ya...ok?

[UberAudio 10+ year member]

Wow dumbest ****ing people on this planet hit this forum eh?

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

exactly cheesemind..someone who sees where the hell I am coming from. As said, I nor no one on this forum more than likely knows this woman personally. But I will try some of these tips I have seen.

Frustrated, and getting bad headache...I will follow up and post up later.

She also told me that she would be calling back to see if i got a job to start the payment plan and thats the last thing she said to me and hungup.

 

[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

Send the letter in, if they provide what they need to just pay the thing. Ruining your credit for $250 is probably the dumbest thing you can possibly do.

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

Send the letter in, if they provide what they need to just pay the thing. Ruining your credit for $250 is probably the dumbest thing you can possibly do.

exactly my point...think about the big picture.

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

Where you messed up is admitting tha you owe the debt. There is a thing called a Statute of Limitations. It varies state to state, but could have been used to clear your debt. I know that in Maryland, a collector has 2 years to collect on a debt. After that, the debt is not collectable anymore. If you admit to the debt, your 2 years starts over. You should look up the statute of limitations in your state.

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

I would ask her to show you written proof that she is who she says she is and that the company she works for is really that company. For all you know some random scam artist called you up cause they heard about a debt you owed, and they're pretending to be a collection agency. I wouldn't give them jack til I saw some sort of proof first. Otherwise you could just dig through bank garbage to see who owes debts and then create a company and start giving these people calls pretending to be lawyers or collection agencies.
Be totally polite about it but definately ask for proof. Tell her the conversation is recorded, and that you would like proof of who she is, who her company is, and proof that they transfered the debt to them. Until they can provide that in writing, do not call or send you any more threats.

Or you could just dispute the debt right off the bat, which is what I would do, and make them prove that you owe it. Only the creditor has any legal claim to your debt, not these mafia style collection thugs. I would dispute the debt, ask to see the contract you sign because you need to go over it because you're disputing it. If you use the link I sent you, you can edit it but keep it similar. Keep the parts in there about if you can't receive proof within 30 days to remove it from your credit report. It's law.

What really works with them is to ask them what was bought with the card. Ask for an itemized list of items purchased with the card. Only the original creditor can provide that. It gets them everytime. If they can't provide it, then they cannot collect on it.

 

[22mountaineer 10+ year member]

I wouldn't make a single payment myself. As soon as you make the first payment, you're agreeing that you owe the debt to them (which you don't, you owe it to the bank or the credit card company, not the collection agency).
Think about it like this. You borrow 100$ from me. You decide not to pay. It's not worth taking you to court over, the lawyer fees alone would cost more than it's worth, so instead I find someone willing to buy the debt for 20$. Hey, some money is better than no money.

So then my buddy acts like he's going to sue you unless you pay the full 100$ to him.

Do you owe him the debt? Can he legally sue you? No, because you owe it to me, not to him. He can threaten you though, and pretend to do this and that, but legally he has no grounds, because you never made the agreement with him.

This is where the law gets you. As soon as you make a payment to them, you're agreeing that you owe that debt to them now. It's like an unwritten understanding. As soon as you say "yes, I owe you the 100 now", then they can legally go after you for it. It's kind of like a verbal contract in a sense. But until you make that first payment to them, you don't technically owe them anything.

The way they get you too, is that they use common law defaults. They'll send you a letter in the mail saying something like "we are collecting the debt for so and so and you owe us this much. If you don't respond to this within 30 days, we assume that you owe this to us and we're going to start collections". Or something to that effect. And basically, if you don't respond to them asking them to prove to you that you owe them money, they can use that in court to get a default judgement against you. But anyone can do the same thing.

I can write you a letter stating you owe me 4000$. If you don't respond to it within 30 days, it becomes default. It's like you're conceding instead of contesting. So that if you don't respond to contest it within 30 days, then I can legally take you to court and get a default judgement against you. They're basically using this to get you to legally owe them the money, because legally you owe whoever you signed the contract with, not them.

It gets confusing but basically, as soon as you make a payment, or don't respond to their letters contesting the debt, they can legally make the assumption that you agree to their terms (or you would have disputed it).

Also, half the time it's some "law firm", it's actually just a collection agency pretending to be a law firm. They get people to pay much easier when they act as if they are lawyers. There is an easy way to tell. Next time they get you on the phone, tell them you're recording the conversation. If you have a recorder it would be handy. Once they know they're being recorded, they can't do anything illegal (like lie to you, threaten you with shit they can't do, etc). Most of the time they will just hang up the phone or try to talk you into not recording the conversation. Try it, you'll see real fast if it's a real law firm or not. If they hang up, or say something like "I see you're not interested in taking care of your debt", you'll know it was just a collection agency trying to bully you. If they weren't shady, why would they be so scared about the conversation being recorded?

Just ask them to prove to you in writing where you agreed to pay them anything. They can't legally do it, only the original creditor can.

I agree, my step mom gets calls every once in awhile using her first husbands name, and she has been married to my dad for about 10 years. She said the same thing, once you make that first one it all starts back over.

But it sucks that 170 bucks made your credit look worse.

 

[adio 5,000+ posts]

yes, I understand that man, but why would she be so rude being the first time attempting to contact me of the manner.

she shouldn't have. who in fuq is she to do that anyway?

 

[adio 5,000+ posts]

Because she's a collection agent. She's doing what she thinks will most likely get him to start paying them. They bought the debt for fractions on the dollar and if he makes even 1-2 payments, they have probably made their money back and the rest becomes their profit.
Most lawyers aren't assholes over the phone, most lawyers are civil and calm. The fact that she was berating you is telling me she was just a collection agent pretending to be a lawyer.

that could be very true

 

[adio 5,000+ posts]

Here is a sample letter to a credit reporting agency if you want to dispute a debt:
http://www.privacyrights.org/letters/debt1.htm

Basically, they have to prove to you that you owe them this debt (by showing you the contracts that you signed, and all ledgers associated with that debt) within 30 days or they must strike it off your credit report. It also makes it so that credit agencies can't contact you until your proof is provided to you. Make sure to look over the contract real good (if they even still have it, most of the time it's such a pain to look up that information they won't even do it).

I know it might seem to some of you that you're "cheating" the system, but it's really not. Having a negative on your credit report does major harm to a persons welfare, and they should provide ample proof before they go screwing with peoples lives. Most of the time they just report people that owe them money and never even show them any proof at all.

If they're going to send angry women to treat you like shit over this debt, I'd at least make them work for it by digging out your original contract (if they can even find it). But that's just me.

thats what i would do

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

well see what they did is charge me all the interest for those 2 years, thats why i said im sure its up in the thousands by now...there is no longer just the $170-$250 now. But when she calls me back I will take and use the advice thats been given to me.

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

well, the calls are coming from someones name which is Steve Lamb...it doesnt say ANYTHING WHATSOEVER about a law firm or collection agency. I may not should do this but hey what the hell..lol their phone that they are calling from is 1-501-882-6538. I have friends that have cell phone numbers like that, but that doesnt exactly mean anything tho. But shouldnt my caller ID saw something like Lamb Law Firm or Steve Lamb Law Firm? Am I right or no?

 

[adio 5,000+ posts]

well see what they did is charge me all the interest for those 2 years, thats why i said im sure its up in the thousands by now...there is no longer just the $170-$250 now. But when she calls me back I will take and use the advice thats been given to me.

i would contact your own lawyer for protection/ADvice too. maybe you know somebody who is a lawyer or knows somebody that knows somebody

 

[DaGh0st 5,000+ posts]

pay the money back and file a formal complaint agianst the women. I would have just told her to go change her tampon tho..

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

lmao....wow...If it I absolutely have to I plan on getting me a lawyer