Debt collector help - any advice?

[SharonZ]

I work for a law firm - I would have the collection agency ("C/A") put their demands in writing. At the very least, get their name, address and phone number. I would then hire a consumer attorney to send a letter on your behalf (usually, the will do this for a nominal fee). Most C/As will react to a letter from an attorney, more than an individual. Once you are "represented" by an attorney, C/A should no longer contact you directly. If they do, your attorney will likely sue them on your behalf on a contingency basis. Your attorneys fees would be paid for out of whatever settlement is reached.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

I work for a law firm - I would have the collection agency ("C/A") put their demands in writing. At the very least, get their name, address and phone number. I would then hire a consumer attorney to send a letter on your behalf (usually, the will do this for a nominal fee). Most C/As will react to a letter from an attorney, more than an individual. Once you are "represented" by an attorney, C/A should no longer contact you directly. If they do, your attorney will likely sue them on your behalf on a contingency basis. Your attorneys fees would be paid for out of whatever settlement is reached.

Thanks for the advice. We actually have a friend who is an attorney who would probably do it for free. The debt collectors called again today. I answered the phone this time and told the caller not to call again, not to call any other number associated with my parents or any family members. I told her that we had sent the "cease and desist" and "provide proof or debt" letters registered mail and filed a complaint with the FCC. She kept trying to talk over me, I just repeated myself until she said "ok" and hung up.

My poor dad is just obsessed with this whole thing. If it was me I just wouldn't answer the phone! We move a lot and have a new phone number every couple of years. This means we often "inherit" debt collection calls from the previous users of the phone number. I just don't answer the phone unless I know who it is. My parents are nearly 70 and they feel they "need" to answer the phone every time it rings, even though they have caller id and voice mail.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Me: hello, I like to speak with mr. X about an old account in the name of Mrs. ABC.
collection agency: I'd be happy to help you, do you have an acct #?
Me: Yes, it's 1234567
CA: Will Mrs. ABC be paying in full or making an arrangement.
Me: Unfortunately Mrs ABC is deceased and we like that noted.
CA: Will Mrs. ABC be notifying us about this account?
Me: uhmm, I'm sorry there must be a misunderstanding Mrs. ABC is dead.
CA: Do you have an address or phone # where we can contact her?
Me: Yes Pinelawn Memorial Cementary. Long Island, NY
CA: I'm required to inform you that we will report this to credit reporting agencies and it may have a negative effect on her credit report.
Me: At this point, I don't think her credit score is going to worry her.
CA: Is Mrs. ABC available?
Me: Not without a major miracle occuring




That is so funny! It reminds me of a conversation I had recently with a debt collector who kept calling for someone I don't know:

Me: Your company is calling me daily attempting to contact someone who doesn't live here.

CA: What number are you calling from?

Me: 1234567

CA: Are you Gilda Santoriari?

Me: No

CA: Do you know Gilda Santoriari?

Me: No

CA: What account number are you calling about?

Me: I don't have an account with you, I want you to stop calling me.

CA: What phone number are you calling from?

Me: 1234567

CA: What is the name on the account?

This went round and round until I was "transferred to a supervisor". That means they hung up on me.

 

[kaligal]

I'd turn this over to the lawyer. Lawyers get paid to handle this kind of crap. That's why you pay them - to handle stuff you don't want to (or can't) handle.

If they refuse to call the lawyer, have him call them.

 

[Praying Colonel]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204224604577030043890121710.html

This is one of a series of articles the Wall Street Journal is running on debt collection practices. The linked article talks about some of the ways debt collectors try to get survivors to pay the deceased's debts, even if they may have no legal obligation to do so.

You may also want to contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal agency which investigates and pursues consumer's complaints about credit card and other issues.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204224604577030043890121710.html

This is one of a series of articles the Wall Street Journal is running on debt collection practices. The linked article talks about some of the ways debt collectors try to get survivors to pay the deceased's debts, even if they may have no legal obligation to do so.

You may also want to contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal agency which investigates and pursues consumer's complaints about credit card and other issues.

That was a very interesting article and it named the company by name. I didn't realize they worked for Walmart, I thought the debt had been sold. I don't know if they have tried to call today. Will check out consumerfinance.gov. Thanks Colonel, you always have good advice.

 

[TinkTock]

So even if someone legitamately ran up debts and then died with money in their estate, the money doesn't have to go to the debtors? Things like hospital bills, home repair bills, and credit card bills can just be ignored while the spouse or children keep the money? That doesn't make much sense to me, but then a lot of things about inheritance don't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[maelstrom]

So even if someone legitamately ran up debts and then died with money in their estate, the money doesn't have to go to the debtors? Things like hospital bills, home repair bills, and credit card bills can just be ignored while the spouse or children keep the money? That doesn't make much sense to me, but then a lot of things about inheritance don't make a lot of sense to me.

The ESTATE would be responsible, not the person's children/whatever.

 

[DebbieB]

So even if someone legitamately ran up debts and then died with money in their estate, the money doesn't have to go to the debtors? Things like hospital bills, home repair bills, and credit card bills can just be ignored while the spouse or children keep the money? That doesn't make much sense to me, but then a lot of things about inheritance don't make a lot of sense to me.

If there's money in the estate, it would have to be paid from the estate before the balance is distributed to the inheritors.

My Aunt used to run up credit cards and kept saying she wasn't worried because it would be forgiven when she died. I didn't think that was possible. She left a big home equity loan which her son did have to pay (they were co-owners of the house with right of survivorship) but there was no money in the estate for the credit cards so after they bugged my cousin they eventually went away. He used to give them the address of the cemetary as a contact also!

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

It has been two days with no more calls. Fingers crossed. After reading the Wall Street Journal article Praying Colonel posted, I'm really mad. These people, Phillips and Cohen, are "death debt collectors" HIRED by Walmart to harass the family members after an individual's death. Walmart has the death certificate stating that my grandmother passed before the credit application was made and they STILL sent this on to a debt collector. If you didn't read the article, you should. I didn't even know that this sort of thing existed.

I have never been a fan of Walmart, but this just takes the cake. Read the article folks, it could happen to you!

 

[TinkTock]

The ESTATE would be responsible, not the person's children/whatever.

I was more thinking along the lines of the children had inherited money or property from the estate. I think someone mentioned that a creditor had put a lien on a home for bills that were due. That seems reasonable to me, assuming the deceased had owned the home.

 

[brerrabbit]

What they can collect is a function of what kind of debt it was. In the case of a house the loan is secured by the house. With a credit card that is unsecured debt, hence the reason cc rates are so much higher than home mortgage rates. If you die owing money then the only thing a debt collector for a cc company can go after is a joint account holder if there was one, or the estate. However if they file against the estate unsecured debt falls to the back of the bus and they will be the last party to be paid if there is any money left. People have got around the problem of having the deceased assets going into the estate. You can do this by having joint accounts with survivirship, and trusts. Upon the person's death those assets are outside of the estate and creditors cannot come after the assets. What the cc debt collectors hope is if you were a joint account holder with say your mother and she dies then all the money in the account is yours, free and clear of the cc debt she owed but they want to guilt you into paying that debt because it was her money. Nice thought but legally you have no obligation to pay it.

In the original case here though it was fradulent charges so they should never be paid.

I shop at Wal Mart but have had problems with the credit side of their company. I have never wanted one of their credit cards but a number of years ago one showed up in the mail with my wife's name on it. It was a Wal Mart Visa. I immediately called and said you can't do this, it's against the law we never applied for your card. Come to find out Wal Mart had bought Montgumery Wards Credit division and issued Wal Mart cards to everyone who had had a Wards card at the time they went out of business. This was very troublesome to me, simply because we had not asked for the card and were not looking for it in the mail and it could have very easily fallen into the wrong hands. They said well no problem because you had to call from your home to activate it. Well I don't know about you but I can place a call from your house anytime your not home. It's not very difficult.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

I posted my story on a consumer website and received an e-mail from a lawyer asking us to call them. I'm going to see if my dad is interested in pursuing this.