Hi Everyone,
I am getting very scared with all of the posts I've been reading about ACS. I got a call fromt them today but they didn't leave a message. I am looking for some advice on what I should do next. I do owe Citibank about 7K. The last payment I made was in 2004. I have a couple of questions.

1) If I send them a cease and decist letter, is that like I am admitting I owe them the debt and they can restart the statue of limitations again?

2) I am afraid they will call my relatives. Will the cease and decist letter prevent them from doing so?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Leroy,

Welcome to fourms

There is nothing to worry and if you have any confusion, get it cleared here.

Let's take it one by one:

SOL is calculated from the debt of last activity seen in your account. Thus if you make any payment towards your debts, that only restarts the clock, sending desist letter cannot start it again.

Collectors can contact your relatives if they are unable to locate you. They can just verify your address from them. Collectors cannot disclose your financial obligations to a third person; fdcpa does not allow them to do so.

You can mention in the cease comm letter, how you would like to be contacted. You can tell them to send correspondence only, no phone calls to you and to your relatives would be entertained. Once they receive this letter, they should cease calling you.

Hope this information helps. Feel free to post your questions in forums if you have any.

Hi Bryan,
Thank you so much. You have no idea how much your answers helps! I've been worried about this since I got ACS call, especially reading about their tactics.

Will sending a cease and decist letter prompt ACS to file a lawsuit againt me? Thanks.

Hi leroy,

Cease comm. procedure is not illegal. FTC approves this. You are not denying your responsibility here, you just do not want them call you or your relatives, right? So you have the right to send them letter stating your inconvenience of receiving calls. Please check it with FTC; it will give some metal support:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#805

Try to settle your debts with original creditor; it might be easier for you.

These are not even real names these people are using, cmon for me Josh Gates, Becly ???, I've seen Mike Diaz , this is total Bullshit, do not respond or BE STRESSED by any of it. Report it to FTC. or other govt agencies. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY, I'VE FILED CHAPTER 7 BANK RUPTCY AND THEY STILL CALL. Please people do not make any kind of payments to them. THEY LIE. CITIBANK IS JUST AS BAD. AS THEY EMPLOY THEM.

They have been contacting me on a $5k debt with Bank of America (credit card). They have given me offers of $3500 in a payment option. I decided to do it and the minute I did, a lady got on the line and said the offer was no longer valid that I will be sued for $8k plus court fees of a total $11k!! Is this legal? They have called me names, asked me to get steal or beg for money but I had to come up with the full sum of $3500 today or they will have a judgment against me via the court which will granish my wages. I am in CA and not sure what to do? HELP!

Steve,

collection agencies try to get you scared; this is a very common practice. Do not get upset right now. Ask for validation. Send them CMRRR. They must send you thorough details of your account once you request for it.

If you find any discrepancy in the validation dispute it, otherwise plan for some repayment strategies through negotiation.

Just an FYI, no legal action can be taken against you if the account is past SOL. For CA, SOL is 4 yrs on written agreements. So please check if your account is within SOL or not.

Feel free to ask your queries in forums.

People I owe a debt to academy also but my experience was much different. They contacted me 2 weeks ago regarding a citibank debt that I owe. The bill collector was firm but not rude. When I told him I diddnt have the 11,000 that I owe he asked me what the problem was and said he noticed that my credit history showed that I used pay all my bills on time. I told him that I was out of work and was getting unemployment clearing only 1600 per month with a mortgage of 1100.00. He suggested that I borrow the money, I told him I had no one to borrow from, he suggested a home equity loan perhaps my parents would cosign the loan being that I diddnt have a job. After hanging up I talked to my family and my brother agreed to cosign for me. I talked to 4 different lenders and agreed to go with the one who offered the lowest rate. I contacted Mr Wilson back and thanked him for his help a payoff check was sent to academy on monday directly from the lender.
If you owe a bill you should pay it. The bill collector is just doing his or her job if you listen to them instead of argue with them I think you'll have a better experience. I wish you all the best of luck take care -Doug

Ok - I'm a dumbfounded by what I've read. This company has been trying to contact me, fortunately I've been out everytime and haven't spoken with anyone. One woman left a message on my answering maching - she was decent, you could hear the tone in her voice, but she didn't say anything unpleasant. I'm not sure how I should handle this. I don't even know who or if the claim they say they have on me is valid or not and I'm afraid to talk to them to find out. What should I do?

Colleen,

Speak to them. See the post by Doug42 just above your post. The rep contacted Doug was cooperative and helpful. IMHO, you should talk to them and ask for debt validation. You can also send your request in writing through certified mail.

Once they respond to your letter and send the itemized detail of the debt, you can easily understand if their claim is valid or not.

Doug, you are right, not all the collectors are bad. Debtors should pay their bills…that is also true. However, circumstances sometime restrict people from doing the right thing, you know.

These guys really are scum. Do not believe anything they say. Tape all conversations with them, because they are. You will catch them violating fdcpa in just one call. Check out an item called callcorder 3 it recordes all calls right to your computer Hard drive.

Ok they called me again today. I told them to shut the **** up and stop calling me, and he called me a little girl. WTF???

Anyway I want to send a letter to them to tell them they can no longer call me, but I do not want to give them my name (they don't have it). Would it be useless to send the letter with just my phone number?

Oh and I said something like, I will report them, sue them, etc, and the guy says he's using his personal cellphone to call me, and he will not hang up. I can see his damn number and what, he shares it with 2 other people? Anyway I'm just ranting now. But thanks in advance.

Guest,

IMHO, a letter without sender's name won't get much value. Moreover it will be rendered of little importance if you wish to use this letter as a legal proof in future.

However, if you ultimately decide to send them cease comm. letter, mention the name of the person they are looking for and state clearly that this person is no more available at your number, so they should stop calling you.

If they continue to disturb you, file your complaint with FTC, BBB and attorney general's office.

As per as I can recall, they are calling you for one of your relatives, right? You can consult him/her also. If your relative follows up the issue, then you could be free from all these hassles.

Do inform us on what is happening at your end.

this phone number calls me 4 times everyday and asks for someone i've never heard of

let's start harrasing them

mark,

Welcome to forums

I would suggest you to move legally. Send them cease and desist letter clearly explaining the scenario. Make it certified.

Once they receive this letter, they must follow your request. Do one more thing, try to speak to the supervisor if they call again, however, I'm not sure if the caller would allow you to reach the supervisor at all!