What to do when your debt collector is known to steal money

[nextelbuddy]

i used to have a discover card back in 2001 when i was in college. like a dumb ass never paid the 1200 somethign dollars on it. over the years was sent to collections and never paid. in 2005 i sold one of my cars to pay all my collections off on my credit report (about 4 companies) and the only one i couldnt pay on was the discover account. it was sold off to another company that had no contact info on the credit report and searching and phone calls could not locate who to send the payment to.

i decided that i would wait and hopefully it would fall off but it would keep getting validated by this same company that i could not contact.

fast forward to 2006-2007 a new company has picked up this account called CREDIGY and they have also subcontracted REDLINE RECOVERY SERVICES to collect the debt.

i wanted to purchase a house but with this 5000 dollars in collections (remember i only owed 1200ish originally) it is holding me back. i figured i would pay off my collections and then wait a year to help build up my credit better.

i called this REDLINE RECOVERY SERVICES and spoke to a manager and said that i was wiling to settle for 2000 dollars because that was all i had and the representative informed me that she would contact the client and notify me if they accepted. also if they did accept that i would be required to pay half 1000 dollars on monday 10/8/07 to lock in the agreement. (right here it sounds fishy)

i said ok i will await the call.

i researched online for CREDIGY and REDLINE RECOVERY SERVICES

and found many many sites of people that have been harassed by these 2 collection agencies mainly with paying them and the collection agencies taking the money and never reporting it nor removing the mark from your credit report.

the website i have found which is very informative is http://www.budhibbs.com/debtcollecto...y_services.htm

and googling CREDIGY i have read several websites from consumers having terrible experiences with them.


the bottom line is now that i have found out all this information what do i do? i really want to take care of the collections but i am far too scared now to send money to either of these companies in fear that they will take my money or empty my bank accounts or garnish my wages etc.


help?

[brads94accord]

well if you google those places you are going to get a biased view of the company because the only people that post on their are those who are tired of getting collections calls.

your best bet is not to talk to them at all. do not have any phone conversations whatsoever. because what they can do is if you set up any promise to pay, they can renew that debt for another 7 years on your credit report. I hate to say it but that collection account is gonna really put a damper on buying a house for the next few years. you probably wont be able to get a very good interest rate or you will have to put a lot of money down.

[nextelbuddy]

well if you google those places you are going to get a biased view of the company because the only people that post on their are those who are tired of getting collections calls.

your best bet is not to talk to them at all. do not have any phone conversations whatsoever. because what they can do is if you set up any promise to pay, they can renew that debt for another 7 years on your credit report. I hate to say it but that collection account is gonna really put a damper on buying a house for the next few years. you probably wont be able to get a very good interest rate or you will have to put a lot of money down.

i am not trying to avoid it though. i want to pay it but im too scared to pay to companies that have reputation for taking money and not applying it to your collections account and keeping you on the credit report.

its not fair i want to handle this im ready but it seems impossbile to resolve this.

[FrnkPwrs]

Shawn, even though I really shouldnt be f*cking with you <br>OR</b> Danny, ill give you a lil advice on your situation...

Im not sure if you remember, but I used to work at a collection agency and all we did was collect on old ass debts that people had no obligation to pay. What happens is Discover had the debt, auctioned it off to the next company so it wasnt a total lost, the next company did the same thing. The $1200 probally cost a good $200 for Credigy to collect on it, and theyll love to multiply their money by 5. Thats why theyll settle for so low. Theyll settle probally for $500. And I dont buy into the hype of a message board. How many people do you know actually compliment a collection agency? And try comparing the number of complaints they have to Home Depot.

Anyway, i believe stats and limitations is only 6 years in GA, not 7. You could look it up online. If your last payment was in '01, wait until it runs out of stats and send a letter ASAP to the credit reporting agencies. If you pay, they technically can put it back on your credit as a settled acount, not paid in full. The negative balance will still be on your report. You will be in the best condition if you let the stats run out and then ge it off your report.

Trust me, the same way I used to trust yall. I collected on **** WAAAAYYY older than 6 years, on average 15+ years and I know EVERY single way that collection agencies hustle. Dont **** around, as soon as its supposed to be off your credit, write Transunion, EFax, etc. because it wont fall off on its own.

[C22H19N3O4]

I don't even know where to start, but I'm going to keep this short b/c I really don't feel like typing. Also, do a bit more research about your consumer rights.

The statue of limitations to seek satisfaction (lawsuit) for a credit card account (open) is 4 years in Georgia. (OCGA 9-3-25). Reporting tradelines to the bureaus is 7 years.

A few questions you need to answer:

When was the account charged off?
What is the date of first delinquency a.ka. first missed payment?
Are the collectors working for the original creditor or are they junk debt buyers?
Have you ordered hard copies of your reports to see how the tradelines read?


Things you need to consider:

Unless you request validation within the first 30 days of receiving a dunning letter you are not protected under the FDCPA. After 30 days, they don't have to validate a damn thing.

They can file a lawsuit at any point to try and collect. That's why it's important to know when you missed your first payment. If it's outside of SOL then your defense would be that the account is time-barred.

Discover is known for forcing people into arbitration since it's stated in your credit card agreement.

This account may exchange hands for the next ten years even after the SOL for reporting has run out. Pay for a good credit monitoring service.

If they know you own property, they will come after you with a vengeance. It stands to reason you have more incentive to pay.

Never talk to a DC on the phone. Send them a certified letter stating that all correspondence will only be done via USPS.

If you work out a payment plan, make sure it is in writing that they will delete the tradeline from the bureaus after receiving the money. Verbal agreements are NOT acceptable.

They can't garnish your wages, lock your accounts or levy your property unless they have won in court.


I'm sure there's more, but I haven't had any coffee yet.


Knowledge is power.

[con]

I would be cautious about paying a the third party service as well. Continue to research and try to contact the actual owner of your debt. It may be possible to settle the account at a lesser amount as well. Regardless of how you go about doing it, ensure that you save all of your receipts and receive confirmation in writing of all transactions and the agreement.

I've been there and done that. I had a $250 credit card my first year of college that I maxed and completely forgot about after receiving a new mailbox the next semester. Ended up paying $1,500 to pay it off 4yrs later prior to buying my house. The debt was properly documented on Equifax, however it was not updated on TransUnion. The only proof I had was the documentation received from the creditor stating that the account had been properly paid in full and closed out. My mortgage company accepted the document after verifying it's claims.

Good luck........

[nextelbuddy]

Shawn, even though I really shouldnt be f*cking with you <br>OR</b> Danny, ill give you a lil advice on your situation...

Im not sure if you remember, but I used to work at a collection agency and all we did was collect on old ass debts that people had no obligation to pay. What happens is Discover had the debt, auctioned it off to the next company so it wasnt a total lost, the next company did the same thing. The $1200 probally cost a good $200 for Credigy to collect on it, and theyll love to multiply their money by 5. Thats why theyll settle for so low. Theyll settle probally for $500. And I dont buy into the hype of a message board. How many people do you know actually compliment a collection agency? And try comparing the number of complaints they have to Home Depot.

Anyway, i believe stats and limitations is only 6 years in GA, not 7. You could look it up online. If your last payment was in '01, wait until it runs out of stats and send a letter ASAP to the credit reporting agencies. If you pay, they technically can put it back on your credit as a settled acount, not paid in full. The negative balance will still be on your report. You will be in the best condition if you let the stats run out and then ge it off your report.

Trust me, the same way I used to trust yall. I collected on **** WAAAAYYY older than 6 years, on average 15+ years and I know EVERY single way that collection agencies hustle. Dont **** around, as soon as its supposed to be off your credit, write Transunion, EFax, etc. because it wont fall off on its own.

Thanks Frank for the response i appreciate your advice. it seems as i might be better off just waiting another year for my 7 years to be up and then notify the 3 collections agency that it has been 7 years since the date of deliquency (date of deliquency was around 12/01 i have papers at home to verfiy that)

it is confusing though because i ran my creidt report today and CREDIGY the company that is collecting for my old DISCOVER account does not mentuion anywhere the original date of deliquency for discover instead they list the date of FIRST MAJOR DELIQUENCY of 10/2006 which is not true for my discover which is the account they bought and are collecting on was actually deliquent back in 12/2001 (this is another items people on other websites says CREDIGY is bad becuse they lie on credit reports to collect on old debt.

I don't even know where to start, but I'm going to keep this short b/c I really don't feel like typing. Also, do a bit more research about your consumer rights.

The statue of limitations to seek satisfaction (lawsuit) for a credit card account (open) is 4 years in Georgia. (OCGA 9-3-25). Reporting tradelines to the bureaus is 7 years.

A few questions you need to answer:

When was the account charged off?
What is the date of first delinquency a.ka. first missed payment?
Are the collectors working for the original creditor or are they junk debt buyers?
Have you ordered hard copies of your reports to see how the tradelines read?


Things you need to consider:

Unless you request validation within the first 30 days of receiving a dunning letter you are not protected under the FDCPA. After 30 days, they don't have to validate a damn thing.

They can file a lawsuit at any point to try and collect. That's why it's important to know when you missed your first payment. If it's outside of SOL then your defense would be that the account is time-barred.

Discover is known for forcing people into arbitration since it's stated in your credit card agreement.

This account may exchange hands for the next ten years even after the SOL for reporting has run out. Pay for a good credit monitoring service.

If they know you own property, they will come after you with a vengeance. It stands to reason you have more incentive to pay.

Never talk to a DC on the phone. Send them a certified letter stating that all correspondence will only be done via USPS.

If you work out a payment plan, make sure it is in writing that they will delete the tradeline from the bureaus after receiving the money. Verbal agreements are NOT acceptable.

They can't garnish your wages, lock your accounts or levy your property unless they have won in court.


I'm sure there's more, but I haven't had any coffee yet.


Knowledge is power.

the account was charged off around 12/2001 not quite the full 7 years yet about another 1.5 years to go

Discover sold the account off to another company called 1st select years ago and then 1st select sold the account to CREDIGY who is now trying to collect.


everyone on other websites says CREDIGY is widely known for buying junk old debt accounts .

my date of deliquency on the DISCOVER account is arond 12/2001 but CREDIGY is reporting a date of deliquency for them as of 10/2006 they do not mention anywhere this is for DISCOVER nor do they mention original date of deliquency of 12/2001 yet when i caleld them to verify who they were for they said collecting on DISCOVER ACCOUNT.


its like i cant win because they have access and can put whatever they want on my credit report to get their way but al i can do is dispute online viw one of the 3 credit report agencies and all those agencies do is contact the debt collecter and ask "is this shawns account yes or no and they say yes and i get a lettter back saying that it is my account.

so at this point i have no idea what to do.


id rather pay off the CREDIGY one but first im afraid to call them and 2 im afraid they will take my money and not clsoe my account off to credit reporting agencies and just take my money and keep trying to collect like they have with other consumers.

[Vteckidd]

DO NOT PAY THEM, YOU OWE THEM NOTHING.

You owed DISCOVER money, they got rid of it, so now the debt is gone. Your payment is having to live with a "bad" credit incident or charge off.

I went through all this a few years back, i had a guy calling my cell phone threatening to throw me in jail for a CC debt that i had not paid when i was 18 (same as you). Im now 26. He was asking to settle an he wouldnt talk to me unless i gave him access to my bank account. Needless to say i told him to F U C K off and i never heard from Douglas Burgess (GOOGLE THAT) ever again.

I also spoke to Bud Hibbs, he gives good advice. Best thing to do is to CHALLEGE the charge off.

write Experian, transunion disputing the debt. Since no one can really claim it anymore, it should go away.


Put it this way, its like me borrowing money $200 from Danny and never paying him back. You tell danny, Ill give $20, its not the $200 but its something. Danny says sure fine, whatever an moves on with his life.

THen you call me an tell me that i owe you $300 for a debt i owed Danny.

They MAKE UP numbers, they use scare tactics, usually they are the lowest of the low types of people. An when the debt gets older they get more desperate.

DONT PAY THEM

READ THIS
http://www.giovelawofficeexposed.com/burgess.htm

[nextelbuddy]

DO NOT PAY THEM, YOU OWE THEM NOTHING.

You owed DISCOVER money, they got rid of it, so now the debt is gone. Your payment is having to live with a "bad" credit incident or charge off.

I went through all this a few years back, i had a guy calling my cell phone threatening to throw me in jail for a CC debt that i had not paid when i was 18 (same as you). Im now 26. He was asking to settle an he wouldnt talk to me unless i gave him access to my bank account. Needless to say i told him to F U C K off and i never heard from Douglas Burgess (GOOGLE THAT) ever again.

I also spoke to Bud Hibbs, he gives good advice. Best thing to do is to CHALLEGE the charge off.

write Experian, transunion disputing the debt. Since no one can really claim it anymore, it should go away.


Put it this way, its like me borrowing money $200 from Danny and never paying him back. You tell danny, Ill give $20, its not the $200 but its something. Danny says sure fine, whatever an moves on with his life.

THen you call me an tell me that i owe you $300 for a debt i owed Danny.

They MAKE UP numbers, they use scare tactics, usually they are the lowest of the low types of people. An when the debt gets older they get more desperate.

DONT PAY THEM

READ THIS
http://www.giovelawofficeexposed.com/burgess.htm

ive been reading budd hibbs page last night for a long time regarding credigy and redline recovery services.


Yes you are correct i did owe discover money. they sold the account to other collections and DISCOVER actually fell off my creidt report it is no longer on there but was replaced by CREDIGY. if i challenge CREDIGY then equifax/Experian will just send a letter to CREDIGY and ask "is this shawn robertsons debt" and all they have to say is YES and it will stick right back on my credit report.

they listen more to the debt collector than they do an individual and since the debt collector has direct access to put items on my credit report and i dont it makes it hard to keep checking my report because after my first 2 free ones then i have t0 pay 19 bux every time just to view and dispute items on my report mean while CREDIGY can put whatever they want any time on my credit report.

[Tracy]

Call the Secretary of State and make a report. That's what I did. Somehow miraculously after that the collection agency stopped messing around. Mine was over $250 and it was a mistake by the hospital because they kept sending it to Ponce de leon Avenue and Not Ponce De leon Place. They harassed me for a while. I def owed the money but they were hard to deal with. They put it on my credit and after that it was hard to deal with them. After i made a complaint, the debt was removed from my credit.

[Vteckidd]

they listen more to the debt collector than they do an individual and since the debt collector has direct access to put items on my credit report and i dont it makes it hard to keep checking my report because after my first 2 free ones then i have t0 pay 19 bux every time just to view and dispute items on my report mean while CREDIGY can put whatever they want any time on my credit report.

IF THEY SAY YES, THEN YOU WRITE A LETTER TO THEM ASKING TO PROVE IT.

fact i you have NO SIGNED contract with THEM, you had one with DISCOVER.

you dont owe them anything if you FIGHT IT YOU WILL WIN

[FrnkPwrs]

Put it this way, its like me borrowing money $200 from Danny and never paying him back.

Or you selling something to danny and he never pays you and comes up with bull**** story...

[B18c1Turboed]

Or you selling something to danny and he never pays you and comes up with bull**** story...

Lets get this out in the Clear DANNY DONT OWE ANYONE ****!!! Take it how you want!

[Vteckidd]

I was just using danny because its the one person sean and i both know.

now danny, **** you i aint paying you your $200

[B18c1Turboed]

I was just using danny because its the one person sean and i both know.

now danny, **** you i aint paying you your $200

HAHA!! Im still waiting for that price also, about you know what!!

[C22H19N3O4]

I think you're starting to panic so relax for a moment.

Budd Hibbs' site is a great resource, but there are better ones.

DebtorBoards

Everyone's comments may help you to some degree, but the fact remains that they can report what they want every month unless you stop them.

I guess discussing FACTA, FCRA, and FDCPA would be useless at this point.

The answer to your problem is not all that simple. You might have to file suit to protect your credit. How far are you willing to go?

[B18c1Turboed]

Let me ask you guys this then, you are saying if the loan is sold off, then you dont owe them anything?

Im just curious because my wife had a old shell card, when she lived in California she stopped paying on it, and now a new place is trying to take her to court to get a judgment against her, so basically becasue the loan was sold off we dont owe the new company anythig? Am i reading that correct?

[nextelbuddy]

I think you're starting to panic so relax for a moment.

Budd Hibbs' site is a great resource, but there are better ones.

DebtorBoards

Everyone's comments may help you to some degree, but the fact remains that they can report what they want every month unless you stop them.

I guess discussing FACTA, FCRA, and FDCPA would be useless at this point.

The answer to your problem is not all that simple. You might have to file suit to protect your credit. How far are you willing to go?

Please dont hold back with suggestions. im open to any and all suggestions at this point.

this is the only collections i have left to take care of and i would either like to A take care of it buy paying for it or B get it removed due either being on my credit report for too long or being able to get it removed because they are not the original debtors.

[FrnkPwrs]

Lets get this out in the Clear DANNY DONT OWE ANYONE ****!!! Take it how you want!

If I wasnt in the situation I was in Id seriously show you what you owe. You owe me a big one, becuase Wiley was gonna pay your debt, but I had some people telling me Id be wrong to take it out of his ass. So lets get it clear and straight. Danny, you know what time it is. Im not stupid. Youre not stupid. Dont piss on my head and tell me its raining. We were tight for how long? You know what happened, so lets leave it at that. Just dont let me catch you when im in a "I DONT GIVE A F*CK" mood, thats all im saying

[B18c1Turboed]

If I wasnt in the situation I was in Id seriously show you what you owe. You owe me a big one, becuase Wiley was gonna pay your debt, but I had some people telling me Id be wrong to take it out of his ass. So lets get it clear and straight. Danny, you know what time it is. Im not stupid. Youre not stupid. Dont piss on my head and tell me its raining. We were tight for how long? You know what happened, so lets leave it at that. Just dont let me catch you when im in a "I DONT GIVE A F*CK" mood, thats all im saying

HAHAHa thats a joke, Wiley my dad wasnt gonna catch ****.SO you would take **** out on my family instead of facing me, thats a real man right there.

I can catch you whatever time i really dont care, but dont think for one second you scare me, yea it takes a real man to go tell someone parents what kinda **** we where into, yea thats being a man telling my dad all that ****.
My dad told me he saw you in jail, my dad was there for driving with a suspended licesne, not noe of the **** you where into, just get that out in the open now! You know you can sit there and say i ****ed you over and blah blah ,but there is two sides to every story,so i suggest you just get over it and move on, im sorry you went thru what you had to go thru 2 years in jail. But you sitting here threating me will eighter one land you abck in there again or who knows.
But dont ever think that you can make me scared of you, so ill just move on with my happy life!!


P>S ANd i know you dont wanna drag all are **** on IA, becasue that would make us both look really bad!@

[FrnkPwrs]

1. I didnt tell your pop sh*t about you, me, nothing, and actually tried to look out for him, but he was already good in there.

2. Yea, there are two sides from every story, and i listened to all 4 or 5 you tried to explain, and you were full of sh*t. Stop living the lie.

3. You ****ed up, not me. I always considered you one of my best homeboys. My father just asked me about you last week. You can NEVER describe a time where I did anything wrong to you. Greed is a mf

4. If I really wanted to take **** out on your family, I would. Remember, im not one of these dudes online that dont know you. I know you Danny. I could see you and anyone in your fam at any time.

5. Your not even built for trying to "handle me", thats not you. Its not even in your pedigree, youre not that type of dude. The last thing youd do if you seen me would try to beat my ass, and we both know this.

6. There are no threats. But Im telling you, if for some reason I see you and my mood is f*cked up and you come out your mouth, Imma pop the sh*t out of you.

Take it how you want. Im a loyal dude, you know that, and its crazy what "friends" so to each other. But the truth is the truth, so take it how you want.

[B18c1Turboed]

1. Lets get something in the open, why dont u pay me the 1500 in lawyers fees i had to pay? Oh and belive it or not it was covering your ASS also.

2. I have and was never hiding from you, and neighter is my family.**** you know where are buisness is, ive had the SAME phone number for the last 7 years. You know where my house is.

3. Greed had nothing to do with it, who was giving your girl money while you where in bootcamp? who even left 1500 in that account for you? that you ****ed up and lost, if i was such a bad friend i would have never done any of that ****, so greed my ass!

4. you know me from how many years back? 4 or 5 now?No im not built the way you are, but i will protect myself and my family BY ANY MEANS.

5.We can go back and forth all day long, but at the end of the day, its isnt gonna help anything. you say i owe you and i say you owe me,its better to leave it like that and move on with are lifes.

6. And trust me i didnt make **** out of that deal and you say it was greed.

[FrnkPwrs]

I dont care about the bad things that happened to you AFTERWARDS, that you didnt make any money AFTERWARDS, that you fell on hard times AFTERWARDS. Because all of that happened AFTER YOU DID WHAT YOU DID!

You are still lying Danny. I know EVERYTHING that happened, beginning to end. One of your "friends" told me everything, so I can care less what you're excuses are.

Anyone who knows me, you included, can say I am not a back stabber, and Im a stand up guy. Feels good to have that title, right?

[FrnkPwrs]

Back on topic Shawn, dont pay the ****. If they debt holder sells the account, you are still responsible for it. THere is no such thing as forgiveness of debt. You are still financially responsible for it. Once that account falls out of stats, get it off your credit.

[B18c1Turboed]

I dont care about the bad things that happened to you AFTERWARDS, that you didnt make any money AFTERWARDS, that you fell on hard times AFTERWARDS. Because all of that happened AFTER YOU DID WHAT YOU DID!

You are still lying Danny. I know EVERYTHING that happened, beginning to end. One of your "friends" told me everything, so I can care less what you're excuses are.

Anyone who knows me, you included, can say I am not a back stabber, and Im a stand up guy. Feels good to have that title, right?

You keep thinking what you want!! i wont loose any sleep over it!!

and dont included me in your last statement, i beg to differ!