Yes... another newbie....

Hello all. I am excited to be here. Credit and everything surrounding it frustrates me so I am happy to have found a place to learn, share and vent.

I am in the process of ordering CR for both my husband and I so we can start over here. Last checked he was EF 551, Ex 516, Tu 592 with a 7 and a 13 bankruptcy still showing on his report. I can never remember which order (before we were together) but the most recent will be discharged 2 years this May.

I, on the other hand, have Ef 598, Ex 598, Tu 633 depending on the day you pull the report. TU is always my highest and I have seen it as high as 679 along the way but it seems to flucuate every time I see the score. I have two very low limit credit cards (250 and 350), both close to maxed, but I suspect if they were paid down or off that might put me well over 600 on all three reports.

Here is a good question to start off with. Equifax is showing a delinquent for me from an attorney that I hired in 1998. The basic story behind this is that she didn't even prepare a case for me. She said that the other party beared the burden of proving that I was wrong. I lost, of course, because she went in with nothing. Not even evidence that I was right. And then after all was said and done, I received an apology and a bill for quite a bit more than was agreed upon verbally (yes, I learned that lesson). I paid for a few months while she was supposed to be preparing a Motion to Reconsider. After not hearing back from her for several weeks I called only to find out that she was demanding payment in full before she would file the motion. I stopped paying immediately.

And I refuse to pay her. She received a $500 retainer and what I paid her along the way (I will look for a total) which is much more than she deserves for the work she did. I figure what I am out is a lesson learned about blindly trusting any attorney.

It's showing up on my Equifax as a $2700 debt (ouch). It shows up as her name, even though I get letters from a CA.

Now, for awhile it was showing up twice. After disputing it 5 times and politely threatening the CA, I believe the duplicate has finally been removed. I'll know as soon as I see my report.

Have any of you ever dealt with attorney collections before? The account won't fall off my report until 2007. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!
Shelley

 

Thanks. Yes, she could file suit, but I suspect she hasn't because she knows she is in the wrong. At one point she offered me a settlement at 35% or $1000 cash. I considered it just to be rid of her, but I can't bring myself to pay her. Her lack of honest work cost me (and my family) a lot, we still pay for it 5 years later.

I did contact the Bar Association. They said that I can file a complaint and I can contest her fees, but that I probably won't get far and it could take up to 5 years to be settled anyway. By that time it will have fallen off my report. We did file a complaint so that it is on her record if others check. But we couldn't see spending any more time, energy, money on something that will resolve itself quicker anyway.

I just wondered if I was missing another option.

Shelley

 

Our original agreement was not ever put in writing that I know of... hence, my lesson learned. She asked for $500 retainer up front, then during the first meeting told me what she would charge roughly. Only one other time did she mention price. It was when we learned that I was being deposed. Her estimate was for a day hearing, her travel and her preparation. She said it would be roughly $1300 less the retainer of $500, so $800. The deposition added $150.

When she called to tell me the outcome she apologized, said she would forward the decision letter to me and would begin preparing for a Motion to Reconsider. I told her I would continue to pay $100 a month until the account was paid down.

A week later I got a bill for $3000. I called repeatedly to find out what had changed but got put on hold or told that I would be called back. I paid $100 right away and another after 3 or 4 weeks at which time I called to find out about the motion and to question the bill. She got on the phone and told me that this was what we discussed and she would not file the motion until it was paid in full.

So, that leaves me with a hard lesson learned and not much more. That's why I wondered if there was something else I was missing or if I would just need to accept that this will be on my credit for the next 4 years.

 

I've requested validation a number of times because it was a duplicate on my CR. The CA is giving them her final bill to me (which is itemized by the way with countless hours of preparation, etc.) as validation. However, they did say that they would clear up the duplicate immediately and apologized that it got on my CR twice.

Which SOL are you wondering about?

 

Thanks pb. =+)