Scavenger Debt Collectors

You are right. One must be cautious of scavenger debt collectors. They seem to be not bothered by any of the federal and state laws. The FDCPA is designed just to keep them within their normal behavior and give legal protection to the consumers.

I disagree with you about not paying the debts that you owe. You have this debt since the last 10 years and is always valid until paid. It is your personal decision not to pay anything just because it is past the SOL and the reporting timeframe. If someone wants to pay these kinds of debts, it will be reported in their credit file with a positive remark. If one wants to pay the past debts, it will be a good decision for improving credit worthiness. But make sure that it goes to the right place and doesn't get into the pockets of any shady collectors.

You should also be aware that leaving the state/country may toll the statute of limitations, meaning the time away may not count towards the SOL. It would be wise to check your dates again if you intend to rely on the SOL defense if you get sued.

Sol period is not counted as long as you stay from the country. This is a bummer!!!

I know it happens only when there is a payment or when you agree to pay the debt (if it can be proven).

Texaslawyer, please say more on this.. It will be better if you can show where this law is mentioned.

Each state has its own statute of limitations for each type of claim. For example, Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code Title 2 Section 16.063 states "The absence from this state of a person against whom a cause of action may be maintained suspends the running of the applicable statute of limitations for the period of the person's absence."

If the SOL has run, making even a small payment or reaffirming the debt may be able to start it all over again. It is important to remember the SOL is a defense which is supposed to put some finality on how long a claim stays alive, but a creditor/CA can still file suit against you. You will then have to file an answer and claim SOL as your defense. Most lawyers will not file a lawsuit if they know the SOL has run, but some lawyers might, especially if they think you will not file an answer.

I guess the important thing to remember is that you can still try to resolve a debt that is past the SOL, but you better make sure you have the terms in writing and that you can meet the terms of your agreement. If not, the SOL is probably restarted. The end result is that you go from a position where a lawsuit could not survive against you to a position where you could have a judgment hanging over your head.

One last thing needs to be said about the SOL. Once it has run, fear of legal action should not force you into resolving a debt. However if you are trying to resolve it for credit score reasons or because you feel a moral obligation, make sure you are protected. I will have more to say on the moral obligation later, probably a post of its own.

I'm dealing with some scavenger debt collectors myself right now. They are big on threats but I don't get intimated anymore. They haven't validated my dv requests yet so I am sending out follow up letters. I wonder if I will hear anything back. I am meeting with my attorney on Monday morning to file suit against one of them. It's going to get interesting LOL!

Good for you Mishele!! I've been dealing with one for over a year now, LVNV. They don't validate, just pass it on to another of their many offices!!..Karen-go get 'em girlie :D

The way I see it, the SOL defense is rolling over and playing dead when one really should step up to the plate and take responsibility. Even if it is just $10 monthly, is still more honorable. My deepest sympathies are for those who have fallen on hard times and can't make ends meet, but I used to talk to people who had the means to clear their debt, but chose to hide behind that SOL and it made me so sick. Not wanting to deal with a junk debt buyer is understandable, it is always possible to deal with the original creditor.

The SOL defense is a legal right for someone to plead this affirmative defense in their response to a lawsuit being filed against them. It is not about playing dead or being dishonorable.

As stated before, if you make arrangements to repay any debt, make sure you can live up to the terms. Otherwise you will find the SOL starting over.

Junk debt buyer means they bought the debt. You cannot deal with the original creditor once a debt is sold/assigned to someone else. Giving money to someone other than the actual owner of the debt is throwing money away because it does not reduce the debt.

From my own experience, I did go over the heads of a third party agency and settle with my original creditor. This was after I found out how much of my mail my ex-husband was throwing away. I was mortified when this happened to me. My ex-husband, any many of the debtors I had to deal with, were the kind of people who throw away their bills with shrug, suggesting that they are "just paper". He and every career debtor like him deserve to be sued. It's people like this who do nothing except take take take don't deserve to have any law to hide behind.

Like I stated earlier, I sympathize for those who have truly taken a hard fall. People who screw society and turn this country into a leper colony can just go to hell.

Texas,

I agree with a lot of what you said here. The SOL is there for a reason. I'm not trying to hide behind any law or nor do I consider myself a career debtor. I made some poor financial decisions in my life and so has my husband. I have been fighting with a couple of "scavenger" CA's since last winter regarding two debts that were written off. I have not been able to find out if the debts were purchased or just turned over. In the meantime, I have been making payments to the original creditor. Now I wonder if I was just throwing money out of the window but the CA's have not validated my debts yet. I say this now because I just got an updated copy of my credit report where these two say they were purchased by another lender. People do fall on hard times. I was laid off from my job in January and we've been having enough problems just trying to meet our regular bills.

I agree with Tex also.Sol is a legal defense to either civil action or reporting action(credit bureaus). It should always be raised if you are sued on this type of debt and you would automatically have counterclaims for fdcpa for sueing on time barred debt.Their only defense is bonafide error. If your dv letter tells them that debt is sol,then bonafide error cannot be used because they have been fully informed and still broke the law. I do agree with most of the posters here on moral obligation of paying your bills.It just needs to be done is a manner that is legally beneficial to you so it does not open you to a lawsuit if you reset sol with payments. An example would be a good written payment agreement stating that debt will not be reported to the credit bureaus and agreement bars them from taking any action as long as both you,the client and them,the company do nothing to breech that agreement. Be very careful and do not make this agreement unless you fully intend on honoring it because it is a written contract.

Thanks for your posts texaslawyer. Here's an interesting bit, someone showed me a demand letter from RJM Acquisions that they recieved last week. The date on the letter was this month (March 2007). It said that RJM is "your new creditor" and that they had purchased the debt. They actually went on to say, "last payment date" (on the account) "June 22, 1993". They seem to really be going out on limbs and relying on consumers not to know their rights (as with the SOL). The SOL in this state is four years.

Texaslawyer is right. Paying a debt purchaser is throwing your money away, and won't help your credit on bit usually.

RJM purchased this $6000 debt for literally pennies, and the kind settlment offer of $2000 in the letter would be all clear profit. Funny, if the mafia were doing this it would be illegal.

Law Student,

That is very interesting. I've been doing some research on scavenger debt collector lately so I'm glad I ran across this thread. It's funny they won't tell you they purchased the debt but they expect you to pay three times the amount. My sister had this happen recently with a debt of her ex-husband's. Luckily, I told her to send a letter stating it did not belong to her, blah, blah, blah. They threatened her though and that just makes me sick to my stomach. :evil:

How often do one of these collectors sue for the credit card debts they bought? If the debtor asks for proof of the debt, will the collector usually not sue?

For these "scavenger" debts they will not sue Jada because they are usually over the statute of limitations for lawsuits. There is a chance they might try and sue and hope you don't show up so they can get a default judgment. Most of the time though they will just try and harass and intimidate you into paying.

It is your right to ask for validation. It really depends on the CA and their reputation. What one are you dealing with, Jada?

Out of statute debts can still go to court.Your answer would be sol and immediate counterclaim for fdcpa violations. You would also slap a bar complaint on lawyer since they should have determined the evidence of their claim prior to filing suit.

How do you slap a bar complaint, cajun? I never knew you could do that.

Mishele,a bar complaint is a written statement to the state bar that grants lawyers admission to practice.There is a minimum level of due diligence that an attorney should perform before filing in court.If someone files on a out of statute debt,they should know before filing that it is a frivolous suit.

Does it only have to due with SOL?

I tell you what guys. I wish I knew all this info. a few years back when somebody sued and received judgement against me for a medical bill that was over 15 yrs old, and after coming to this site I find it was past the SOL. Too little too late, I had to include the judgement on my chpt. 13.

Not really,it has to do with the ethics of the profession(lawyer). If an attorney does something that would violate the ethics he swore to uphold,he can be fined,sanctioned,or even disbarred by the state bar of his state.

Really? That's interesting... The lawyers we dealt with were such dipsticks that handled the suit for Beneficial. Is there any recourse against a paralegal?

Lawyers definitely must follow bar rules.Paralegals would have to be regulated by the state bar to fall under their rules.Since paralegals are largely unregulated,you would have to check with your state bar.If they are not regulated,their behavior will be the responsibility of the lawyer they are working for.

Thanks for the input, Cajun. That is something that I will definitely look into. She really treated me like an idiot and I don't agree with that. :x

Hi Jada--

A couple thoughts here. First, as someone else said, these junk buyers are not usually in the practice of suing, because in many cases they know they do not have the documentation needed to prove the debt is yours in court. For that same reason, many of them do not validate debts, because they do not have the documentation needed to properly show that you owe this money.

Here's another thing I want to mention, just so you are aware of it. If you request validation, in writing via certified mail RRR, and they do not validate, the law forbids them from taking any further collection activity. All collection efforts, from sending you a letter demanding payment, to calling you about the debt, to filing a lawsuit against you, all of that must immediately stop until they provide the necessary validation to you. If they do not provide it, and then file a lawsuit against you, you would then file an immediate counterclaim for fdcpa violations. The law doesnt actually require them to validate the debt--what it does is require them to validate it before taking any further action to collect the debt. In this situation, a lot of CA's that bought the debt turn right around and sell it if you request validation, because if they cannot provide validation they cannot get you to pay them. Hope this helps.

I live in CO where SOL is 6 yrs. The date of last payemts on my MC and Visa was Jan 2003. I have two collection agencies sending statements. They are Capital Services and Asset Acceptance. One company sent me an agreement I signed to accept the creditcard, and a bill which inlcuded much interest. The other company sent me their letter head with an double inflated balance. AA is on my credit report. There is another company on my report called L.V.N.V., but CS is not on it. I do not know which of the three might sue in the next 2 years.

LVNV is one of the worst CAs. I have read some nasty things about them on another site, and I believe Bud Hibbs has them listed as one of the worst collection agencies in America, the list is long.

Jada--

Ok, as for validation, neither company has provided it to you. The law requires the CA to not only prove that the account is in fact yours, but they also must prove that they have the legal right to collect on that debt. One sent you the original credit agreement, which you signed. That proves that the debt is yours. They then sent you a bill with all kinds of other charges on there--you need to compare those charges and interest to the original agreement they provided. A CA is not allowed to tack on any interest or fees to your debt unless your original agreement mentions those charges, interest and fees. Compare the bill they sent to what the agreement allows, and anything not specifically permitted in the agreement is illegally being added to the amount you owe. You can dispute those amounts separately, I will cover that in a minute.

Next, the CA sent you proof of the debt. They did not send you any proof that the account was assigned to them, or purchased by them, did they? If not, then they did not provide proper validation according to federal law. To that CA, you should send a second letter, again by certified mail RRR. Do this after you compare the bill to the agreement as I mentioned. If there are any charges that are not permitted in the original agreement, inform them that you dispute those charges. Here is what the law says--FDCPA, section 808:

"A debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:

(1) The collection of any amount (including any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation) unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law."

You can cite that in the letter when you dispute those charges, if any.

Next, you will want to inform them in this letter that they have not provided proper validation. They are required to provide proof that they are allowed to handle this debt, and they did not.

More information for you--about the CA's you listed. First, LVNV is known for its history of breaking the law. If you look around this forum for LVNV you will find other threads about them. Asset Acceptance is also known as one of the worst CAs in America. You will find a lot about them both in this forum and at the website budhibbs.com

Capital services--is that Capital Management Services, Capital Recovery services? There are a couple of different companies you could be talking about. If it is CMS, they will be out of either Buffalo, NY, or out of Greenville, SC. They are not known to follow the law either. If it is CRS, they are out of Huntington Beach, CA. They are one of the worst, and they are actually changing their name. The other possibility is CRS, which is out of Fairfax, VA, and is a part of Capital One. You can compare these locations to the letterheads you received and this should help you figure out which CA it is, and therefore how to deal with them/what to expect.

Oh, sorry for being so long, almost forgot--the CA that sent you just a very inflated bill is in immediate violation of the fdcpa. What they sent doesnt even come close to validation, and if it is in fact a demand for payment, then they are trying to collect without honoring your validation request. This is not allowed.

Feel free to get back to me with any questions you may have, and I will try my best to find any answers I dont already have for you. The biggest thing is DONT PANIC--illegal tactics are not enforceable, so if a company is willing to use illegal tactics against you, chances are they wont be too worried about trying to sue you. And if they do, you will be prepared with a countersuit full of FDCPA violations that will put a stop to them.

Thank you skydivr, you gave me some very good help, I beleive. So if one of the collection agencies sue, so far, they haven't got a case.

CACH is a junk debt buyer that loves to sue so these companies are out there. Of course, CACH gets sued by a lot of consumers.

I fell financial victim just after 9/11 happened. My credit card went into default and I made a few payments to a debt collector. I stopped in 2002. Then one day I decided no more of this B.S. I stopped.

In 2007, I was sued by the only debt collector the entire time. NCO Financial something something. They claimed my last payment was in 2003. I filed an answer, the SOLs thing and the payments I made paid it in full or something like that. It was dismissed in court right away, and filed by the plaintiff about a year later as a non-suit. 6 months went by and I figured.. okay.. it was ugly but it's done. Just the other day I got a new collector letter saying they bought it from NCO. Now it is really well past my state's SOL. But it started in a state with a 7 year SOL. So which state SOL do I have to survive this through now?

I was suggested to reply back with cease and desist and a printout from the county website showing I was sued and I won. Would this make matters worse? Does my reply reset the SOL as far as they are concerned?

Or... what gain is there for a desperate collector to enforce a past SOL debt if the previous desperate collector failed the lawsuit?

Is it true desperate collectors can access my bank account information to know how much money I really have? And use intimidation?

I am getting married in the next couple years and I do not want my spouse to suffer any of this. As far as I understand, if the spouse is not the signer of the credit agreement, the spouse is not responsible. Then I read the spouse is. Which is it?

My future spouse knows nothing of my debt issue and I want to keep it that way. My concern is with the economy the way it is, the desperate collector will go at anything to ruin lives.

How can I resolve the situation these days?

Since I have no valid paperwork from anywhere showing they actually bought the debt, how can they even threaten this stuff? Can't the FDPCA hire some people to enforce viable proof of debt buyout?

How long before Obama fixes this? =)

No. You can only reset the SOL by paying on it or paying it off, depending on your state.... Send them that Cease & Desist letter with that copy.

If it was already dismissed due to SOL then that is your answer....

Threats are all they have. They do it because it works most of the time because most don't fight it.

I am sending out the cease and desist and SOL letters out this morning via return receipt requested mail. Along with the print out from the county showing the suit was dismissed against me.

What do I expect next? The letter they said said if you don't act within 30 days, you are not denying the debt.

They work for NCO, the collector that filed suit and lost.

Does this mean they will threaten me again even if they are not allowed or sell it to the next fool?

Thanks for any help!!!!

Per the FDCPA, failure to dispute is not an admission of liablity. What state do you live in? Was this dismissed with or w/o prejudice?

It just shows the case was dismissed. And the attorney for the plaintiff filed a non-suit. That's all I know. This happened in Texas.

Fortunately you cannot reset TX 4 year SOL unless accompanied by a written acknowledgement of the debt and promise to pay.

So they are out of gas and they will move on to the next person? Or do they just hammer who ever they can?

They'll likely sell it down the line. Rinse and repeat

We gave money to zombie debt collectors before we were informed. We really had a hard time because there is so much info about what to do BEFORE you give the money (send the certified letter...). Just because you send money does not admit responsibility, it depends on your state. In our state the agreement to repay has to be WRITTEN. So we took a chance, sent a certified cease and desist along with a debt validation demand letter and in less than a week they sent us a letter saying they didn't have the documentation and considered our case closed. I hope this helps someone because we sure were frustrated when we couldn't find info about what to do AFTER you send zombie debt collectors money.

Quote:

I am trying to get this immoral practice stopped. The reason for high interest rates on credit cards and consumer debt is due to the risk of default. If the originator writes the debt off the books, why should a scavenger be able to buy the debt for pennies and harass the life out of someone. Go to:
harasstheharrassers.org for more information.

Do You realize, these guys and gals have a one way ticket to HELL, so Validatite It! Call them 100 times a day, waste their time and money. It cost them for you to call an 800 #, just ask them stupid questions, all day, every day. Let's make a joke out of them! HARASS THEM!, ALOT!!!! Go to: harasstheharrassers.org

Paying an account that is more than 7 years old will NOT help your credit at all. Negative marks against your credit for past due accounts can only stay on your credit for 7 years. So after 10 years, this account is not even on his credit report.

Paying an old debt will only revive the SOL and make him likely to get sued for the original debt plus ten years of interest and late fees.

If they are calling you on the telephone, here is how to get them to stop calling you without reviving the SOL for this debt.

Send them a letter by certified mail that says ONLY the following:

Your Name
The Address they already have for you.
The Phone Number(s) they are already calling.

"I demand that you cease and desist from any communication with me. Stop calling me on the telephone. All telephone calls are inconvenient. All telephone calls will be tape recorded by me and used as evidence against you."


That's it. Do NOT say anything else in your letter.

Do NOT sign the letter.
Do NOT ever mention the debt or anything about it.

This will get them to stop calling you in most cases.

It is best to never talk to them on the phone. Just hang up when they call. And never acknowledge the debt and never talk about the debt.

To find their mailing address, if you don't already know it, simply Google their phone number and find the name of the collection agency, then Google the name of the collection agency and find their website and then look up their contact information and find their main address.

I NEED ADVICE PLEASE : ( i had a junk collector call me and threaten to be served with a summons to appear if i didnt pay 500 up front. and i panicked and cried and told him i dont have money. i dont have money for rent this summer..he said fine..give me 300 by may 31st 2011 and i will stop the server..i said okayfine..and he put me on hold and came back and said i was safe ..he got him on time...and then i gave him my credit card info in spite of my uneasy feeling and bad judgment feeling..so i told him i needed a letter with information of my acount and his company..he sent an eamil telling me i agreed to pay such amonuts on such dates...THATS NOT WHAT I REQUESTED...i called the police, they came to my house...we blocked my account and the police told me to change my house number. i also visited his "office" and his"suite" that was on the email...his "suite" was a store..a store for mail services at a shoping mall..he has a p.o. box. not a "suite"...now i am so scared. he has my credit card info and this old account was SOL already, i know this because i just now ordered my credit report..that account was closed and there is now a new account LVNV something..and i think it may be this guy..i dont know what to do next...:(:(