Encore Capital Wins Approval of $5.7 million Settlement InsideARM
. Was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The complaint alleged that wholly-owned Encore subsidiaries Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding used flawed affidavits in connection with collection efforts.In August 2009, the federal judge presiding over the Brent litigation issued a ruling in the matter. The court identified what it considered to be areas for improvement in Midland’s affidavit process. At issue was the use of so-called “robo-signing” to validate the debts that were underlying collection cases brought by Midland against consumers. In the proceedings, testimony claimed that at least one employee was signing hundreds of affidavits per day, which brought into question whether the cases were being properly reviewed by a company attorney.
Following that ruling, Encore said it conducted a full review of its affidavit process and enhanced it, consistent with the court’s decision.
The case lingered for another 18 months, as both sides attempted to make alterations to the suit in advance of a final settlement. Encore decided to settle several outstanding cases alleging similar missteps, in part due to the national attention being paid to some mortgage servicers and their use of robo-signed affidavits. After a preliminary settlement agreement was made in February 2011, both sides agreed the next month to a final resolution on a nationwide basis of all outstanding cases related to Midland affidavits. The settlement still had to be approved by Katz, the presiding judge.
Debt Collectors Shocking Tactics
Federal Trade Commission says complaints about abusive debt collectors are up.
Can a company switch debt collectors while a debt is in dispute with the original collector?
Due to a mistake on their part AT&T believes that I owe them money that I do not. I was contacted by a debt collector, and I immeadiately disputed the debt in writing. The Debt collection service never contacted me again. Now, six months later, I have a collection letter from another collection agency, once again claiming I owe this debt. How do I make this go away?
The debt has been sold to a collection agency. When you disputed the debt, they just sold it to another collection agency. You have to dispute it again. Unfortunately, they will probably sell to yet another colelction agency.
Hopefully you have some documentation that proves you do not owe the debt. Dispute the item on your credit file -- the collection agencies have undoubtedly reported it.
If that doesn't get the item removed from your credit file, send the collection agency a certified, return reciept letter requesting validation of the debt to include copies of contracts and documentation proving you owe the debt. Give them 30 days.
If they fail to respond, send another dispute to the credit bureau with a copy of your validation request, indicating that they failed to validate. That should get it removed.
However, it may still come back to haunt you thru yet another collection agency. Somewhere along the line you might even consider a delete for pay -- you pay $x and they delete. Get it in writing and don't give them direct access to your bank account.
It looks like you feel really screwed up by this problem. Hope you may found helpful here http://www.DebtFreetips.info/debt-free.htm .
A bad debt is wrote off by a credit card company and a debt collector buys your account. Who do you pay?
Are you obligated to pay full amount to debt collector? If you do pay debt collecter will debt still be on credit report? Any laws on this?
1)you will pay the debt collector or collection company who bought the debt. 2)yes, but you may be able to negotiate 3)yes, initially it will appear on your credit report in 2 places actually. First, from the credit company as a default and secondly from the collection company 4)state laws may vary slightly but this is pretty much the way it goes
Many times, even if you pay them off, the Original company still claims the debt, so you pay it X2!
It will appear on your credit report twice!
Once from the Original company
and again from the "collection Company!
And it is legal!
not rite, but legal!
Can a credit card company have a debt collector take you to court?
I have a outstanding CC and I got a thing in the mail from Maryland and some law firm that says its an arbitration that says I have 30 days to respond or they will go to court without me. That they may put a judgement against me as a civial judgement. I don't work, I don't own anything. What does that mean?
PLAYING THE CREDIT GAME
If you live in the U.S., whatever you do, DON'T PAY THESE BILLS OFF WITHOUT FIRST READING WHAT I WROTE BELOW!!!
HOW BILL COLLECTORS WORK
When you have bad debt that goes into collections (after being late/unpaid for 180 days), these debts are sold off to bill collectors (essentially, scum bags run by the mafia). The original bank or creditor is no longer collecting it. Instead, it gets auctioned off to scum bags who buy it for pennies on the dollar. What they do is they turn around and try to scam you for the full value of the original debt PLUS interest and penalties, which can almost double or triple the original balance.
DON'T NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS OR SCUM BAGS
Whatever you do, don't negotiate with so called "non-profit" credit counseling agencies! They're in bed with debt collectors, and are run by scum bags and mafia! I'm not kidding. I'm dead serious. They're run by the same people as the debt collectors!!! And they charge ridiculous fees, a certain percentage of your balance. Non-profit my fat buttocks!
THE (EMPTY) IMPLICATION OF LAWSUITS
It's important to be aware that debt collectors often hire lawyers to write letters on their stationary to make debt collection notices sound more "official" and use the empty threat or implication of a lawsuit to scare you into paying them what I consider ridiculous financial rape. To understand better, read more below. Regardless, the law requires them to identify themselves as a "debt collector". So if you've received any letters from so-called lawyers go back, go back and re-read the letter and you'll see that somewhere in small print, it'll identify the letter as an attempt to collect debt! NO WORRIES! Treat these bastards as you would any other debt collector and ignore the legal stationary. In most cases, lawsuits are rare and never happen. The costs of litigation are too high to sue for every collection case.
It's funny, too. If you have one of these so-called letters from lawyers, notice that they don't explicitly say they're going to sue you. That's because by law, they can't say they're going to sue you unless they actually plan on following through! So, all in all, it's just a ruse to scare you.
So unless you've got lots of assets, don't worry! Sleep well, eat will, and live long and propser!
TELL THE SCUM BAGS TO SUCK IT!
Send a cease-and-decist letter to the bill collectors, which basically tells them to shove it. This is mentioned in section 805c of the "THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT".
Here's an excerpt:
----------------- except from FDCACT Section 805c -----------------
"(c) CEASING COMMUNICATION. If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt, except --
(1) to advise the consumer that the debt collector's further efforts are being terminated;
(2) to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor may invoke specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by such debt collector or creditor; or
(3) where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.
If such notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification shall be complete upon receipt."
----------------- except from FDCACT Section 805c -----------------
By law, the debt collect must return the debt as unpaid/uncollected to the original bank/creditor and destroy your records, or they can take legal procedings against you. They are allowed to contact you in writing ONE LAST TIME to inform you of their actions (ie. if they are suing you, if they're returning the debt to the collector, if they're going to run off and cry to their mommy, etc.). Unless you've got valuable assets, the most they'll do is probably terminate the collection.
If you don't know how to write a cease-and-decist letter, there's plenty of websites that will provide templates for cease-and-decist letters.
NOTE: This does NOT apply to the original creditor, only debt collectors. Legally, you will still owe the original creditor!
REMOVING THE NEGATIVE ENTRIES
After a little over 1 month of sending the cease-and-decist letter, contact each credit bureau where you have these negative entries and request to have these debts verified/validated. The credit bureau will then contact the collector and the collector will be unable to locate your records (per having destroyed your records after the cease-and-decist letter). After 30 days, if the debt collector cannot prove you owe them this balance, the credit bureau will automatically remove that entry.
Once the entry has been removed, contact the original bank/creditor IN WRITING and arrange to make FULL payments in return for a "paid as agreed" entry on your credit report, OR simply removing the account from your credit report altogether. Make sure you get this agreement from them in writing before sending even a dime to them!
THAT'S TOO MUCH WORK, I JUST WANT TO PAY IT OFF
If you don't want to deal with all the steps above, simply contact the creditor/collector IN WRITING and get them to agree to mark the entry as "paid as agreed" or remove the negative entry from your report in return for full or settled payment. Make sure you get this in writing!
CREDIT REPORTING AND THE 7 YEAR CLOCK
As for your credit, it takes 7 years from the date the account went into collections to fall off your credit report. Don't make any payments or disputes or requests to verify/validate a debt unless you intend to pay it off! You could easily screw yourself over!!! If you make a partial payment or unsuccessfully dispute or verify/validate a debt, it'll reset the 7 year clock.
I'M A LITTLE BASTARD AND REFUSE TO PAY
If you're a little bastard and simple don't want to pay, just wait until the statutes of limitation pass and then you're scott free and they can no longer collect a dime from you. Of course, there's your guilty conscience and the ghost of Christmas past that will haunt you for life!
Also, if you choose to be a bastard and you own any valuable property or have any large amounts of cash stashed in a financial account (such as a house, an expensive car or boat, stock brokers, IRAs, savings, checkings, EXCEPT for 401k's and perhaps 403b's which are protected from creditors), there is a chance the creditor or debt collector could sue you. This really depends on the state where you opened the account.
For a list of statutes of limitation for debt, check out this website:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b2.asp
ONE LAST TIP
As an additional tip, by law, debt collectors cannot threaten or harass you. This includes neighbors, friends, family, and empty threats of lawsuits or arrests. If they threaten you with a lawsuit, they MUST follow through or else they've just violated your rights! If they do, they're violating your fair credit reporting act rights and you can sue the MOFO's for violation of your rights!
To learn more about your rights under the "THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT", you can either read the FTC's tip page below:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm
Or check out the Wikipedia entry here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Debt_Collection_Practices_Act
If a bastard debt collector is harassing you or violating any of your rights, file a complaint! Be sure to document every phone conversation, snail mail, or harassment you experience.
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
CAN ANYONE TESTIFY TO THIS?
In my own personal experience, I owed over $30k in debt that I couldn't pay off due to being laid off during the dot-com bust. The collectors want over $60k after penalties and interest. I laugh in their face. I haven't paid a dime and I sleep very well at night. I only have 2 more years to go before I have a perfectly clean credit, and 1 more year to go before I'm off scott free (I live in Oregon --- the statutes are 6 years). I guess I took the bastardly approach! But whatever. I don't see the difference between being a bastard and filing for bankruptcy; they're both bastardly!!! Just that a bankruptcy will screw you over longer (10 years instead of 7). Doesn't take a genius to figure out which option is easier.
If you didn't get my subtle hints, I'll spell it out for you. The FDC Act clearly protects you and provisions you with certain unalienable rights. Although I don't out right advocate NOT paying, I do want to highlight that for the average American, between filing bankruptcy and being a bastard, it's much easier and makes more sense to just not pay. In other words, if you're not rich and can't make a settlement to pay off the account, you're probably better off just letting the debt die on its own. Some states, like North Carolina or New Hampshire, have a 3 year statute limit for written contracts. This means after 3 years, you don't owe them a dime except per your conscience.
And as a testiment, even with my bad debt still shadowing my credit, I just bought a new car for 14.9% APR through CitiFinancial. Not bad at all!
Anyway, you might just get a 1099C in the mail from the government. Bad loans are considered income, since you aren't paying the bill.
THEY CAN'T GET DIDDLE IN MOST STATES.
DON'T MEAN DIDDLE.
TELL TO TAKE YOU TO THE MOON.
YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO SHOW UP IN CIVIL COURT.
DON'T LET CREDIT BLUFFS SCARE YOU.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that anyone looking to collect on a debt must send you in writing what the debt is and how much and all that. Sounds like they already did.
What they did though, was the most common scare tactic used by debt collection agencies. The lawsuit deal.
While it is possible for them to take you to court for the debts you owe (if any, more on this in a moment) they almost NEVER will because the cost of legal fees and court fees aren't worth dealing with.
You see, the lawyers that contacted you bought a debt from a creditor that hasn't been paid. Say it was a $1000. The law firm buys it from the creditor for like $300 and from that point on OWNS the debt. So they're really trying to get as much of that original $1000 out of you that they can as quickly as they can.
Now, if you're not sure the debt is yours OR you just want them to give you the proof (which you should DEFINITELY do) send them a written letter stating that you need the evidence of the debt before you claim ownership of it. The reason this is important is because there are a lot of crooks out there that just find people with the same NAME and try to scare them into getting the money. Terrible thing, isn't it??
Get that letter written and send it to them before you do ANYTHING ELSE. If you'd like an example of what to write in your letter feel free to email me and I'll send you what I've got!
Good luck and most of all: Don't worry!! It'll all work out no matter what the outcome!!
Is the debt collector company Claims America a legit company??
I was contacted by this company 6 months ago. the man I spoke with told me that my husband and I had a outstanding debt from 1995 and we needed to pay it that day or an arrest warrent would be issued in our names that day. He demanded $2000.00 by credit card I could not afford that so he said I had to do $333.33 by phone and set up payments for every month till it was paid off. I set up the payment schedule that day. After speaking with my husband we found paperwork stateing we had paid this debt in full years ago. I called the number he had given and spoke with him telling him all this info. he asked that I fax him this paperwork and he would look into it and get back to me. That was 5 months ago. I tried to call the number again recently and who ever answered said I had the wrong number. Please if you have any information or can help we would appreciate it. Thank you
Wanted to say Thank You to all who answered with help and advice. I have called the BBB and others. I was able to stop payment. I feel stupid for allowing this to happen but I foolishly believed them. Hope noone else has to go through this.
Were you able to stop the payment?
NEVER, NEVER give a collector direct access to your bank account. Always get a written settlement agreement before you pay a penny.
In fact, you should make them send you a validation of the debt that includes the name of original creditor, date of first deficiency, date of last payment, detailed account statment including separate lines for fees and interest, and copies of any contract or other document that proves the debt is yours.
There are all sorts of zombie debt collection companies and a lot of them don't play by the rules. There are also a lot of scm artist. I think you got scammed. If all you lost was that one $333 payment, you were lucky.
By the way, we don't have debtor's prison in the US. You cannot be arrested for not paying debts.
I googled them and there's other cases that look very dodgy. Definitly speak to the police about them.
Can a debt collector never send me info on a debt then sell it to another company?
I checked my credit report a month ago and found I had a collection from 2005-2006 on there and I was never sent any information on the debt or a chance to pay it. So I finally called them and they said they has sold it to another company. SO I called that company and all I got was an answering machine. I have never recived a notice in the mail. Am I being screwed over? What should I do next?
Additionally, your speaking of collection agencies that the debt has been transferred to. Honestly, you don't need them to satisfy the debt. Pay the company that the money was originally owed to ---- directly. Then get written proof from them that the debt was satisfied and provide it to the credit bureaus.
If the company that originally placed the debt is no longer in business or cannot remove it (because that's who has to do it) - you can at least prove to any potential lending institution that the debt has been satisfied but unable to be removed. The credit reporting agencies can also place a note on your credit report that the debt has been satisfied.
But the written proof of satisfaction should be more than enough for any potential lender to accept - even if the debt remains on your credit report. These things happen all the time. I was in collections for about 13 years.
Satisfy the debt with the original creditor and get written proof.
I suggest you get it handled quickly if the amount is of any consequence to mitigate the costs.
you can usually make a deal with the company for all the original paperwork for penny's on the dollar, but demand they take it off your credit bureau as well.
get legal advice to see how that's done and proceed with help so you get the bill expunged once and for all!!!
Why are debt collector company legalised???
Really sick of all the harrassment by this idiots!!!
so the honest among us are still able to buy things on credit
Debt Collector?
A debt collector sent me a letter asking for $480 for a broken contract from a satellite company. The debt collector says that I broke a contract with the creditor when i cancelled my Direct tv account. The reason being that they installed the satellite free of charge because of a direct tv promotion which gave me free installation. Now this satellite company is wanting me to pay for the installation fee. I wasnt at my apartment at the time of installation so the company left the contract stating this fee would be charged to me if a cancellation in contract occurred. I have the contract and it is not signed by me. I was wondering what i should do during this 30 day window? I guess i should send a letter asking for verification? How can i verify the account #? Any Advice would be appreciated.
If you never signed the contract, then legally there is nothing they can do to you. Make a copy of the contract that shows you didn't sign it and send it to the collection agency for the dispute. Be sure you get back in tough with the agency....thats very important!!
is it a legal requirement for a company to inform you of a debt before they hand it to a debt collector?
E.on have recently advised a debt collection agency that I owe them (I don't). They never contacted me in the first place. Is this legal
Open the letters that have "your electric bill" on the front of them.
What does a company have to do before they can send your debt to a debt collector?
They are not required to do anything. If the date for payment has passed, the original creditor can send it to a debt collector as a defaulted payment.
Is it best to ring debt collector companies?
When it isnt your debt.I keep getting debt collector letters sent to my address,they are not for me,its not even for a previous tenant and I have lived at my address for 4 years.after the first letter I told one of my friends and said I was thinking of ringing the company and hopefully resolving it over the phone,but I couldnt prove my ID over the phone.but it seems like the logical thing to do.But he says its best not to anything unless baliffs come round,in which case I should invite them in and show them prove of my ID,that theyve got the wrong person and wrong address. I sent one return to sender that i got this morning.
No need to worry about it unless you just want the mail to stop. Might be a good idea just to give them a call just make sure the bailiffs don't come around and mistakenly repo your stuff .
debt collector company - News
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