certain that even if you would admit on tape that the debt is valid, that the parts of their interrigation would be missing when they take you to court. This is why you want to find out if it is legal in your state for you to record your calls; and whether you need to provide them notice if you do.
I t can't be done in hours! Try weeks here just learning some of the basics. *****NEW MEMBER MUST READS***** 12-25-3 What is Validation http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra....php?s=&threadid=42188&highlight= validation *** Victims of Credit Reporting *** http://members.aol.com/victcrdrpt/Score.html Rule of 72 http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...=&threadid=39313&highlight=rule+AND+of+AND+72 Must SEE--------------------------- http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=350770#post350770 http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=314910#post314910 http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=352826#post352826 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" FixYourOwnCredit! http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...848&highlight=fix+AND+your+AND+own+AND+credit """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" '''''''''' `````````` '''''''''' Sample letters http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/index.php?s=WhyChats statute of limitations http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-chat...ity-2.webtv.net/Y-chat/WhyChatsCredit/statute of limitations http://www.edebtnetwork.com/content/collection_laws.asp""""```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""''' THE END ** *** ** LB 59""""```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""''' ><- <>- ><- <>
thanks for all the responses so far jam to answer your questions... 1. said debt was originally in the amount of $7,881 however they are now asking for around $11,500 because of atterney fees and interest. They are still willing to settle for about 85% of the 11grand 2. DOLA is 5/2002 3. I am in Minnesota and so is the collection agency that i am dealing with. This was debt from a discover card that has since been charged off. 4. Minnesota 5. My objective is to settle this debt for around $3,000-$5,000 When i said i wanted to fire the CA i simply meant that i wanted to send the debt back to the OC and deal with them thinking they might be easier. I have called and talked to the CA Offering only $2,000 as settlement however they would not accept that. I now have access to more funds however i am not willing to pay the the amount that they are asking. They say that they have a garnishment letter ready to go out on friday. So i asked them who the atterney was and they would not tell me, they said the file was being reviewed now and i would have to wait for the sheriff to show up at my house with the paper work and court summonds. This violates the FDCPA Since he wouldnt even tell me who the atteney was right? plus what would a law enforcement officer be doing delivering me papers on a cival matter. Any feedback or comments would be helpful thanks. JD
Re: Re: Still Confused about first step http://www.carreonandassociates.com/statute.htm#Minnesota The SOL appears to be 6 years. Which means that you are still sueable until 2008, eeks... Now, technically they don't have to tell you who the attoney is, however, if their attorney doesn't actually intend to mail the garnishment letter on Friday (today) then it would be a violation. You want to force the CA to stop calling, and put everything in writing. And you don't want to call them, you need to remember that the phone is their weapon. Not yours. The paper-trail is your weapon. And in any settlement offers you want to explicitly state that you are offering to settle not because the debt is valid, but you only want to end their contact/harrassment/abuse (choose whichever word you believe to be appropriate). It allows you to argue against any 1099 that they send because the forgiveness of the settled amount is 'income'; since the forgiveness is assumed to be for a valid debt, you want to take that arguement away. Now, the attorneys fees and interest, you would need to consult your original paperwork with the OC to find out if those fees are legal. Also, depending on the circumstances, wording, and the law of your state, they may or may not be entitled to the attorneys fees until after they would sue, and win. A lot of companies still include them into their letters hoping that you pay the attorneys fees even if they aren't due them. Depending on how long you've had the card, they may or may not be able to provide complete documentation, including the application, take a look at Johnson v. MBNA; after about 5 years from the open date, MBNA destroyed their application, then tried to use the their destruction of the evidence to defend themselves, when they were sued for reporting incorrectly. I wonder how long it'll take companies to reconsider there 5 year documentation retention policy after that. So, if you had the account before 1999, there is a chance that some of the original account records are no longer in existance, making it next to impossible for them to provide a complete validation of the account.
You need to remember that the phone is their weapon. Not yours. The paper-trail is your weapon. jam237 | ><- <>- ><- <> I like the way you put this.
they said the file was being reviewed now and i would have to wait for the sheriff to show up at my house with the paper work and court summons. JD ><- <>- ><- <> If the Sheriff don't show up sue the CA for the violation.
they said the file was being reviewed now and i would have to wait for the sheriff to show up at my house with the paper work and court summons. JD ><- <>- ><- <> If the Sheriff don't show up sue the CA for the violation.
they said the file was being reviewed now and i would have to wait for the sheriff to show up at my house with the paper work and court summons. JD ><- <>- ><- <> If the Sheriff don't show up sue the CA for the violation.
