Is a collector allowed to do this....

[csshelton70]

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I have an account that I have been paying on by allowing the company to make automatic withdrawals from my account on predetermined dates. So far the following has happened:
They have chosen the extract funds from my account on dates other than those that I specified ( 2 times )
They have taken funds out of my account that were not authorized.


I would like to know it these actions are legal according to the FDCPA and what legal recourse I have if it is not. Since I cannot tape my conversations I'm afraid that is would turn into my word against theirs except for the fact that the dates they wanted to withdraw funds were no convenient to me and I would not have agreed to them AND the extra withdrawal from my account was not communicated to me until 3 days before it was withdrawn. I did contact the company at that time and tell them about the extra withdrawal, but was informed that I could ignore the letter because it was a mistake in bookeeping.


Thanks.

[KiBe66]

This is a common ploy by CAs. Never, never use this type of payment system. They will take money whenever they think they want to, and it will always be a "bookkeeping error."

Check with your bank. Your bank will work with you on this as they know about these problems.

KiBe66

[csshelton70]

Thanks for the reply. Is there any legal recourse or compaint I can file against them?

[Tayla]

Once you allow them to gain access to your account, you've opened a can of worms. With ACH and Automatic Bill payer programs so readily handy to pay bills, we, as the consumers basically *permit* the company to withdraw the funds. Contact your bank to have the account closed . This is the only alternative that I was given when a similar situation occurred. Veronica on here might have a more thorough explaination of how this works and what you can do to deter this matter.

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by Tayla

Once you allow them to gain access to your account, you've opened a can of worms. With ACH and Automatic Bill payer programs so readily handy to pay bills, we, as the consumers basically *permit* the company to withdraw the funds. Contact your bank to have the account closed . This is the only alternative that I was given when a similar situation occurred. Veronica on here might have a more thorough explaination of how this works and what you can do to deter this matter.

You don't need me. You're doing fine.

You are correct that closing the account is the most effective way to get this stopped. The only other things you could do would be to place a stop payment or tell your bank that this is unauthorized.

Placing a stop payment would be very difficult because you would have to know the exact dollar amount and date that this is going to come out. It may also only work for one month and you would have to keep having one placed and paying a fee for it. Even then it might not work.

The other solution is to inform your bank that these debits are not authorized. They will have you sign an affidavit of unlawful entry (or something similar) and get your money back.

I agree with everyone else that giving the CA your account information so that they could automatically debit your account was a bad idea. Close out the account and open a new one. It is your best bet.

[marbol]

Originally Posted by Veronica1228

[...]
I agree with everyone else that giving the CA your account information so that they could automatically debit your account was a bad idea. Close out the account and open a new one. It is your best bet.

This happened to me about 6 years ago with my credit union. Apparently, some crime ring from Russia had gotten my account number and made some random withdrawals for small amounts.

My credit union said they could close my account and reopen a new one. They also said they could re-age my new account so that it would appear that the account was open for 13 years as my old account was. (the date of open is printed on most checks)

Ask your bank if they will allow the date of opening to transfer to your new account. Some merchants check this date to see if they will accept your checks or not.

Veronica: can you tell us if this practice is still used or is it being phased out?

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by marbol

This happened to me about 6 years ago with my credit union. Apparently, some crime ring from Russia had gotten my account number and made some random withdrawals for small amounts.

My credit union said they could close my account and reopen a new one. They also said they could re-age my new account so that it would appear that the account was open for 13 years as my old account was. (the date of open is printed on most checks)

Ask your bank if they will allow the date of opening to transfer to your new account. Some merchants check this date to see if they will accept your checks or not.

Veronica: can you tell us if this practice is still used or is it being phased out?

The practice of "reaging" an account? I've never heard of this, and my bank doesn't do it. In fact because of the strict bank confidentiality laws, I don't see why we would give out this information anyway. The only thing we would do, is order checks with a high check number so that the account might appear to be older than it is.

Our system does not allow any other type of manipulation.

[debtcollector`]

As I understand the situation and responses, here are my thoughts:
First the Situation:
The Debt collection agency made withdrawls from your checking account in amounts and or dates not consistant with your agreement. That is what we call a fraudalent transfer. If a collector does that in my company he will be terminated and the complete file made available for criminal prosecution at the debtors request.

As to the responses:
Pre-authorized checks are used as the debtors have in most cases had many opportunities both before the debt was turned over to collectons and after which they could have mailed payments in and failed to do so. The bottom line is that the bill does need to be paid and as a group debtors are generally not able to be relied on to send that payment on time. If they could be, they wouldn't be in collections in the first place. There are of course the exceptions, responible people who for one reason or another got behind and are working through it. But they are rarer than most of you may think.

DC

[marbol]

Originally Posted by Veronica1228

The practice of "reaging" an account? I've never heard of this, and my bank doesn't do it. In fact because of the strict bank confidentiality laws, I don't see why we would give out this information anyway. The only thing we would do, is order checks with a high check number so that the account might appear to be older than it is.

Our system does not allow any other type of manipulation.

There is a date on the face of all checks. This is the date that the checking account was opened. That date can be set by the bank. It doesn't re-age the account, but just is something that is on the face of each check.

Look for it. You'll find it.

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by marbol

There is a date on the face of all checks. This is the date that the checking account was opened. That date can be set by the bank. It doesn't re-age the account, but just is something that is on the face of each check.

Look for it. You'll find it.

Nope. There is no date on my checks. We do not do that my bank, which means that it is not done at all banks.

I'm not disputing that some banks might do this, but only stating that my bank does not. Again, our banking system does not allow date manipulation. Take it from someone who opens new accounts. It cannot be done.

[Shay-Pari'e]

I have no dates on my checks either. I have experienced the "ReAging" though.

For whatever reason, you have to close your account and get a new one******************************************.....My bank anyway, started our checks in the 500's, instead of 1.