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Meredith · Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:17 am Subject: Collection Agency Question

I also was recently informed of an apparent debt that I owed Bally Total Fitness Corp for $2,700 from 2001!! I had signed a 1 year contract with them (at the age of 19) and was then sexually harrassed by one of thier employees on two seperate occasions. I contacted customer service and they told me to write a letter to request termination of my account stating every detail of what happened. i did so. i also moved at this time, never, EVER assuming that a corporation that big would do anything but grant my wish for termination under the circumstances. last year around this time, i pulled my credit report for the first time in my life. to say the least, what i found was that my balance with ballys had tripled (from late payment) and was then sold to asset acceptance collection agency. i wrote a debt validation letter to asset who never responded. i wrote to every single credit bureau with copies of my proof that this company did not validate my debt at all, let alone in the time frame in which the law states they have to. it was then that asset acceptance validated my debt with the bureaus and, at the age of 25, i am being held responsible for this absurd amount of money in this ridiculous situation, which is not allowing me to build my credit the way i need to at this time in my life! i gues what i am asking now is, what's next? i have been told to "settle" with the collection agency but i do not know how exactly to go about it. i have heard i could request settlement for significantly less?? any advice would be greatly appreciated Smile

- meredith

Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:02 am Subject:

Welcome! I would check the SOL for you state to make sure it isn't out of the time frame at http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html#T Have you tried contact the original creditor with the statement you sent in? Did they ever send you(the original creditor) anything after you wrote the letter? Keep us posted...Karen

Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:47 pm Subject:

No matter what you eventually do, keep careful records of all your contacts with Asset Acceptance. If they get abusive, contact an consumer attorney (naca.net).

The best thing is (alwyas) to try to settle the debt. I believe there are resources on this site to help you do that. It sounds like you do owe the debt, and it wasn't good planning to leave without taking care of it (but I'm sure you realize that now).

So do your best to work it out and pay the debt, at least while the collectors are cooperating with you. If they get abusive, enforce your rights.

Meredith · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:18 am Subject: in reply

yes.. after asset acceptance had not validated my debt i wrote to the three credi bureaus with copies of what i sent to accept acceptance and how they did not respond to me ever, let a lone in a timely manner. to say the least it meant nothing.. the credit bureaus contacted asset acceptance and the credit bureaus wrote me letters stating that asset acceptance had validated the debt with them. now i want to settle, but for less if possible. i have been hearing that people can pay 30%, 60% of thier debt.. is there a standard letter going around that i can use?? thanks so much, this forum is so informative! Smile

- meredith

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:31 am Subject:

Meridith- there is a Do it Yourself section, under "Our Services" here. Also there are sample letters for about everything here you can use. Good Luck..Karen

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:33 am Subject:

Sorry- I meant to put this in for you http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/ Karen

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:03 pm Subject:

Is it your first time to settle an account? Beware that a first time settlement can hurt your credit. But it is better than having a payment plan beyond 6 months.

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:23 pm Subject:

Just some info for everyone. If you are pursuing legal action against a collection agency, you can see if they have violated any state laws in addition to the fdcpa. I live in WA state and they have adopted the FDCPA and have some additional requirements to operate in this state. Also any violation is subject to a $500 fine in WA. This state also has a couple more requirements in addition to what the FDCPA requires in debt validation. So check your state's Attorney General web site for the laws that govern how collection agencies are supposed to operate in your state. For all of you WA residents, collection agencies are governed under title RCW 19.16

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:54 pm Subject:

Here is more resource info. I was on the Dept. of Revenue for WA state website. This agency issues all the business licenses to operate within WA state. I'm sure other states have similar web agencies. But what I was looking for was to see if any of the collection agencies I am dealing with are licensed in WA state. To my surprise, several were not unless they are operating under a different name. Is that common? Collection agencies operate in a state without a business license?

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