Fraud

[gts_55113]

I am a airline employee who was laid off several times. I could not pay credit card bills for over a year. Finally things calmed down. I contacted the collection adjencies and arranged settlements. All worked out but one.

I called them and explained my situation. They said I could Pay $1438 now and have $1438 left as part of the settlement. They asked 1. When would I want to make the 2nd payment. 2. Do I want it automatically taken out of my checking account. I told them I would call them back on _____ day (about a month out) to arrange a second payment because I was unsure about my job security. and since we did not know I DID NOT want it automatically taken out until the date we agreed I would call upon.

A short time passed and I was checking my bank statement and their was 2 withdrawls of $1438. I called them and let them know they were early and I had not called them yet and I had NOT approved a direct withdrawl. They told me that they would NEVER have done that unless I had approved it. So after sever arguments with various people I was able to get a manager to review the tapes ("this call may be recorded for training purposes"). Later that day I get a call saying I was right They did it WAY to early, WITHOUT my approval and went into my bank account without my ok.

They said it would take 10 business days to put the money back in to the account and they were sorry.

Time passed and the day I said I would call came. I called and tried setting up a payment. (the second one for $1438 ) I was told that I had voided the arrangement of the settlement by having the second 1438 refunded. I explained that it was done before I had the money ready and was done completely wrong. I was told there was a new settlement. it was for around $2850. I asked if that was with the first 1438 payment figured in. they said no. The settlement was $1438 + $2850 They doubled my settlement.

I did not break the settlement agreement. I kept up my end of the agreement. When I could not come up with the $2850 I used the money I did have to pay off other debt.

I view their actions as criminal. They break their agreement and then charge me more??

(NOTE: even with the $2850 + 1438 its still a settlement based on what I would have owed but not by much. So at no time are they charging more then what I origionally owed, my complaint stems from the fact that I had a arrangement in place with them for a said dollar amount which they broke. I made the origional $1438 payment based on that settlement.

Do I have any recourse??? Can they just go in and take your money? Can they use a settlement offer to trick you into paying a large sum and then once they get the money double the settlement?

[Chien]

Do I have any recourse????

No. Well, you can try to stop paying entirely, but that's more likely to work against you more than against them. They'll go back to collecting the full amount.

Can they just go in and take your money?

You gave them the right to do it. They just took more than you agreed. At that point, you should have gotten a written agreement for the balance, so there were no further "arguments with various people".

Can they use a settlement offer to trick you into paying a large sum and then once they get the money double the settlement?

I agree with the implied sentiment, but both sides were a bit more sloppy than they should have been, and now you're bearing the brunt. You need to get back to that manager and persuade him to complete the original deal "because there would have been a full settlement on the original terms if your agency had not made that mistake. Now I just want to finish clearing it up while I still have enough money to do it". Let them believe that they'll have to enforce to get the balance paid.

But, if you don't win the battle, remember it's still a settlement on the new terms. Paying that is better than also losing the war and paying everything.

[debtcollector`]

Try informing them that by deducting the second payment from your account early they violated section 808 of the FDCPA. And if they honor their arrangement you won't have to file suit.

Talk to a lawyer about it if you need clarification.

You are looking for section 808 paragraph 4.

DC