Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with collectionagency

maybe I should have gone to judge judy like my grandmother suggested...

Kellydamnit — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:25:53 -0800

Looking to collection on a small claims court debt. Are there collection agencies or settlement advance places that work with smaller amounts? I was scammed on a used car, turns out the old owner owed on it and it was repossessed. I've already filed in small claims court, but don't have high hopes of seeing the money from him, although I do think the odds are more than in my favor of winning. (and the lawyer in my family I hit up for not legally binding advice said as much)

Are there collection agencies that will deal in smaller amounts from individuals (as opposed to corporations), or those advance lawsuit settlement places? I know there will be a fee, but I'd rather deal with that than chase after this scumbag.

The total isn't a lot to some people, I'm sure, but for me it's substantial. I'm on unemployment, so it's almost fifteen percent of my annual income at the moment. I'd rather not just write it off as a bad debt.

Sorry if this was a duplicate. I did search, but all I could see were articles about the other side of collection agencies.

OK, so what you gonna do?

ignignokt — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:32:25 -0800

What are the consequences of not paying a parking ticket issued in a city you don't live anywhere near anymore? I moved from the Chicago area recently and have received forwarded mail about parking tickets. They're ridiculously priced and mention that they'll be referred to a collection agency if I don't pay them. I haven't dealt with a collection agency and don't know how good they are at finding and effectively harassing people.

I'd prefer not to pay these tickets, so what will consequences will I face if I don't, keeping in mind that I no longer have the same license plates or driver's license?

Let's stay away from whether or not I should pay these tickets and focus on what will realistically happen if I don't.

Legal troubles over a decade-old debt to bank

not_on_display — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:35:08 -0800

[I am asking this for a friend.] Legal troubles over a decade-old debt to a bank. I am being sued by a law firm representing a collection agency. I would like to find a way to resolve this situation that does not involve hiring a lawyer, since I cannot afford one. I receive income via Social Security Disability. I recently received a letter from a law firm hired by a collection agency which has been trying to get me to pay a debt incurred about ten years ago through an overdraft credit line at Bank of America. The collection agency has owned the debt for probably six years now, and recently decided to sue me for the money. The letter came about the same time as a summons from District Courts of Massachusetts (Cambridge Division) letting me know that I had 20 days to respond to both the court and the law firm.

I would like to find a way to resolve this situation that does not involve hiring a lawyer, since I cannot afford one. I would like to negotiate a settlement, if possible, and am seeking advice about how this can be most effectively done.

I cannot really afford to make payments on the debt--as for my financial situation, I am the parent of a minor, and my income is derived from Social Security Disability Insurance and food stamps. I am officially "disabled" by Social Security standards, after having undergone a long process of evaluation a few years ago, and do not work. My annual SSDI income for 2008 was $10,692 plus food stamps amounting to approximately $2760 for a grand total of $13,452. I do receive significant financial help from my child's father, though this is not officially or exactly on the record.

During phone conversations with the collection agency in 2006, I explained and documented my financial situation, proposing to settle the debt for significantly less than the amount they then said I owed including interest. Following these phone conversations, I wrote to them via certified mail to make this same offer in writing. [I've pasted the letter below.] My offer was also less than the amount they were willing to settle the debt for, which was $4785.93. (This figure is several hundred dollars less than the original debt incurred by me). I received no response to, nor acknowledgement of, this letter. Instead, I received continued demands for payment by phone and mail.

My credit is otherwise fine; I have student loans in good standing (deferral) and I am able to get credit cards and have always paid them on time in the rare instances that I use them. This particular loan, however, I have paid almost nothing on, due to a continuous state of financial exigency and, honestly, a long period of denial and irrationally hoping it would "go away".

Any advice would be much appreciated.

~~~~~

Here is the letter, and the offer I am still able to make now:

"I am writing to reiterate the offer I made with representatives of your company, [person 1] and [person 2], during our telephone conversation on 6/17/06. At the time of this writing, the offer still stands: I would be able to get a loan of $2000.00 from my mother on the condition that I show her a letter from [the Debt Recover Company] agreeing that this amount will settle my debt. Upon receipt of such a letter, I would be able to get $2000.00 from my mother and would be happy to pay it to you immediately.

"It was explained to me that your company wouldn’t accept this amount to settle the debt, and has opted instead to accept a monthly payment from me in the amount that I can afford to make. Enclosed is a check for five dollars, to be applied to my balance, as well as documents outlining my financial information.

"As you can see from my financial documentation, it is not possible for me to make anything beyond a "good faith" payment unless my health improves (or some other windfall occurs!) allowing me to substantially change my financial situation. Unfortunately, because my illness is degenerative, this is unlikely. For this reason, and because I don’t know how long the offer from my mother will continue to be available to me, I urge you to reconsider accepting the $2000.00 to settle the debt."

How to get my £70 back?

altolinguistic — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:45:56 -0800

How can I go about disputing a Visa payment when it's more than 6 months since the payment was made (without my knowledge)? This is in the UK. On my bank statement (Nationwide FlexAccount) from April I have a mysterious debit of about £70 which seems to come from a collections agency in Northamptonshire, UK (identifier is DIRECT LEGAL & C BRACKLEY). I can think of no reason why a collections agency would be coming after me. I found their website and called them and they say there's no record of my name in their database, under my current or previous addresses, and that I should contact Nationwide to dispute the payment.

I did nothing for several months because I had surgery and was recovering. I wrote to Nationwide's Visa Disputes Chargeback Team in August, explaining the situation, and a few weeks later got a letter back saying that I was too late to dispute this.

Any idea what I should do next? I would like my £70 back, or a satisfactory explanation as to why it was taken from me. Should I explain about my surgery and hope Nationwide are sympathetic? Or should I be going after the collections agency?

How do I negotiate with a collection agency?

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:15:57 -0800

How do I negotiate with a collection agency and make them notify the original creditor right away? A few weeks ago I got a call from a creditor claiming I had a debt to my university from five years ago. I told them to send me more information. I received a letter which claimed that I owed $299 plus approximately $100 in "collection fees." I then sent the agency a letter asking for further validation, including the breakdown of specific charges. It was a standard validation letter text that I found online, minus some of the threats of legal action. I have not heard back from the collection agency since.

However, I have decided that I want to go back to school and thus need my university transcripts before mid-April. I called the university and found out that the original $299 was a valid debt to them, but since they have sold it to a collection agency they will not accept my payment directly.

I need to know how to negotiate with the collection agency -- a thirty three percent markup on the original debt seems out of line, not to mention the fact that they probably paid ten percent for the debt in the first place -- but I want them to notify the university immediately, so I can get my transcripts.

Any tips on how to do this? I've seen some instructions online but nothing detailing this type of situation, where letting them know that I need them to notify the original creditor vs. the credit bureau might tip their hand and make the deal I could get less desirable.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Can I sign my check with an obscene gesture?

517 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:22:52 -0800

What kind of mark down do debt collection agencies get on bad private party debt when they buy it? How much do they expect to collect on it? How much does the person selling the debt get?

The dreaded collection agency

youngergirl44 — Wed, 02 May 2007 23:42:11 -0800

I have been charged with finding an outside collection agency for my company. There is so much information out there, I have no idea where to start. My company is in Illinois, but we will be collecting from customers all over the country. I've checked out a few using the agency that Illinois uses to license collection companies and can see that none have had their licenses revoked or have been disciplined by the state.

But do I go to looking at fees from there and pick the one that charges the lowest amount per collection? Has anyone ever had to do this for their own job? How did you pick yours? Or even recommendations on national agencies you've used in the past?

I'll pay, I swear. Just don't hurt my FICO!

Turd Ferguson — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:23:15 -0800

Is there any way to stop a $50 collection action from dinging my credit rating? A few months ago, I went to the emergency room. My insurance has a $50 copay for such things. Somehow, despite the fact that all my other, much larger, bills are paid on time every month, this one managed to slip by to the point where I just got a letter from a collection agency. Apart from being slightly mortified, I'm concerned about my credit rating, which is currently quite good.

I'm wondering what the best course of action is here. I have 30 days to write to the collection agency and dispute the collection. Can I find an old copy of the bill & pay it directly to the hospital, then dispute the collection? Or should I pay the agency quickly? Or something else?

The hospital did take my SSN, and my girlfriend has a collection action on her credit report for about the same amount, so I know they can ding me if so inclined. It's absolutely not a matter of being able to pay the bill -- just credit damage control.

It is not necessary to accept everything as true, one must only accept it as necessary.

Etaoin Shrdlu — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:45:51 -0800

T-Mobile has eaten away at my soul. What can I do now, if anything? Long rant inside. On Saturday, I received a telephone call from Bay Area Credit, the collection agency for T-Mobile. I was told that a bill for $60.83 was unpaid since June. This seemed very strange to me, since I have always paid my bills in full and never been late. The collection agent told me the account number for the unpaid bill (which I neglected to write down), and I saw that it differed from my T-Mobile account. I asked the representative about this, and was told that a new account was opened on June 11, and then the line was transferred to my existing account later in the month. (She told me the exact date, but again I did not write it down.) In fact, I had added a telephone to my Family Share plan on June 11th. I didn’t open a new account however. I found my T-Mobile contract, and it is clear that I signed up to an addition line to my existing plan at $9.99 per month. Upon hearing this, the representative said I should speak to a supervisor, but because it was a Saturday, no supervisor was available. She then suggested that I fax in my T-Mobile contract and wait 7-10 business days for an answer.

On Sunday, I called T-Mobile. I wanted to make sure that the collection agent wasn’t some sort of scam, and I wanted to get more information about the delinquent account. The representative looked up my information and saw that I did have two accounts listed, and that one had been sent to the collection agency. I asked him for the account number, explaining that I had neglected to write it down the previous day. He read off the first three numbers, then stopped and told me he needed to put me on hold while he collected some more information. After a few minutes, he came back and told me that because the account was now in the hands of the collection agency, he could not give me any more information. I asked to speak to his supervisor. I asked her the account number and she answered “We do not have that information to give out.” I asked her what address the bills were sent to, and received the same answer. I asked her the total amount of the bill and got the same answer again. I pointed out to her that it was clear that T-Mobile does in fact have the information, since I was just given the first few digits of the account number, and she finally explained that she does have all the information I was requesting, but she was obligated not to tell me anything and that I could only deal with the collection agency directly. She also recommended that I call Bay Area Credit first thing in the morning. If I waited longer, major damage could be done to my credit.

This morning, things started getting very strange. I called back Bay Area Credit, once again explaining this whole mess to the agent. I told her that I thought this might be a case of identity theft, since I clearly never opened another account. She suggested I talk to T-Mobile about my situation. After I told her that T-Mobile wouldn’t talk to me, she said that I should just pay the $60 since T-Mobile had determined that the charge was legitimate. I explained that I was willing to pay if I owed the money, but I wanted to know exactly what I was paying and why I had another account open. When she couldn’t help me further, I asked to speak to her supervisor.

Richard Anthony, the Bay Area Credit supervisor, was on the offensive even before I had a chance to speak. He accused me of screaming at his staff and his clients. (In fact, I was able [barely] to stay calm and polite through this entire ordeal.)When I asked him how the account could have been opened without my permission, he sarcastically asked if I thought he was my personal financial advisor. When I explained that I never received any bills for that account, he accused me of falsifying my address to T-Mobile. When I asked if he could send me a written bill, he said I would probably stop payment on the check I sent. He then told me that I had ten seconds to agree to pay the bill immediately by credit card or he would hang up, cut off my current cell phones and destroy my credit.

Of course I paid. $60 is certainly not worth the damage that would be otherwise be wrought. But I am boiling inside. I have never in my life been treated like this. The tangible loss is minor, but the intangible loss is eating away at my soul. What, if anything can I do now?

Annoying Calls

hockeyman — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 19:44:13 -0800

Has anyone else been bothered by phone calls requesting you to call Ken Hughes concerning an urgent matter? I began getting the pre-recorded call 2 hours after getting a new cell phone and number. I have been getting the same call from different numbers off and on for several months. They come from the company mentioned here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff130567.htm.
I'm sure they are after the previous owner of my cell #.
Any thoughts on how to get the calls stopped without giving up any of my personal data?

Collection Agency Information

hopeless romantique — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 11:00:31 -0800

Tell me about collection agencies in general, and collection agencies in Portland, OR in particular. The short version of a ridiculous story:

I dated a guy for 8 months. Throughout the relationship he was struggling with money issues, first due to the lack of a job, and later due to the lack of free money available while buying a house. Because of this, I wound up paying for a lot of our dates, and oftentimes lent him money, five here, twenty there. Sometimes he'd give me back a bit of the money he owed me, but he always promised to pay me back in full later on. So I kept track.

Move forward to January. I tell him that I want my money, in full, right now (I was starting to distance myself from him and wanted things to be settled). So he gave me a check for $750. I deposited the check, and a week later it was returned to me with a big stamp on it saying "Account Closed".

But the boyfriend had already disappeared. A month later (upon communicating with his mom) I find out that he moved to Las Vegas and, oh wait, most of the things he said to me were lies. The check he gave me was from his old account; while the bank could only tell me that the account hadn't been accessed in several months, I know beyond any doubt that it was completely closed before he gave me the check.

I feel like I'm not doing a very good job in illustrating this because it sounds as if he was a con-artist. No, no, it's rather that the whole situation and his compulsive lying was the product of his low self-esteem and alcoholism. He didn't want to come across as a failure, so he lied to me and pretended that he had much more control over his life than he actually did.

Anyway, I want to push this entire ordeal behind me, but I'm also not above being vindictive. I want (at least some of) the money that he owes me, but more than that I want him to know that I didn't just throw my hands up in complete defeat when he left. So I'm thinking of taking the check to a collection agency. How does this work? Do I just hand them the check, assure them that it was purposely bounced, and tell them that he's in Las Vegas? Is this collection even possible since I don't know where he is? And if so, is it worth the effort?

And if it is, is there a collection agency in Portland, OR that you recommend?

Can a collection agency re-open a nine year-old unpaid debt?

letitrain — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 20:17:35 -0800

Can a collection agency reopen a nine year-old unpaid debt? I used to be terrible about paying bills, but I'm much better now and I finally have excellent credit. Most of the old delinquent accounts were paid off, but on one of the oldest, I chose to wait out the seven-year credit reporting limit instead of paying it. Two years ago it went off my credit report right on schedule.

Today I received a letter saying that the debt has been purchased by "LVNV Funding LLC" and that it is being collected by "Merchant’s Credit Guide, Co." Doing a bit of googling, it looks like they're both owned by the same company, and that I likely don't owe them anything. I'm sending them this letter disputing the debt tomorrow. My question: is there any way they can reopen this so that it somehow ends up on my credit report?

Do I have to pay for something I bought through BidPay but never received?

reflexed — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:42:39 -0800

CollectionAgencyFilter: I bought an item on eBay in July and paid with my Visa debit card using BidPay. When it became clear that the seller was a scammer and wasn't going to deliver, I contacted my bank and they issued a chargeback on BidPay, and I got my money back. Today I received a somewhat threatening email from BidPay saying that I still owe them the full amount, and if I don't pay they're going to sic a collection agency on me. Do I have to pay it? BidPay says:
Under the Terms & Conditions of BidPay, you are responsible for the amount of the auction payment and the charge for the BidPay service fee (see BidPay Terms & Conditions):
d. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement, if, as part of the BidPay Services, you purchase a money order or instruct us to provide Direct to Bank Services, (i) in addition to the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, you are also subject to all terms and conditions appearing on the face of such money order or imposed by the originating, intermediary and/or destination banks and you hereby agree to comply with and be bound by all such terms and conditions; (ii) in the event that such money order is fraudulently cashed or stolen or the money is fraudulently directed to the wrong bank, BidPay assumes no liability and you agree to assume all liability; and (iii) BidPay's obligations with respect to such Direct to Bank request or money order are complete upon BidPay’s (a) deposit with the designated financial institution, or (b) deposit of such money order in the mail or with a recognized courier service.

The email later says:
If we have not received remittance within 15 days, we will place your account with a collection agency.

Should I be worried? It says I assume all liability, but that only seems to refer to the money order being stolen, "fradulently cashed" or misdirected, nothing about the seller never delivering. I don't want to ruin my credit over $84 (though they do only have my debit information and none of my credit info). I figured that my bank would go after BidPay and BidPay would go after the scammer, not me. They deposited my money into his bank account, after all.

Should I just pay it and be done with it? Should I tell BidPay that the seller never delivered and I'm not paying? Do nothing? Or is there some advocate/attorney general/senator/better business bureau i can contact to help me out?

Thanks in advance for your help.

It was a Buy-It-Now auction and I think 20-30 people also got scammed. Many of them are going after the guy in NY small claims court (he's in Staten Island). I declined to participate because I thought I had already gotten my money back, and I'm in PA and wouldn't have been able to make it to court.

Reputable Collection Agencies?

o2b — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 12:04:42 -0800

I did some freelance work for a company last year and have a number of unpaid invoices. It's been too long, it's time to cross over to Bad Guy. Unfortunately, I'm a terrible Bad Guy, so I need someone else to do it for me. Does anyone know of a reputable collection agency? How does one evaluate them?

Delinquency Details on Credit Report Altered to Bypass Expiration?

nakedcodemonkey — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 22:10:08 -0800

Can collections agencies reset the clock? (more inside) A "friend" has an old delinquency on the credit report. The account was opened in the late 80s or early 90s and has been inactive for many years, but the credit report lists a different creditor's name and the "open date" as just last year. It appears the changed name and date are related to turning the account over to a different agency. Obviously this item will be challenged to the credit bureau, but judging by this earlier thread we have some former members of the collections profession in the house. Does anyone know whether there are legit ways for them to do such end-runs around the 7 year expiration on old negatives? Can they really keep ancient info visible and "fresh" indefinitely??