Debt Collector Issues

[hffmnheidi]

How do you deal with jerky collection agencies? All the other ones(all I have in collections is medical debts, not credit card debt) have been working with me and waiting until I go back to work to get their payments because it wasn't my choice not to work; my doctor and employer wouldn't let me go back to work. Several of the agencies on the med. bills had me fax a copy of my doctor's statement to them about not being able to work/lifting kids is a requirement in my job as a daycare teacher.

This is the only credit card debt I have...it's a debt for 1800.00 and know it's mine and I owe it. I am not trying to get out of paying it...

but I haven't worked since last October because of medical issues. I had emergency major surgery at the beginning of November and was in the hospital until Jan because of sepsis, liver failure, respitory failure all related to the original surgery. I then was home recovering and couldn't work because of the colostomy and one of the kids could have pulled it off/leakage/and I couldn't lift anything or anyone.

I had reconstruction surgery in April, spent 2 weeks in the hospital for that with one minor, minor complication and have been recovering. My doctor is finally letting me go back to work the second week in July, part-time to get my strength back up. I can't go back yet, because I haven't been released and still have a healing, open wound.

I have explained to this agency that I want to pay them and will start paying them in July. I even offered to set up a payment of 50.00 for the end of July to get things going and increasing payments each month(August-100, Sept-150 to get them paid off as soon as I can) they refused the money and want 50% now. I am at the end of my rope and don't know how to handle them.

They are one of those abusive agencies you hear about on tv shows-yelling and screaming like loony tunes about their money and I'd better get back to work or their going to repo my car(my parents own the car and it's paid for). I was even told they did a background search and found 1700.00-I only have a checking(25.00 in it to keep it open) and savings (5.00 in it to keep it open), and they won't tell me where this "found" money is. Don't get me wrong, I WANT TO PAY THEM, I just can't do anything until I get back to work and get a paycheck.

My parents are both retired and have no extra cash to help me out right now. They are already paying a student loan payment on the one loan that can't be deffered because we already used a deferrment in the past and that takes their extra cash. My brother just started a new job and my other brother is being laid off in August due to the economy. So, there's no one who can let me borrow any money.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ashton7]

First off, I'm not a lawyer.

Here is what advice I can offer you: if your parents own the car they can't touch it. I don't know what state you live in so don't know if your wages can be garnished. In some states they can and in some they can't. While you aren't working, of course they can't, regardless. If you are receiving Social Security and/or SSI they cannot garnish this income or touch it. In many states, your homesteaded property is also exempt. In any case, no matter where you live, they cannot touch anything unless and until they go to court and get a judgement against you. Then they have to pay to execute the judgement for anything they want to do such as take your car or money from your bank account. For $1800, it's probably not worth their time, especially if you are as judgement proof as it sounds.

If they are calling and harrassing you, you have a right to send them a letter telling them to only contact you *in writing* and to never contact you at any number (or your friends or relatives, either) again. Do a search online and you will find examples of the kinds of letter to write. Make sure you send it certified return receipt so you can prove you told them to stop calling you. Make it clear to them that if they continue to call after receiving your request, you will consider it harrassment and you will sue them (and you have a right to do so).

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

I don't know much about collection agencies but I have heard it is best to communicate in writing so you have proof of what is said/agreed upon. I would send a letter stating you will be returning to work soon and you will be paying them soon and that they need to stop calling you.

 

[kamik86]

A few things:

1) They can't repo your car, even if its your name. Credit card debt is unsecured they are just hoping you don't know this and will borrow money or whatever to pay them.

2) They couldn't take any money from a bank account unless they get a judgement against you. To do that they have to take you to court so unless you have gotten notice that you are being sued you don't have to worry about that.

3) If you really don't have money in the bank don't worry about this money they "found". They didn't find it they are just hoping you really do have some somewhere and will pay them thinking they will take that. If by some off chance you do have some old bank account you forgot about or whatever and they take it (legally with the court order) well it paid some of your debt and your not out anything you knew you had anyway.

4) They won't bother taking you to court until they reasonably think you can pay because a judgement does no good if you don't have the money. when you do have the money you can start paying them.

Once you do start working you can figure out which accounts you want to pay first. Since the CC is in collections and is no longer getting interest personally I would put them off and pay other stuff that wasn't harassing me first just becuase they annoyed me... but I'm not sure how beneficial this last piece of advice is since if you were to get sued by them eventually when you were paying everyone but them they could tack on lawyers fees so it probably isn't a good idea.

 

[NYCDiane]

I have explained to this agency that I want to pay them and will start paying them in July. I even offered to set up a payment of 50.00 for the end of July to get things going and increasing payments each month(August-100, Sept-150 to get them paid off as soon as I can) they refused the money and want 50% now. I am at the end of my rope and don't know how to handle them.

They can't force you to give them 50% now. You can mail them $5/month and there's nothing they can do. You're making an effort to pay.

They are one of those abusive agencies you hear about on tv shows-yelling and screaming like loony tunes about their money and I'd better get back to work or their going to repo my car(my parents own the car and it's paid for). I was even told they did a background search and found 1700.00-I only have a checking(25.00 in it to keep it open) and savings (5.00 in it to keep it open), and they won't tell me where this "found" money is. Don't get me wrong, I WANT TO PAY THEM, I just can't do anything until I get back to work and get a paycheck.

They CANNOT repo your car. They CANNOT do anything to you unless they go to a court and get a judgement against you.

Is this a 3rd party collection agency?? If so, they are in violation of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collections Practices Act). Get them ON TAPE making these threats and then sue them. You can get 1k for each and every violation. (google or bing FDCPA)

If it's the actual credit card company they can, unfortunately, say whatever they want to you in order to get you to pay the debt.

If they continue to harass you, call a consumer attorney. Most of them work on a contingency basis. You'll get 1K (and you can use that to settle the cc debt).

I know this because my husband was harassed by a collection agency over a debt he didn't owe, we had proof he didn't owe, etc. They continued harassing us, I called an attorney, the calls stopped immediately and we had a 1K check about 2 months later.

 

[Praying Colonel]

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

 

[cglaura]

Send them a letter, certified w/ written signature proof of their receipt to cease all communications except in writing. Type your name at the end. Do not sign it. This will cease all phone contact. Be sure to specify you want no contact at any phone, all must be at xyz address.

Then, contact your original creditor to see if anything can be worked out with them. If so, get it in writing and send to the collectors.

Figure out what you can pay, and send that, by money order, not check....your check will have a signature, and it is amazing how a signature can jump to something you didn't sign.

Send all payments confirmation receipt.

Never ever set up auto deductions from you bank account.

I went through terrible issues w/ my ex-husband's 2nd wife assuming my id. I've gone so far as to cc my letters to one collector to the local gov't office in their state and mine. One scum actually told me they tracked down my dd's school and was prepared to call them to let them be aware I'm a risk. Um, yeah, funny since I've homeschooled since day one loser! One told me they'd have to start calling my neighbors, so I spat back the fdic part of the code that states that is illegal if they've already established contact with me (which obviously they did, had written proof and phone call proof). They said well you'd have to prove that, and I said, ok well here listen to the tape I made from your last call. He said that was illegal, I told him no, because when he told me he was recording me for collections purposes I said "so am I" and he chose to ignore me. I played the tape and you could hear is boss (I'm assuming) in the background...."You let yourself get taped!!!!".

I'm all for repaying your debt, and that is what you are trying to do. But you don't need this stress.

Here is a good site: www.creditboards.com. They have links to letter samples, etc that you can send.

Alot will advise you to not pay a 3rd party at all until they've proven that the debt is yours. I'm not so keen on that if you really do owe the debt, even if not originially to them and sure they bought it for pennies on the dollar. That is a choice only you can make though.

You will also want to keep an eye on your credit report.

 

[Planogirl]

I would send them a letter requesting that they contact you only by mail and mention per FCRA. There are form letters at most of the credit advice sites.

Then when you can pay, offer to settle with them. You can also contact Consumer Credit Counseling if the company is being stubborn because often they can work out a payment plan.

Good luck.

 

[SandrA9810]

I was threatened repeatedly by a collection agency. Funny... Out of the few things on my report, they were the only ones calling/writing to me. And they always had a habit of contacting me when i had no job.
I tried to pay off 2 or 3 debts from mine and kari's reports each tax return, but keeping current with CCs were a higher priority because late fees and higher interest charges would eat any one alive.

I had them call me after i pulled my credit report this year and was no longer showing on any of the reports, and 2 weeks prior to it reaching the statue of limitation telling me that i needed to pay or they would take me to court. Two weeks came and went and never a court order.

I've had many nice people to talk to on the phone. Once a year, i'd get the tax returns, pull both our reports, and go through what could be paid off. I'd call and tell them i'd like to pay it off, and see if there was an amount i could settle for. And there was a time or two i'd get a call asking for money, but i'd tell them i didn't have the money. And it'd be about 6 months later before i'd hear from them again... But the more pushy they were, the further on the back burner they'd go. That's the only debt that reached the SoL and didn't pay off.

Maybe it wasn't the right way to handle it. But if it's a collector who bought the debt for pennies on the dollar... I really don't feel the need for them to recieve the whole amount. I would rather know the whole amount is going to the original place i owed the debt to. KWIM??

If they're harrasing you, just say it's not you if you answer the phone. They can't give out info over the phone. I get calls for my mother all the time. She's left my number a few times cause it was the only working number she knew. They won't say a thing other than they're looking for her.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Record the calls and sue the collector. Check you state's laws about recording. Some states only require that one party (ie you) know that the call is being reocrded.

You can do just a little bit of research and possibly handle the whole thing yourself in small claims court. Otherwise find a consumer lawyer to handle it on a contingency basis.

At $500 or $1000 per voilation any $1500 debt would be offset rather quickly. And once that debt is paid in full as confirmed by a court then the calls will stop. Whatever is left over you can use to pay on the medical bills.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Link to official government sites:
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

The FDCPA defines certain behaviors taken by a collector to inherently be abusive.

In summary, the collector may not:

1. use or threaten to use violence or other criminal conduct to harm any person, any person's reputation, or any person's property.
2. use profane or abusive language
3. publish a list of persons refusing to pay a debt (except to a credit bureau)
4. cause a telephone to ring or speak to anyone on the phone repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass anyone at the called number.
5. place calls and refuse to identify themselves. Exception is that they can call your neighbors, friends, etc.. solely to attempt to verify your address and phone number and they must NOT identify that they are trying to collect a debt and must NOT identify their employer unless asked.
6. call outside of the hours of 8am to 9pm local time where you are UNLESS they have specific reason to know that calls within those hours would tend to be inconvenient. (For example, if you confirm you work an overnight shift from 11p-7a and sleep daily from 9am to5pm then they cannot call you during your hours of sleep.)
7. contact you at all if you have an attorney, so long as your attorney responds to them. They may contact you one time to acknowledge that they have received notice you have an attorney.
8. call you at all if you have instructed them to only communicate in writing. They may contact one time to acknowledge they have received your instruction. They may call you one time to inform you of legal steps they are taking, such as taking you to court.
9. lie about their compensation as it relates to the debt.
10. state they are an attorney if it is not true.
11. state or imply that they will take legal action if it is not true.
12. threaten to take any action which is not legal.

That last one is relevant to the OP. A threat to seize a vehicle which belongs to a third party free and clear is an illegal act on the part of the collector. GET IT ON TAPE and take them to court!
And LOTS more

 

[tomthebarncat]

edited because I thought it was credit card debt. I would first cancel my upcoming trip to disney and then follow the legal suggestions provided by the credit boards. Financial worries are never beneficial to getting better, health wise.

 

[bettymae1121]

In addition to credit boards, I suggest this site, I think it's easier for newbies to navigate and ask questions. Credit InfoCenter http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/index.php

They cannot garnish you wages or get into your bank accounts without a judgment against you, which means they have to sue you first. They cannot repo your car as it is unsecured debt (some states do allow creditors to seize property to satisfy a debt, but they have to first get a judgment and then file to reposes items to satisfy the debt, but it's rare for that it happens to individuals, it's more for seizing things like office equipment from a business that refuses to pay you).

They are lying to you and breaking the law while doing so. If you can get proof you can sue them for $1k (it's not per violation but per action, unfortunatly). Often what people do is file suit for the $1k and then offer the collector to drop the suit if they forgive the debt, but there are a few ways to go about this. I highly suggest you read both Credit Boards and Credit InfoCenter to learn how to deal with this.

 

[mrsklamc]

I just want to point out, since several people have talked about it being credit card debt, that it's not credit card debt.

 

[MEM]

You might want to check and see what Dave Ramsey recommends. I recall one show where he told the woman to buy/borrow a sports air horn - tell the collector that the next time he calls, or if he persists, he's going to get the air horn blast in his ear. You have to warn him first that it might happen.

 

[hffmnheidi]

Clarification...this is one credit card debt. This is the only one I am having issues with and the only credit card debt I have. The rest are medical debt and I fully intend to start paying my debts when I get back to work. I am not trying to get out of paying them-there's just no money right now.

Vacations...

We didn't go in 2009 because I was in the hospital and not going this year because we don't have the money.

As for my 2011 Disney trip-I have looked at my monthly income and wrote up a budget, once I get back to work and will have this particular debt paid off before I go on that trip. That's not debatable. The medical debts which reach over 7500 dollars will also be paid on, but I need a vacation next year. I have really had a lousy year since Oct 2009 when all the medical issues cropped up.

It is the only vacation and time off, I take all year since I have to take a week with pay or I lose it(company policy to not roll over time to the next year). I work with two year old children and a week away from them is needed. I love my job and glad that they kept it for me, but sometimes you have to get away.

Note-the vacation is fully paid for in cash and not put on any credit cards. We pay for it before we go so we're not spending any money when we get there other than tipping, souvenirs, or fees at the airport. And all that cash is put in envelopes, so we don't go over what we have. My dad is very anti-debt and it is rubbing off on me.

 

[mickaholic4077]

Don't have any advice for you,but just wanted to say I hope everything works out for you.

 

[aaarcher86]

I know you are planning on paying your medical debt but you may want to call the hospital, tell them about your situation and see if they can help. Most hospitals have a program that forgives the hospital portion of the debt (which is frequently the largest) although you will still need to pay the doctors who treated you.

I know it's not the same debt as we're talking about, but it might help make things a bit more affordable when you do go back to work and start making payments.

 

[Leajess99]

OP, the advice I saw on television the other day was to NEVER pay a collection agency by check or automatic payments from your credit card/checking account. This gives them free will to take whatever they want. Pay by money order.

Also, if they continue harassing you just block their number if it shows up. Talk to the original creditor and see if you can get it worked out with them. Explain that you want to pay them and NOT this collection agency. The other advise on the letters was good advise as well. Keep copies of EVERYTHING you send them to include copies of the certified papers.

 

[hffmnheidi]

The medical debt I have is the doctor who did my two surgeries and the surgical group doesn't take the charity letter from the doctor. I am planning on paying from 100-200 dollars a month on the bills once I get back to work. The medical collections agencies seem to be the best at working with you and waiting until you get back to work and have money to pay them.