CA threatening legal action and calling relatives

[carebear2325]

What is the name of your state? WV

I've been fighting with a CA for about a month now, and I've spent SO much time researching so I know exactly what my options are but I still have some questions that hopefully someone will be able to point me in the direction of an answer.

I went through a period when I first when to college where I dug myself a nice little hole. I spent a few years getting myself out, paying off old debts and I'm just about done except for this one in particular. It was an old Discover account from 2000 where they completely stopped sending statements (at the time my account was current) and no matter how many times I tried to get statements they never sent any, eventually that account got lost in the shuffle of the others I was trying to pay off and ended up forgotten until about a month ago.

Embarrassed as I am to admit, I "fell" for the guy's line about having to have some sort of payment made by the end of the month - actually had I not agreed to something by the end of the phone call he said he was sending my file to legal to start the process for a judgement - regardless of the fact I was willing to work with him to settle something.

He was "supposed" to send me something in writing in about 10 days. You guessed it, it never happened. Now he's calling back (end of the month, he wants his commission - I'm wise to it now) but I haven't called him back. actually I tried to return the call Friday to tell him to cease calls, but he wasn't in and I refused to leave a message. I sent in a request for validation (certified with return reciept) and I'm waiting for that to get there, however he's leaving messages that if I don't call him back by noon tomorrow then don't bother calling back or trying to contact him - thinly veiled threat of legal action there. That's my first question - should I call him back and tell him I've sent a request for validation and refuse to make any settlement or further payments until I recieve validation or should I just ignore his threat and wait for the letter to get there. There's not too much weight to his threat as he did the same thing last month and his "last chance" date changed which each phone call.

Which leads me to question #2 - the phone calls. Last month he called my house, left a message with my grandmother to get in touch with him by the next day or legal action would be taken. The next day, he called my uncle's house and said the same thing - never saying who he was, or that he was collecting a debt, but both times mentioning that it was a "legal matter." I called him back after he called my uncle's house and he said he called information looking for someone in my town with my same last name looking for a relative. Well he did the same thing this month, but didn't even wait 2 days!! It was in the same afternoon!! Judgning by the messages I recieved from him on my voice mail and my uncle's call to pass the message along (this time saying "unfinished business") it had to have been within the same hour or 2!! I know he's allowed to legally call someone if he thinks I'm avoiding his call but is 2 days or even an hour sufficient time to be avoidance and can he even mention that if I don't call back then he's taking legal action?

I sent the letter for validation in with a message that he is to cease all telephone calls and that all correspondence is to be done by mail. I'm not sure if I'm missing a step here or not, or if there's something else I can be doing while waiting for them to recieve the letter.

Thanks for your help!

Carrie

 

[willingtocope]

Sue!

DO NOT TALK WITH HIM AGAIN. If he calls, don't answer or hang up. He has already violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act a couple of times and you can certainly put a stop to it...and maybe make a little money besides.

Collectors can only call 3rd parties to locate you in the first place...not because you won't call them back. Once they have your phone and address, calls to 3rd parties should stop. The fact that he's mentioned "legal action" to these other people is also a violation.

If you haven't actually sent him a payment...don't. If the debt is 2000, it might actually be close to the Statue of Limitations now.

You've done the right thing by sending the letter....never, ever, talk with a collector on the phone...always do it in writing, so you'll have paper trail as to what was agreed. Also, never give them any information regarding bank accounts or the like.

 

[jazzy13]

Prioritize whats important to you.

If what is truly important to you is to clear your credit of deliquent accounts then don't waste your time, energy, or resources - do waht you set out to do and that is negotiate a solution to your deliquent account. So many consumers get caught up in the "I'm gonna get 'em!" that they actually screw themselves in the process. I'm not saying no to protect your rights, I 'm saying to you write a cease & desist letter, return receipt requested, accompanied by a proposal for repayment that you can keep ( requesting a paid in full letter upon completion), and keep it untill the account is paid in full. Get the matter behind you and move on to living the good life-- you'll find that free advice from strangers takes on many forms and I can tell you that you may think settling your debt is the answer but you'll have to meet the settlement terms set forth by the comapny handling your debt and it's usually not worth the $ you may save. Once you send the cease & desist letter, keep a log of any future contacts from anyone at that company just in case you choose to file a formal complaint. But, you 'll probably find that once you've paid your account and your credit reflects a paid status, you wont care too much about that guy. What goes around, comes around. you'll find more peace if you realize that you dont need to make it happen. Universal law says it will./\

 

[Ladynred]

Bottom line - calling your relatives and neighbors when they already have your location information IS ILLEGAL ! It is a violation of the FDCPA and you CAN sue them for it - just make sure you document it and even get statements from these 3rd parties.

As for settling and getting 'paid' on your credit reports - It likely will NOT be reported as 'paid' it'll likley say 'settled for less than full' and that is a NEGATIVE entry - it will NOT help your credit scores and it will STILL remain on your reports doing its damage. You might get a warm fuzzy, but its not going to help your credit one iota.

Sending a complete cease and desist if you're still within the SOL for being sued will likely GET you sued as the total C&D leaves them no avenue to reach you except a lawsuit.

 

[jazzy13]

f.y.i

Sending creditors cease & desist letters is a consumer right under the fdcpa and will not result in being sued unless the consumer fails to repay the financial obligation. A verbal or written notice to stop calling one's place of employment or any third party,and a written notice to stop calling one's residence and/or stop all communications should be accompanied by a proposal for repayment that the consumer is prepared to commit and of course a reasonable payment and the consumer will almost never be sued, unless they have been previously notified in writing that such suit was infact forthcoming.

I have over 15 years experience in the credit and collection industry as well as a BS degree in education,a paralegal certificate and have experience working both sides of the fence. There is absolutley no virtue in leading consumers to believe that they can beat,cheat or win when they are in default of their own contracts. This only perpetuates the 'debtor mentality' taking over this country. Attempting to hold others accountable while ignoring one's own responsibilties is shameful and a huge waste of time energy and of course resources. I choose to educate on both the consumer's rights AND responsibilties.

 

[Ladynred]

I am well aware of and intimately familiar with what the FDCPA says. Education is all well and good, but in the REAL world, people who send C&D letters when they're still within the SOL ARE being sued. People who really cannot repay for legit reasons cannot send along a repayment plan and the collectors are under NO obligation to accept the repayment offer.

The fact also remains that paying off a collection or charge-off or settling for less than the full amount will NOT help your credit scores, regardless of the misinformation and BS disseminated to the contrary by credit repair organizations, debt management/settlement/negotiation companies and debt collectors.

Your 'process' is all well and good, but its useless if you don't have the money.

 

[carebear2325]

Thanks everyone for all your information. I sent a letter for debt validation as well as a C&D for phone calls (I told them specifically all contact to be made through mail)

I plan on getting this account paid - I'm not looking for a way out of my financial obligation, however I don't want to be manipulated and taken advantage of JUST because I have a financial obligation. I may have screwed up btu that doesn't give these guys the right to treat me poorly. Actually I was *hoping* for enough verification that I could use the information that what they're doing is illegal to try and get an even better settlement for myself - specifically I was thinking since this agency has yet to report on any of my credit reports, that I could make them keep it off of there as well as insuring that the remainder of my debt could not be resold.

Carrie