Please help im posting this for a friend........I had an accident about 3 years ago and was unable to work for a while and accumulated a little debt. I have since paid most of it off...i was paying on CC aprox $100 /mo,which is all i can afford right now, the balance is approx $1,900. Well the CA called me and told me that I either needed to take a settlement for $1,650 or pay $200 /mo which i can not afford right now. So he basically said "Well, then Im going to have to mark this as a refusal to pay, good luck with you" and basically hung up the phone. I want to take care of this but can not afford his terms Is there anything i can do.???
To whom was your friend paying the $100/month? If it were the CC company, and there was enough history, then they had enterd into an "implied contract" through actions. I would try to talk directly to the CC company, and get a payment plan in writing that your friend can live with. If the balance is $1900, then the CC company is only going to get $200 for the account, if that. IF you must deal with the CA, then just hold your ground, and maintain the $100/month payment. Write an "Offer Letter" for maintaining the $100/month payment plan, and make sure to send it Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested. Your friend should state that they are NOT refusing to pay, only offering the maximum they can commit to.
That is a common Bill Collector mind game - if you offer anything except what I want you simply refuse to pay and I will put that into the file. In the deep recesses of CN you will find a thread I started a long time ago called "Understanding the Collection Agency" and another one entitled "Understanding the Collection Department". Both these essays address the mind games that collectors try to play. If you can't find them, then go to Debtorboards, where they are in the Flyingifr Method of Aggressive Credit Repair. Simply put -the collector can put whatever notations they want in their collection notes - those notes are meaningless as evidence against you in Court, but may have great value in documenting FDCPA violations when you sue them. Don't forget to demand them in your Discovery.
Mind game? It's hardly anything close to that. Both agencies I've worked for have a RTP queue and after 10-14 days in that queue the account moves to legal and it's sued.
Are you saying you sue on all RTP's? Are you saying that refusing to accept the terms given by the collector is a RTP?
I would imagine that going to court is ALWAYS an option for the CA. I mean, technically, they could file the suit the minute the account comes in the door. There was an article in the Boston Globe, a while back, where a collection agency lawyer practically lived in small-claims court filing claims for the debts they owed. Because the debtors rarely showed up (for whatever reason) or if they did, were basically railroaded into a judgement (because neither the judge nor the clerk could provide legal advice to the pro se defendant but the plaintiff could be represented by an attorney) the judgements were usually granted.
Collectman, all I can say is one day I hope to meet you professionally. I will be glad to show you the folly of your ways.
Problem with that is that you have to violate FDCPA or other federal law before we can do that. In order for that to happen you have to act first either by mail or telephone or through your legal counsel. So for you, it is something akin to trying to thread your way through a mine field. One wrong step and a Bouncing Betty flies up and explodes in your face. One thing you can be happy about is that tomorrow is the 4th of July, a national holiday. You can rest assured that you probably won't be stepping into any legal minefields tomorrow. So enjoy the holiday in the best of health.
