Back in 2008 I defaulted on 4 credit cards because of a loss of my job. I settled for less with one place Bank of America settled my 25000 debt for around 10000. I used all my savings and money to do this. The other three have gone from one collection place to the other over the past 2 years. I am employed now and have a family to support with limited resources to pay anything back at this time. I owe around 4000 to one place, 3000 to another, and 5000 to the last one. Two have gone to lawyers and they are threatening legal action. I live in Pa by the way. I never validated any of the debt and never answered my phone or letters they continue to send me. Any advice would be great to help me begin to deal with this and fix my credit.
thanks
Forums
defaulted credit cards
Hi crashmaniac,
Welcome to this community :)
You should immediately send in validation letters to all the three collection agencies. This will stop them from suing you. If the collection agencies can't validate the debt, they can't continue with the collection process.
Can you give details on the last payments date on these accounts? If the Statute of Limitations (SOL) on this debt have expired, then you can't even get sued for the debts.
You will get a sample debt validation letter with this community. Write your own letter based on your own situation, and mail it through certified mail, requesting a return receipt (CMRRR).
Thanks,
Aaron
defaulted credit cards
Thanks Aaron for the reply!
Last payments to these cards were made in October of 2008. Its 4 years I believe in Pa so the SOL doesn't apply for me.
Discover had sent it to 2 different collection agencies over the past two years. Now Weltman, Weinberg & Reis had started the court proceedings back in May. A sheriff came numerous times, but due to my work schedule I was never home and told my family not to answer the door. The sheriff left cards but I never responded. I was scared and just didn't know what to do. I never heard anything again from the sheriff after about 5 or so visits. I then started receiving upwards of 10 calls a day from the lawyers and it continues to this day. I have no idea what happened to the lawsuit or what is going on. The letters they send me say they are representing Discover so I guess Discover has the account back even though they have charged it off? They are rude and leave rude messages constantly. I owe them approx 5000.
Chase charged off my account and at least two ca contacted me about the account over the years. Now I'm receiving constant calls from another lawyers office Hayt, Hayt & Landau. They haven't been nasty to me yet and have only been calling for about a month. They are representing Midland Credit Management. I owe them 4000.
The other account is on my credit report as Equable Ascent Financial and to my knowledge I have never received anything from them. I owe them 3800.
All these accounts have accumulated interest since I defaulted. Discover added at least 1200 to it. Chase added at least 1000 to it . The other one added at least 700 to it.
I came across this site and started reading. Up until then I knew nothing and just didn't know what to do so I did nothing. I was under the impression that after they send you a letter you only had the 30 days to validate and after that you couldn't or they didn't have to respond so I never sent anything because I knew I owed the debt.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!!
defaulted credit cards
Hi crashmaniac,
Last payments to these cards were made in October of 2008. Its 4 years I believe in Pa so the SOL doesn't apply for me.
Yes, the Statute of Limitations (SOL) in Pennsylvania is 4 years. However, in your case the statute has not yet expired. The SOL starts from the day when the last payment was made. Thus, you can get sued for unpaid debt.
The letters they send me say they are representing Discover so I guess Discover has the account back even though they have charged it off?
Check out your credit report for the charge-off details, and also if the account is now with Discover. If it in reality is with Discover, you will have to answer to the summons if you still have time. You can however try to negotiate an out of court settlement with Discover, and request them to stop the lawsuit. Get the agreement in writing.
Midland Credit Management is a collection agency. You can request Chase to pull back the account from Midland Credit Management, if possible. If Chase agrees to pull back, you can negotiate a repayment plan with them. Get the payment agreement in writing.
The other account is on my credit report as Equable Ascent Financial and to my knowledge I have never received anything from them. I owe them 3800.
Can you tell who the original creditor is? However, Equable Ascent Financial is a collection agency with a A rating with Better Business Bureau. You have mentioned that you have never received anything from them. You mean that they have never tried to collect from you. If it is so, and if you can pay this amount off, you can talk to them about the payments. However, the collection agency will not be able to remove the charge-off from your credit report. Thus, you can first talk to the original creditor about this. If the creditor has the ability to pull back the account, request him to do so, and then pay off the debt. Also request the creditor to agree to "Pay for delete" (PFD) agreement. If the creditor agrees to PFD, the charge-off will get removed from your credit report.
All these accounts have accumulated interest since I defaulted. Discover added at least 1200 to it. Chase added at least 1000 to it . The other one added at least 700 to it.
This is true. Interests, and late fees do get added to the previous debt amount.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Aaron
Crash,
I know this is all scary but getting a handle on it now is the best thing you can do. By ignoring the sheriff and collectors you will not put this to an end. What may happen is they could get a judgment against you. In PA they can not garnish wages but they can bank accounts, I believe. Try to work with one at a time until you get a handle on things. Good luck. I know how it feels to have the economy knock you down.
I thank you both for all the help. I will attempt to negotiate with these companies.
I have a couple other questions.
I had to get a car in December and the dealership applied for credit from many different places all putting hard inquires on my report. There were 9 places in total. They finally found a place to give me a loan. Can I send the other places remove inquiries letters or do I need to leave it alone and let them come off in 2 years?
My girlfriend had a good report except for one thing. She had a lease agreement with Ford credit and was let go from her employment in May of 2007. She had no money to pay them and turned the car back in and never paid the remaining $2000 she owed them. They had sent her papers about going to court but never did to her knowledge and the only thing on her report is a closed charge-off from Ford. Can she contact them to try a paid for delete or is there nothing she can do since it was charged off and closed?
Thanks everyone
defaulted credit cards
Hi crashmaniac,
If all the inquiries were within a 14 day window, all these can be considered as a single inquiry. So, you need to check that out. Moreover, if you were not aware of these inquiries, you can dispute these. Else, you cannot. These inquiries if authorized (if you were aware that the inquiries were going to happen) are supposed to stay there on your credit report for 2 years.
Your girlfriend needs to talk to the creditor if he can pull back the account from collections,and reopen it. The charge-off can be removed only by the original creditor. Thus, she needs to pay the original creditor. However, if the creditor does not agree to pull back, or can't pull back the account from the collections, the charge-off won't get deleted. In that case, she will have to send "Pay for delete" (PFD) to the collection agency to remove the negatives reported by them.
Thanks,
Aaron
There is no collection activity on the ford credit. It just lists Ford Credit charged off. Its been almost 3 years, and you think it would be ok to contact Ford directly to try and solve this problem?
credit cards
Hi crashmaniac,
Yes, you can contact Ford Credit as the statute has still not yet expired.
Thanks,
Aaron
CREDIT CARDS
Dear Crash,
As a current collection agent for a local law firm here in California, The best advice I can give you, to avoid a lawsuit, is called a payment plan. These are set up based upon your income, however, you would have to put down a percentage to do this. Call each company or lawfirm and set up "monthly payments" right away !!
Good Luck !!
credit cards
I got into debt because my mom who has parkinsin ran up over 10,000 in medical bills in 2008. Up until that time I only owed $3000 on my Discover Card. I took a check loan to help her out. By 2010 I was still trying to pay this off because all of a sudden I was paying 18 then 23% interest. I went to a debt settlement company because I had other cards I used to help out. The settlement company was able to settle two of the cards, but Discover Card wouldn't work with them. Now Discover has turned my debt over to WWR. They are taking me to court to get $8000. Can I approach Discover heart ship settlement.
write BBB complaint, State Att. Gen., FTC Request debt validation from EAF its the law.
WWR and credit card, car loans, payday loans and so on
Please know that you NEVER owe a dime to a debt collector; take the time to learn the laws on debt collections. I have been sued by WWR for a Discover card i had. But they sued me in the name of Discover BANK there is no discover bank that I dealt with. My CC was with Discover Card Services. These debt collectors lie, and cheat I would never make a payment plan with them. They PURCHASE the debt from the original creditor for PENNIES on the dollar so say you owed Discover $8000 they probably bought the debt for about $800 and they lie to you and collect $8000. Do not pay them a dime, learn how to fight back and quit just agreeing to go by what lying debt collectors say. You can learn soooo much about this by listening to free calls that teach you how to deal with these snakes... go over to talkshoe.com and look up what lies in your debt or dallas dave and they share AWESOME info, thats where i learned everything i know. WWR sued me I won against them by making them prove that I owed them anything....they could not because I NEVER had a contract with them, my contract was with Discover. Then I sued them using the laws from the FDCPA (google it) and won $1000 for them trying to collect on a debt that I did not owe them! We as Americans need to quit going to everyone and believing what banks tell us, or lenders and so on. Stand up for yourself and learn the laws that are in place to protect you but you have to make sure you go after them when they lie and say you owe them a dime! You NEVER had a contract with THEM the debt collector. You can write the BBB, State Att. Gen and so on but it does NOTHING to get you out of the situation your in with the debt collectors. People have been writing these agencies for YRS what does it solve for you?? NOTHING!! Do something that will get these losers off your backs learn to fight back instead of always bowing down like you have been taught all your life. This is the reason America is in its current situation we the people have been taught to just bow down to the banks, debt collectors, courts and so on. Learn the laws and take them to court, the court is there for YOU.....to protect yourself from the dirt bags that send you a letter and say you owe me X amt of dollars. That is no different than me posting here and saying all of you owe me $1000 and i want it or I will sue you. Guess what you would not give me a dime so why do you think you must give a debt collector a dime cause he wrote words on a paper?? SO WHAT I can do that too!! MAKE then prove that you owe that money they say is owed!!!! Send them a Debt Validation letter, there are many samples under Google. Send that letter within 30 days of getting a letter from them saying you owe them money. Most of the time you will never hear from them again, and they will just sell that debt to another collector. If so do the same thing send them a Debt Validation letter. Sometimes they will send you copies of your cc statements. Big deal that still does NOT prove THEY have a contract with you. Did you sign a contract with the debt collector EVER?? NOOO you did not!! So next thing....they may send you a contract from the credit card company....ok well does that contract have your name on it?
Does it have a date, if so the date that is on it should be when you opened the card?
Is the contract readible, or is one half of it readible?? Is part of the contract blacked out?
These are some of the tricks they may use to make you believe you owe them a dime.
Your must invest the time to learn about what is going on and stop wasting your time on facebook, watching tv, sports and so on. These things are all put in place to distract you while the banks and the black hats as I call them take peoples money and make them poor. They have worked very hard to make you believe that you cannot fight back that you just have to take what life gives you. Guess what they have done a pretty good job, everyone goes to work and does what they are told to do like good boys and girls! Stand up and quit allowing them to tell you who you are, decide that you are more than just a consumer! When you do you will see there is so much more to life than working and paying bills. Take back what was always yours instead of always doing what you have always done. Make changes in your life start reading laws on debt, and laws about these debt collectors calling you and harassing you all the time you can sue them for calling your cell phone they have to have your permission to call your cell phone. Did you know that?? Probably not since they do not want you to know that you do have rights, instead of just saying well I cannot do anything about it....poor me!! Google the TCPA telephone collection practice act, it will tell you all about the laws and them calling you on your cell phone. How about when you get calls on your cell phone for someone your have never known or even a family member? You tell then you don' know this person do not call me and they keep calling, well make a list of the call, date, and time. Take them to court.... I sued a debt collector for calling me lots of times for a guy I did not know of. I won $30,000 yes thats right cause he had to pay me $500 for the first call and then up to $1500 for each additional call that he made to my cell phone for this guy named Karl H. whom I did not know! I asked them to quit calling several times and then finally said thats it I am going to take care of things and make them pay me! They quit calling me however now I have another debt collector calling my cell phone for this same guy he must have used my number on his debts as a contact number. Ohh well I will sue them too! When you are dealing with these debt collectors please realize it is NEVER about the debt it is about you going after them and making them prove you have a contract that says you owe them the money. You are not denying that you may have owed the original creditor, however you are going to deny that you are obligated to pay some loser who puts words on a paper yrs down the road saying you owe me money or else. OK then prove it!!! They must be made to prove that you owe them, they cannot prove you owe them anything since you never made a contract in writing to pay them a dime!
YVmOWAPLWbF
5gGx6P Really appreciate you sharing this article.Thanks Again. Really Great.