I had a citibank student loan that defaulted. I get a call today for the first time from a lady from DCS with a phone number of 209-858-3612. She told me that I had a balance due of $6,900 and how did I plan to pay that today.

I told her I do NOT have an extra 6 grand laying around and could I set up payments. She said sure no problem she would just have to fill out a financial application.

So she starts asking basic questions about my income etc. When I told her I was unemployed she asked if I got unemployment I told her no and that my husband worked.

Then she started asking where my husband worked, a phone number for his employer, his income etc. My husband isn't even ON this student loan I got it before we even knew each other.

So then she goes on to asking about my mortgage balance, the value of my house, my monthly mortgage payment, who my mortgage is with. Then she wanted to know about my car. I don't have a car my husband and I share one and it's in his name. She wanted to know the make and model. When I finally asked her why she needed to know that in reference to a payment plan she told me that it was for asset discovery!

She originally told me that it was for figuring out if they can get me on a payment plan, then after I give her all this info she says its for asset discovery if they need to go to court. I was almost in tears. And THEN she asks for 3 credit references which they will contact if they can't reach me. I told her I don't have anyone I feel comfortable giving out information for.

She swore they would only call them if they can't get ahold of me, but I doubt that. Then she said I had an incomplete application because I refused to give her references but she will see what she can do.

She put me on hold for 10 minutes, came back and said that I can either settle for $4,985 or make a 50% down payment ($3,115) and then $100 a month until the bill is settled. I told her that isn't an option for me that I don't have that kind of money and then I was told that my account is going to review in 2 days (9/18) and that they will recommend to citibank more stringent collection activities begin.

Today is the first day they ever called and they are giving me 2 days to come with up at LEAST $3,000!! I told her there is no way and she told me to just make a payment of whatever I can and they will see I'm trying and maybe give me to the end of the month to come up with 3k. But even that isn't feasible.

And all this after she lied to me!!

She said she was filling out a payment plan app, but then got information for asset discovery. Isn't that illegal can she really lie to me like that just to get info??

I don't even know what to do.

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ok, wow....

first, there are fdcpa violations all over this phone call....unfortunately you dont have proof of any of them that would hold up in court. They cant force you to pay before the 30 day window is up--after initial notification to you, they are required by federal law to give you 30 days in which to dispute the debt. during that time they are not allowed to try to force you to pay right now--it is called overshadowing.

The second thing is this--you NEVER want to give this kind of info over the phone to any bill collector for any reason. Legitimate business is conducted every day in writing, and these clowns should have no problem putting everything in writing if they are legit. If they have a problem with that then something is wrong.

When it comes to lying to you, no, they arent allowed to do that--they cannot use any form of deception in the course of collection efforts. That wont stop most of them from doing it anyways, no....but it is against federal law--the law is known as the FDCPA.

The next time they call back, you should tell them that anything they wish to communicate to you must be done in writing, and that you have nothing to communicate with them until you have the chance to review the documentation they are required by federal law to send you within 5 days of initial communication. I would seriously leave it at that and wait for the letter to come. Then, you can dispute it or try to work something out, but more times than not, this tactic of threatening lawsuits when they first speak to you of the debt is a scare tactic.

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DCS tried the same hardball tactics with me. Don't believe them. I told them I would call back with the references and then I never did because I didn't want them to stalk my friends and family. I owed $28,000 in a defaulted student loan and she said I had one week to pay the balance in full and that giving her the three credit references was the only way she would allow me to go on a payment plan. Three weeks later she called back and offered me a payment plan of $260 a month. I wish I only had to pay back $3000. Just ignore them until you can save up like $1000 and offer that to them is my suggestion. Keep my posted though as I'm trying to save up enough to make them go away as well.

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Well for starters it is not necessary for you to disclose any of that information. It is none of their damn business. If another collector tries to do this to you don't disclose any of it other than you are unemployed and maybe that your husband pays the rent. Don't tell them you own a home or have a mortgage or what you pay a month for it. Don't tell them you own vehicles and how much they are worth. Don't disclose any info about your husbands income and assets because they are irrevelant.

Unfortunately this is a student loan so it will make it tougher to negotiate. Make sure you get their name and address and that you send a DV letter. If you did not get it then you will need to call them back and request it. Tell them you need the address they accept payments at. Do not tell them you are sending a DV letter or they might make it difficult for you to get the address. Do not tell them you are sending payment either just to insure there is no SOL issues.

They made initial contact via phone. They now have something like 10 days to follow up in writing or it is a violation of the fdcpa. Make sure you DV them CM RRR before 30 days after receiving that letter so they can not continue collection activities until they validate. Actually you don't even need to wait for that letter. Just customize the DV letter stating that it is a response to the phone conversation you had on 9-16-08 and you expect to receive written communication in the mail promptly. Also keep in all the other normal items.

Since you do not know anything about this company I would not make any payment arrangements until they validate the loan and validate that they have rights to collect on the loan. At that point I would offer them a payment plan based on what you can afford. Do not let them pressure you into anything. Frankly, they are kind of screwed right now because you are unemployed and basically have no assets. If they sue you then best case scenario for them is you will end up making small payments set by the court. It is kind of pointless for them to sue I think since you are already willing to settle for small payments. I don't think they will have any access to your husbands income or assets in his name.

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Thanks so much for all the help. I knew something sounded wrong about telling me that my account is up for review 2 days after contacting me for the first time. I thought they had to give you 30 days to dispute the debt. I'm in Pennsylvania and I'm not sure about whether its legal to record calls or not. I'd love to because this lady was a real piece of work. After I calmed down I realized that they will probably be calling back and accepting smaller payments. The mortgage isn't in my name, it's in my husbands, the truck isn't in my name, it's in my husbands. Technically I own absolutely nothing, have no job and no assets. So I'm not sure what she can reasonably do other than accept smaller payments.

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Unfortunately Pennsylvania is a 2 party state when it comes to recording calls. You can still record the call but you have to notify them at the beginning of the conversation. You can simply say "I am recording this call and if you do not comply then you need to hang up and contact me in writing at the address you have on file" or something along those lines.

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Now, you can basically forget most of the information that has been stated in this thread. Studen loan collections are different from normal collection activities.

Student loan collectors are required to demand balance in full on demand on first contact . You signed a prom note agreeing to pay the balance in full upon default. If you are unable to pay in full, all of the guarantors require full financial disclosure which includes all household income. Nothing wrong or illegal about that. It is also irrevelant as to whether the debt or the spouse came first....the point is that you owe it. And it is not asset discovery...so the collector did not lie to you.

Is this a federal or private student loan ? Citibank does both FFELP stafford loans and private loans Either way, they do not negoiate in writing. Cease a private student loan and they will take you to court for judgement immediately.

I really dont see any fdcpa violations . Notices with your rights would have been sent out prior to the first call being made . Are you actually disputing the debt?? Did you go to school?? Disputing a student loan will actually increase collection activities as they can easily prove the debt with a simple copy of your prom note.

If this is a federal loan, you have more issues to worry about. Student loans for staters are a double whammy on your credit report. State and federal income tax seizure. When you do return to work, they can garnish your wages without taking you to court.
If it is a private loan and they sue you,they will purse both wage and bank account garnishment.

Student loans are serious debts. Federal ones have no SOL...private one always sue before the SOL runs out. Neither are dischargable in BK. They will haunt you.

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I'm not disputing that I owe the loan. I was more than happy to pay it. But demanding $3,000 in 2 days is a little ridiculous. She wouldn't even let me work out a payment plan without that much down. From my understanding Pennsylvania is a non-garnishment state unless it's a government debt. This is a private student loan.

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Well dang it Soaplady. You basically destroyed most of my arguments. Kudos.

Anc526 you will have to weigh my post and Skydivr's post against Soaplady's post. Personally I wouldn't disclose any of that personal info no matter what the debt is for. I usually tell collectors I don't own any property and I have a really old car if they really press me. It is a lie but it is not easy for them to verify that info. In your case it would not even be a lie. It would be really difficult to verify because no property is held in your name including the vehicle. Also, I am pretty sure they will accept payments even if this thing ends up in court. That looks like the only option because you have no assets really even if you include your husband’s items. I would probably offer them a payment plan until they accept it or sue. At that point I think a judge would set the plan. I think worse case scenario is your husband gets a 25% garnishment and you might get income taxes seized. This is not typical for credit loans but since this is a student loan it looks like it is possible according to Soaplady's post.

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Husbands wages would not be garnished.

They will take out a judgement even if you are paying on the loan. They do this to protect their interests.

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If they can't garnish your husbands wages then that puts them back to what I said earlier I think. I am not sure about assets in his name though.

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Can they attack my husbands trust fund? He has a trust fund that was set up by his Grandparents that he gets a monthly check from. Can they go after that, even though the debt is only in my name and my name isn't anywhere on his trust fund?

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My best guess is no but that is a guess. Maybe Soaplady will chime in. If it wasn't a student loan then the answer is no for sure as long as he is not on the credit account.

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If pymt from his trust fund is deposited into a joint account, then yes, if they seize your assets/bank accounts.

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I'll probably get him his own checking account to deposit that into then. I just wanted to make sure they can't go after the trust itself.

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They can't go after your husbands assets period. Your husban has absolutely nothing to do with a loan in your loan. This includes his trust fund. Again they have absolutely nothing to do with his assets.

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