F
frodriguez
Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Florida
About 3 years ago I had a vehicle repossessed because of inability to pay on the loan due to financial hardships. A couple of weeks ago, a collection agency calls me out of the blue at work and begins to tell me that I owe $5000 dollars and if I would like to pay it in full or make monthly payments of about $300 dollars a month. At the time of the call I didn't make the connection about the loan (car repo), I said I wasn't sure if this was a valid claim or if they even had the right individual, and in any sense, if it were valid, I told her that there would be no way I could make this decision based on a "cold call." I proceeded to tell her that I would have to discuss this matter with my wife and go over what our financial options may be. At that point she put her "Manager" on the phone. He started harassing me stating that I needed to make a decision and that I would need to send a check for the settlement amount right away. I once again restated that I would need to discuss the matter with my wife and that I could not agree to any arrangement without reviewing my finances and seeing what I could arrange. He finally gave up and said that he would be sending me a letter stating that they are the Portfolio collection agency (I think) and include the details about who the original lender was and so forth. I have yet to receive that letter, and I gave them my home address, so I know they haven't sent anything. To be honest, I never did have a chance to get in contact with them. I work 12-14 hour days and being that I am an IT Manager and I am practically on call if there is a system malfunction. However, being they are a CA, they of course contacted me again...
This time the young lady contacted me asking me if I had thought it over and I said I did, but the most I could let go of on a monthly basis is $100 dollars and still be able to keep my family afloat. She immediately gave me to another man stating that he was the "VP of the company." He began by saying that when they had called me initially I had agreed to pay their monthly payment and now I am trying to work my way out of it!! At that point I became a little upset, and began restated everything I had mentioned in the first call and emphasizing that I had NEVER agreed to ANY arrangement. He then began to haggle with me about down payment stating that if he could offer me a one time deal of $1900 and have the whole situation go away would I be willing to pay it. I tried to go back to my initial offer of $100 dollars a month to start, but he only kept discussing the lump sum payment. Because I was at work and being paged (besides, we were getting nowhere), I finally asked him if I could discuss this with him another time. I began to end the call, but not before he reminded me that I lived in the state of Florida and that they could garnish 25% of my wages. Then he game me the ultimatum of agreeing to pay the lump sum or be sent to their "legal department" for wage garnishment. At that point I simply said, "Do what you feel you need to do" and then hung up the phone.
Three years ago, I was a single guy and couldn't care less about threats like this, but now I am a married man with a family and to be honest I am stressing about this. I have paid on many collections and kept all of my new credit accounts in excellent standing to try and “heal” my credit report (besides one day I would like to be a home owner). I really don't want this taking me a few step backwards credit wise, but I honestly can’t afford a lump sum payment. I have read the Florida law and seen that a head of family includes all persons who reside in Florida and who provide more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent and the wages of the head of family are exempt. I would fall in that category considering I am the only working parent and have been for some time. So if push came to shove I could file if they did in fact go for a judgment. Sorry for the short story I know can get winded, I guess my question would be what should I do now? Should I wait and see what action they take and then go from there? Are these most likely just scare tactics to pay a lump sum of money? Will not paying them add another negative on my credit report on top of the initial repossession placed by the original lender?
By the way: I know these collection agencies buy these loans from the original bank at a fraction of their original worth and then try to collect whatever they can from the people they aquire to make a huge profit. Logically, to file for a judgement and go through the court system would cost them money and effectively hurt their bottom line, so I am sure many opt not to do it, especially if they have a good conversion rate (people who can pay).
Still...I like to be prepared for what may be left to come.
About 3 years ago I had a vehicle repossessed because of inability to pay on the loan due to financial hardships. A couple of weeks ago, a collection agency calls me out of the blue at work and begins to tell me that I owe $5000 dollars and if I would like to pay it in full or make monthly payments of about $300 dollars a month. At the time of the call I didn't make the connection about the loan (car repo), I said I wasn't sure if this was a valid claim or if they even had the right individual, and in any sense, if it were valid, I told her that there would be no way I could make this decision based on a "cold call." I proceeded to tell her that I would have to discuss this matter with my wife and go over what our financial options may be. At that point she put her "Manager" on the phone. He started harassing me stating that I needed to make a decision and that I would need to send a check for the settlement amount right away. I once again restated that I would need to discuss the matter with my wife and that I could not agree to any arrangement without reviewing my finances and seeing what I could arrange. He finally gave up and said that he would be sending me a letter stating that they are the Portfolio collection agency (I think) and include the details about who the original lender was and so forth. I have yet to receive that letter, and I gave them my home address, so I know they haven't sent anything. To be honest, I never did have a chance to get in contact with them. I work 12-14 hour days and being that I am an IT Manager and I am practically on call if there is a system malfunction. However, being they are a CA, they of course contacted me again...
This time the young lady contacted me asking me if I had thought it over and I said I did, but the most I could let go of on a monthly basis is $100 dollars and still be able to keep my family afloat. She immediately gave me to another man stating that he was the "VP of the company." He began by saying that when they had called me initially I had agreed to pay their monthly payment and now I am trying to work my way out of it!! At that point I became a little upset, and began restated everything I had mentioned in the first call and emphasizing that I had NEVER agreed to ANY arrangement. He then began to haggle with me about down payment stating that if he could offer me a one time deal of $1900 and have the whole situation go away would I be willing to pay it. I tried to go back to my initial offer of $100 dollars a month to start, but he only kept discussing the lump sum payment. Because I was at work and being paged (besides, we were getting nowhere), I finally asked him if I could discuss this with him another time. I began to end the call, but not before he reminded me that I lived in the state of Florida and that they could garnish 25% of my wages. Then he game me the ultimatum of agreeing to pay the lump sum or be sent to their "legal department" for wage garnishment. At that point I simply said, "Do what you feel you need to do" and then hung up the phone.
Three years ago, I was a single guy and couldn't care less about threats like this, but now I am a married man with a family and to be honest I am stressing about this. I have paid on many collections and kept all of my new credit accounts in excellent standing to try and “heal” my credit report (besides one day I would like to be a home owner). I really don't want this taking me a few step backwards credit wise, but I honestly can’t afford a lump sum payment. I have read the Florida law and seen that a head of family includes all persons who reside in Florida and who provide more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent and the wages of the head of family are exempt. I would fall in that category considering I am the only working parent and have been for some time. So if push came to shove I could file if they did in fact go for a judgment. Sorry for the short story I know can get winded, I guess my question would be what should I do now? Should I wait and see what action they take and then go from there? Are these most likely just scare tactics to pay a lump sum of money? Will not paying them add another negative on my credit report on top of the initial repossession placed by the original lender?
By the way: I know these collection agencies buy these loans from the original bank at a fraction of their original worth and then try to collect whatever they can from the people they aquire to make a huge profit. Logically, to file for a judgement and go through the court system would cost them money and effectively hurt their bottom line, so I am sure many opt not to do it, especially if they have a good conversion rate (people who can pay).
Still...I like to be prepared for what may be left to come.