Four months after requesting validation on an old Providian account I received yet another call today from Trauner and Cohen. The rep stated he was prepared to offer a "significant" settlement - $2150 on a balance of $3250.00. I reminded him that no one in his office has validatd the debt, the debt does not belong to me and I have no intention of paying it. He then said he really wanted to avoid going to court and having me pay for court costs on top of attorney's fees, etc. and they really just wanted to resolve this. I decided to play along and I said I might consider paying a few dollars just to get them to go away but it wouldn't be anything close to $2000. He then said he could offer $1850 - but only if he could fax me the settlement letter. I stated I do not have access to a fax machine and he could just mail it. He then said that due to "company policy" he can only offer settlements via fax. I told him that is ridiculous, that I've been dealing with this for 7 years, its never been validated, its been sold off numerous times, etc...and I would only deal wth this with a letter on company letterhead that I can take to my lawyer and have a proper response drawn up with notarization etc. I told him that two months ago someone in his office actually told me that they sent me documentation but that I had not picked up the certfied letter. He laughed and assured me that that was a lie, that they have never received any docs from Providian. He then actually admitted that people in his office will use any technique to get a payment. (what was this? good cop/bad cop?) Anyway, I told him I would only respond to an official letter. He didn't want to send one and then complained that sending me a letter by mail would be too slow. I reminded him that this has been going on for 7 years... 3 more days won't matter. I then said, okay-let me get this straight: you're calling me tonight, July 9, attempting to collect on a debt - 4 months after refusing to comply with my request for validation..." There was a long pause...I think he didn't expect that and wondered if I could be taping the call (I was!) ..then he simply stated that he would mail me a letter for the full balance due and they would take me to court. He said he really wants to resolve this and he wants to comply with the law and I laughed and said, "well that would be a first - anyone from your office actually complaying with the law..." Anyway - my question now is: what do y'all think of this tactic? The dola on the account is 2003, Im in GA and accounts are SOL after 4 years. Any input will be apprecaited. Thanks
Congratulations, good for you for playing hardball with these people and not letting them intimidate you. You should have also mentioned that the SOL was up in 2007, 4 years from 2003.
Have you disputed the account listing with the credit reporting agency, might be able to get it deleted. Then all you would have to do is send the collection agency a cease & desist / out of SOL letter. The only way I would pay a collection agency money is if they where agreeing to delete it off of the credit report. There are pay for delete letters in the sample letter section on this board.
