Auto Repair, Credit and Debt Issues Top Consumer Complaint List Fox Business
Credit card billing and fee disputes and aggressive tactics to collect credit card and other debts remain among the top complaints of American consumers, despite new initiatives to protect cardholders, according to a survey released Wednesday by a coalition of government and private consumer advocates.
The comprehensive survey of 31 state, county and city agencies, located in 18 states across the nation, found that the practices of credit card companies, debt collection agencies, credit "repair" firms and other debt-related entities represented the second most common consumer grievance, close behind the perennial No. 1 gripe: transactions involving auto purchases and repairs.
"Given the lingering recession, it is not surprising that credit and debt complaints remain second only to auto problems," said Anna Huddleston-Aycock, president of the North American Consumer Protection Investigators, one of the survey's sponsors. "Many of the complaint examples that agencies provided were related to the difficult financial situations that consumers and businesses faced last year."
Consumer rights in debt collection cases. Stop collection agency harassment cold!
Consumer rights in debt collection cases. Stop collection agency harassment cold!
Can a collection agency pull a consumer's credit report after the debt is past statute of limitations?
It is listed as a hard credit inquiry on debt that is past statute of limitations for both reporting and legal collection.
It is past the sol on credit reporting and is time-barred for collection through the courts.
first off, there is no statute of limitations on any kind of debt. if you dont pay it, it will either go to the law office for a suit against you or it will be considered a charge off and will show up as such on your credit report.
That being said, if you dont pay the bill and it goes into collections, they can request a copy of your credit report at any time during the collections process, but usually dont unless the bill is that of a large amount (1000 or more).
as for as your credit report, my best advise is as follows. pay the bill! if you dont and it shows up as a charge off, thats just as bad as a bankruptcy. a lot of collection agencies offer settlements where you only pay a certain amount and the rest is waived. that will show up as a settlement in full on your credit report which is not as good as a pay in full, but it beats paying the full balance or not paying it at all.
This is a violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Some creditors even lie and say that the statute of limitations starts from the day that they purchased the debt account. These companies are so bold that some of them will threaten to sue you and in fact proceed with the court case – don’t give in. Others will harass you day and night, use profanity or promise to erase negative marks off your credit report, if you send in a minimal payment.
Here is what you can do in that case.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Credit-Card-Debt-Statute-Of-Limitation---What-You-Should-Know&id=82122
When a debt is purchased by a Debt Collection Agency, do they become the creditor ?
When a debt is sold to a Debt Collection Agency (via a deed of assignment), does the Debt Collector becomes the Creditor for the purposes of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are the rights and duties assigned? Please state court case, legislation in your answer.
after being a general adviser, on debt amongst other things, i can say that the answer is definatley yes - the debt collection agency who the debt is sold on to then become the creditor.
i cannot supply you with any legal cases on this, but you could try searching this site for relevant legislation http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/about_legislation.htm
Whats the longest time a UK Debt Collection Agency can legally chase you for a debt before they have to stop?
Debt collection agencies in the Uk have only 6 years from the default date to chase it, after that it is illegal is this true?
Dear sir/madam
With reference to the above account, I am writing to confirm I am not acknowledging this debt.would you please send me a true copy of this credit agreement. I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), I am entitled to receive a copy of my credit agreement on request and this should be supplied within 12 working days. I enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.
Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.
As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.
Please note that under Section 189 you are obliged to supply these documents whether you are the original creditor or not. I await your reply
This is an area that causes a lot of confusion.
Basically in the UK there is no limit to the amount of time you can be chased for a debt. They can chase you until the debt is paid, no matter how long it takes.
However, and this is where the confusion comes in, after 6 years the debt is wiped from your credit file. This doesn't mean the debt no longer exists, just thats its not shown on your file any more.
Also, there is a rule called the "statuate of limitations" which states if there is no contact between the debtor and lender for a period of 6 years, then the debt becomes statuate barred. No contact means, that you have not made a payment, or acknowledged the debt at all for a continuous period of 6 years.
Once a debt is statuate barred, it means the lender can no longer take you to court to get you to pay. Whilst they can still chase the debt, because they can't take you to court, if you still don't pay theres nothing really they can do about it.
So they can chase you forever, however after the debt becomes statuate barred they usually give up.
Make sure with your letter above that you DO NOT sign it, as this helps to preserve the statuate barred status.
What you letter is saying is that if they cannot give you a copy of the signed copy of your credit agreement your debt becomes unenforceable. A lot of companies didn't keep proper records after more than a couple of years, so if they don't have the original copy they may give up chasing you. However, if they do give you a signed copy of the agreement, you would still be liable for the debt.
Collection agency is requesting payment of a debt that is not even listed in DH credit report. What to do?
When I married DH I new he had a ton of consumer debt and didnt even know where he stood. Once we took out his reports we noticed that a collection agency that has been asking him to pay off a Sears debt....is not even on any of the 3 credit reports. He doesnt even remember if he owed them money. Who should I contact to get records of this debt? Can sears still help? Do I have to pay this debt even if its not on a credit report?
When you write the collection agency, send it certified mail so you'll have proof they recieved it. Include a copy of the federal fair debt collections act.
Debt is on consumer credit report for 3 years, can a collection agency now try to collect?
yes!!!
Can I demand the release letter from a collection agency after I have paid the debt in full?
I paid my debt by money order and was told that I could receive the release letter by fax, but I am having trouble getting it from the collection agency, they are claiming that they need 5-10 business days for the money order to clear I thought money orders were like cash. Is there anything in the Consumer Protection Act that I can use to get the release letter faster?
Make sure you hold on to all paper work & ask them how long it will be before they report to all the bureaus that this debt has been paid.
Debt collection agency made unauthorized withdrawl?
A few weeks ago I set up a check by phone payment with Calvary Portfolio Services, a debt collection agency, to begin paying off my phone. My account rep told me that if I could make another payment for $83 the next wek he would close my account and call everything paid for....even though I owed alot more. I told him I would try my best but couldn't make any promises because me and my wife live paycheck to paycheck.
Fast forward to yesterday when i called my bank to balance my check book and it told me that check # 500 cleared for $620 AND $83. Come to find out, Calvery went and wrte themselves out another check for the 83 dollars without my approval or authorization. The 620 dolaRS WAS FOR MY RENT. What rights do I have as a consumer to fight this. I know they are a debt collection agency and all the info they recieve can be ued for debt colection...blah, blah, blah.....but do they have a lawful right to just start writing out checks when they want? This 83 dollars may not seem like alot but that money was for my heating oil and now I may run out.
Can a collection agency garnish wages on a credit card debt less than $3000?
Since most consumers have an average credit card debt less than $3000 (for ONE credit card each), would a collection agency actually go through all this effort to garnish a debtor's paycheck when the debtor may have other bills to pay which may total thousands of dollars? Also, if it takes months to get a court hearing set up between the plaintiff and the defendant, isn't there a strong chance that the debt owed to the collection agency could already be paid down by the time the court hearing takes place? In other words, the credit card debt would be at a lesser amount than the initial amount that was first presented to court by the collection agency.
They can get a judgement but I seriously doubt they want to go through the hassle for such a small debt. Even if they could garnish wages, which I don't think they can for credit card debt, they won't even get what your minimum monthly payment would be if you can prove all of your money goes to neccessary bills and living expenses. See if you can negiotiate a settlement with the credit card company that will save you both time, money and headaches if not just send them something every month and they can't say you are not paying down your debt.
Good Luck
Is it wise to agree to a settlement on an unpaid credit card balance with a collection agency?
In recent weeks, I've been offered to make a settlement on some of my unpaid credit card balances with a few of the collection agencies that have been calling my house frequently. Personally, I don't think that's a wise decision because it may affect my credit background with all three major credit bureaus. As we all know, collection agencies are known to hound consumers to death when it involves collecting money on bad debts and charged-off accounts from former creditors. I understand credit advisors across the country don't recommend a consumer to "settle" an account with neither a creditor nor a collection agency. I'd rather just face the music and pay the balance on record or if push comes to shove, maybe consider debt consolidation. Please advise what would be the best option to move forward with.
Well, if the collection agency is legitimate, and they really have assumed the collection of the debt, then it might be a good thing to do.
Assume you owe $10,000. If the credit card company "gives up" collecting it from you, they'll often sell the debt to a collection agency for much less - say $3000. So if the collection agency can get you to pay $5000, everybody wins.
Beware the strong-arm tactics employed by the collection agencies, though. They should treat you fairly and courteously, and should offer you a payment schedule.
What rights does my company have on a agency trying to collect on a business debt?
I was asked by my A/P Manager to do some research on the company rights on a business debt collection. I know consumer has rights and am familiar with that but do the same rights apply to business's as well? There is a collection agency that continuously calls our business harassing employees to collect this debt, but the debt has already been cleared up with the company it self this agency is representing. The agency is still calling and getting unreasonable and threatening to me (who answers the calls) that they are just going to start calling people at home. Which I know they can not but I need something in writing so my company can work on this.
I know the company has to have some rights on this, I know they can not do anything to me or the employee's themselves but its the threats that are uncalled for. So where can I find information on this?
I suggested talking with the co. Lawyer but it cost money to just consult with them, so they are trying to advoid that right now because it hasn't gotten to that yet.
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