What to do when you are contacted by a debt collector

Your questions are too complicated to answer on the forum. Visit naca.net, find a consumer attorney in your area, and see what they have to say.

Sam said earlier about process servers being tricky when serving you, like leaving it on the doorstep...

The other night my roommate told me some guy knocked on the door while I was at work, and he was asking questions about me. (I already gave my roommate a heads up that a process server might be coming...) My roommate told him "I don't live here, this is not my place, you will have to come back when the owner is here." The guy took down my roommates name, but did not hand him anything, and then left.

Low and behold, two days later I opened my mailbox and there was an envelope, hand-written, no return address. I opened it, and it was a copy of the summons. Did not even have the complaint with it or the actual court date when I should show up.

I assume that the process server took down my roommates name, and wrote down that he served it to my roommate, even though he didn't.

My question is, wouldn't that surmount to perjuring court documents? Does this create any cause of action against the process server for his negligence and derelict of duty?

I am going to the court date, but what should I tell the judge? Service was improper because they mailed it? Should I have my roommate ready as a witness that they didn't actually give him the papers?

If you do go to court, just tell the judge what you said here. If this is a conciliation court case, there might be different service requirements. If this is a regular district court case, there probably isn't a "court date" at this point, but you could always call the court and ask for a hearing on a motion to dismiss. This is somewhat technical, and you will need to get into your jurisdiction's procedural rules, however.

Might as well make them observe the formalities. Depending on who the debt collector is, though, they will probably just re-serve the complaint properly. I often think it is better just to defend the lawsuit, but it really depends on the particulars of your situation. Sometimes I move to dismiss, and sometimes I don't.

Debt Cruncher- I had a similiar experience with a process server. My son was in an apartmanet complex driveway turning right, some dip was on the wrong side of the road,my son hit his hubcap-the dip sued. The process server came to my door asked for my son,who is an adult, and I said he wasn't here, come back tomorrow. The next morning I went out to get the newspapper, and the summons was laying in the yard in a mud puddle!! Guess he threw it on the porch, my attorney took this info, but don't think anything became of it..KAren

I had a situation 2 years ago when I was supposed to appear in court testifying against a drunk driver that hit a tree and left the scene of the accident. The driver kept saying he was a passenger and not the driver. Long story short, a process server left my summons to appear in court on my back door. It's not like I use my back door everyday. Why wouldn't he have used the front door? Needless to say, when I finally seen the summons on my back door, it was 1 week to late :evil:

Thanks Sam.

I'm not trying to get out of defending myself in court, and I guess they probably would just serve it properly if I had it dismissed.

What gets me is, they violated the fdcpa; I threatened to sue them in the same letter that I disputed the debt and requested verification. They didn't bother sending me anything to verify the debt, just went right to court. And now they don't even do that right.

Anyway, I am keeping track of all (that I think) they are doing wrong, and will just show everything to the judge.

I had a law firm threaten to sue me over a $463 debt without being verified. It amazes me the lengths they will go to. I was a little nerve wracked but got over it. They have received my dv letter with the phone conversation typed it in. I can record in my state so the phone conversation was recorded. I get tired of being talked down to by some of these collectors. They haven't responded to my dv letter yet either.

He also told me they didn't have to verify the debt because it had been verified by original creditor.

Mr Glover, I was just contacted by Ted Smith from Cash Transfer Centers payment services. These individuals are an internet PDL company that is not licensed in the State of Washington. Mr Smith has threatened me that Cash Transfer Centers are now going to pursue me legally after I told him that I could not pay them in full on the 15th. Do you have any advice?

I've got to say that Sam is not here to consult for free . . . . . He's already stated that he cannot answer individual questions for everyone. We don't want to hound someone with questions and scare them away when they have valuable information that they are sharing with the community.

I don't scare away easily, but I will not give individual advice over the internet.

There are several very good reasons for this. The main one is that I cannot hope to fully understand your situation this way. Call me old fashioned (there is no way I am old fashioned), but I need an opportunity to talk about the case with potential clients, as well as to see any documentation they may have.

Also, I am not a debt counselor, and I don't know a thing about helping people to get out of debt, about payday licensing (although maybe I should learn more about that), or settling debts with creditors, among other things I know nothing about. I sue debt collectors for violations of the fdcpa. I sue other people, too, but those are less relevant to this forum.

So with that in mind, ask away!

Correct, Sam is doing valuable and professional posts that we common people cannot do. Let him be comfortable with what he is doing in general. He shouldn't be held accountable for anything if it turns wrong on that person due to lack of complete information.

If anyone wants to contact Sam on phone, see his signature. He has mentioned his site there.

tn5mzqcp4cdh gjnhii4wve7qxc wsptp2iu8e481zqwn

I've had CA's/ debt collectors call and I have asked for OFFICIAL names and phone numbers to call back, if need be. SOME of them have told me "they aren't obligated to give phone numbers, etc.". They say they will call ME back. If I ask questions, they 'beat around the bush' with them, etc. Very frustrating to deal with, at times.

That falls under meaningful disclosure, failure to do so is a violation of the fdcpa.

--What to do when you are contacted by a debt collector--

You drop the attitude and get your checkbook and pay your debts like decent people do. You'll learn your lesson for sure after you lose in court and your wages are garnished, and your bank account and assets are attached. You can pay me now or a lot more later. You make the choice.

as usual NNC,is wrong.

Some vultures acquire or purchase debt for pennies on the dollar and then turn around and sue you for the full amount. You have every right to question the debt unlike the attitude displayed by "No Nonsense Collector." And her telling the poster to "lose the attitude" is like a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Suppose the debt isn't YOURS? Or, suppose you had credit card insurance to cover payment of the debt when you were unable to? Are you to merely just take out your checkbook and write out a check carte blanche to the vultures? I think not. You have certain rights - including the Statute of Limitations which you should verify for your particular state. Secondly, you have the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (fdcpa) which you should consult and follow to the letter. To do nothing opens you up to whatever the vultures want to pick at. If you are wrong and owe the debt, ask for it go to mediation in court. Explain what you can afford to pay and what you cannot. A lot of times, old debts are settled for 1/3 to 1/2 of the original amount. But don't just take out your checkbook and write away your hard-earned money. Demand proof that you incurred the debt and proof of the last activity (last payment made or charge made) to the account so that you can check it against the Statute of Limitations for your state. Good luck. And don't rack up additional debt you can't afford in the future. Twice bitten.........a lesson learned.

This thread is 5 months old. I doubt no nonsense will see your post

I've been contacted by a CA for an old debt twice recently. The reason I didn't want to do cease and desist because I still want to come up with a payment for delete settlement. However, it's getting annoying/frustrating. I have couple questions below:

I told them that I've sent a registered mail for a payment for delete settlement letter a long time ago. I never heard anything back. They said they never received my letter. They lied because the mail is registered.

The CA told me that if I don't pay my debt, it will appear in my credit report "forever". This is wrong and I know for sure this is wrong because depending on the record type, it will be deleted after a period of time vary from 5-10 years, correct?

The CA said that they can't do payment for delete, because deleting the collection record in my credit report is illegal and fraud. This is also wrong since lots of people in this forum were able to settle with payment for delete. Again, they lied, correct?

In summary, can I do anything about them lying to me? The first time they called, I argued back on the phone. The second time they called, I hung up after I caught them lying. I get very upset everytime I got off the phone with them. Though I really want to settle this debt, I wouldn't budge if they continued to give me the same attitude.

Should I write to them proving them lying to me and violating the fdcpa?

first welcome to the forum,second you should check your state laws in the case of recording calls.everything is conjecture without some form of proof.you said registered mail,is thatthe same as certified mail?still this sounds like a bottomfeeder.best to check those laws and resend the letter certifed mail return receipt.that green slip is your proof.again welcome and wecan help you here.

Who is the CA/JDB? How old is the debt? The SOL may have expired on the debt already. THEY ALL LIE!! Don't trust them. Send them a DV letter along with a partial C&D and see what happens.

Quote:

Thanks so much paulmergel, nascardevil and a guest.

paulmergel, I will send them a certified mail again to prove that they did receive my letter the next time they call.

The guest :) (hope you'll come back) The CA is MCM (Midland Credit Managment). The first date of delinquency is 12/2004, so the debt is almost 4 years old. I know this debt is valid, should I still send them a DV letter? What is partial C&D?

nascardevil, thanks for giving me the correct info reg. the reporting date. With their permission, I will record the conversation next time they call. Also thanks for pointing out that I can reword my agreement letter. I will definitely do that before sending out another letter to them. I guess I can tell them to agree on a non-Disclosure agreement instead. This way I can dispute with the reporting bureaus and MCM will agree not verify my dispute, right?

Thanks so much! I've been working hard on cleaning up my credit report and this forum helps so much! I never knew about student loan rehabilitation 'til I check out the guides/poss here. Thanks all! Please do let me know if there's anything else I can do!

MCM are lowlife scumbags, check them out on budhibbs.com.

I asked for address of DC and they refused. Said they do not do things that way. Can they do that? I wanted to send money orders to them for payment and not give them any banking information. Do I have to do it their way or can I send them the money if I get their address. (Which I did on the web).