Please help me.

[cherylp3]

You may also want to check out Clark Howard. http://clarkhoward.com/

 

[canwegosoon]

I don't know if all your medical debt is paid...but many hospitals have a certain % of cases they will forgive debt on, so keep that in mind. Good Luck.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

Bump, and yes, it's SCARE TACTICS. AS other people have said, call your creditors. Don't let them bully you.

 

[Microcell]

You may also want to check out Clark Howard. http://clarkhoward.com/

That is exactly what I was thinking. He would tell you to send them a "drop dead" letter! that way they can't call you.

 

[Dan Murphy]

WHY DO PEOPLE ASK THE DIS FOR LEGAL ADVICE?.........

People do ask friends/family for advice now and then, it is normal human activity.

BTW, welcome to the DIS. After a time, you might see how it works.

 

[swea_pea1]

I wouldn't send the money to the CC company. If they've sold the debt to the collection agency, then either a. they've closed your card, or b. they've kept it open with a 0 balance and 0 credit limit. The fact that they told you it was sold when you called tells me that they've got your account marked one way or the other. Either way, I don't think the check you send them will help. The worst thing that could happen is that they'll credit your 0 balance/credit limit account and then you'll have to wait for them to send a check back to you in order to turn it around to the collection agency. That's time you don't have to waste.

I had a medical bill turned into collection last year. I never saw the bill from the anesthegeologist (don't know how to spell that, but he's the guy that puts you to sleep) but the letter from the collection agency caught my attention - and how! When I called the dr's office to inquire, they instructed me that the debt was "paid" because it was sold off and that sending them a check wouldn't help. It remains on my credit report because it had to be sent to collections (yuck!).

I do agree though that they're using a scare tactic, particularly because it's so early in the process. I don't think they'd resort to suing right away. I got a letter first, not a call, so maybe it was different for me because it was a medical bill. When I called, they actually offered the payment plan but I was able to pay it all at once, so I just sent a check.

Good luck to you. I hope you get it all sorted out soon!

 

[DVC Sadie]

I just want to send you some hugs and let you know that the scare tactics they are using is so wrong.

If you have to pay a huge penalty to cash in the CD then don't cash it in early. Since you are going to pay off one card this month and pay half of the other card next month then leaving the CD alone would be your best bet in my opinion. Once the CD matures then you can decide if you want to use part of it to pay off the final amount on cc #2.

 

[picantel]

WHY DO PEOPLE ASK THE DIS FOR LEGAL ADVICE?

Collection agencies BUY the debt from the credit card companies. And they WILL sue if you don't pay. Even for a small amount. They hire counsel who will file literally hundreds of these actions.

know your rights:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm


telling a debtor that he or she will be sued is NOT in violation of the Act.

Pay what you can right now. Continue to call to see if you can work out a deal about what you can't pay. If they file suit, negotiate with their attorney to see how you can settle the law suit.

It takes about 3 years to repair bad credit. Good luck.

This is an older thread but I was checking out collection agency threads and wanted to point out this erroneous post for anyone who read it. A collection agency cannot threaten legal action if they have no intention or no right to do so. It IS a violation of the FDCPA. In this instance it sounds like a 3rd party CA was collecting on behalf of the orginal creditor. He was trying to pressure a full payment and was using illegal means to do so. Notice how the collector would not state when they would be sued and just said they would be sued. That was a violation of the FDCPA and had you taped that conversation they would be paying you. Just something to consider. One thing through- this would not apply if the collector worked inhouse for the original creditor.