How to handle this company

Send them a debt validation letter. By law you have the right to ask for these things:

1. a contract/agreement with signature
2. Their legal right to collect
3. License and/or bond (if state requires this)
4. A complete accounting of all monies involved and how they came up with their figures
5. proof that any interest and/or fees are legal and collectible.

Unfortunately there is no law that they have to be polite, or that they have to accept payments. Many people just send in payments anyway, the CAs never turn them down. However they can't call you names, belittle you, make threats they don't intend to keep, etc (or make illegal threats like you will go to jail and whatnot)

Whatever you do, make sure to send a DV letter before paying anything, and get everything in writing.

IS THERE debt validation LETTER OR DO I WRITE MT OWN

The do it yourself section has various letters for you to use.

THANKS SO MUCH

THIS SO CALLED LAW FIRM CALLED MY MOTHER5 TIMES IN A ROW. THEY LET IN RING ONCE, HANG UP, THEN DID IT A TOTAL OF 5 TIMES.
THEY WANT MY MOTHER TO PAY THEM BY PUTTING HER DEBT AMOUNT ON ANOTHER CREDIT CARD, WHICH I TOLD HER NOT TO DO. I TOLD THEM TO TAKE HER TO COURT AND THEN SHE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE PAYMENTS ON THE AMOUNT DUE. SHE DID NOT WANT OT HEAR THAT. SHE HUNG UP ON ME.
WHAT IS WITH THESE PEOPLE

Who is the creditor they are trying to collect for?

HSBC

I think I remember you being in PA..Is your mom also in PA?

Please get that debt validation letter out quickly! Send it certified return receipt.

I DID IT TODAY. SHE IS IN PA ALSO. IT JUST MAKES ME MED THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST SO RUDE. I REALIZED IT IS THEIR JOB, THEY PROBALLY MAKE SOME KIND OF COMISSION

They do for sure...I sent a PM to one of our members, frogpatch, who has dealt with HSBC. I asked him to take a look at this thread for any other recommendations.

Once they get that DV letter, they need to stop calling. Keep a close on on when they sign for the letter and if/when they call again. Track and log all of their calls.

They don't have to be nice nor do they have to agree to payment arrangements unless a judge orders it.

My suggestion to anyone who can't pay or settle in full right away is to just send in what you can. Ignoring the situation could potentially make it worse.

"My suggestion to anyone who can't pay or settle in full right away is to just send in what you can. Ignoring the situation could potentially make it worse."

I respectfully disagree, obviously in your position you know that sending in a payment resets the DOLA. I would not send any payment unless I could PIF or I had a payment agreement in writing that I knew I could keep up with. Why send in a payment and reset the DOLA when they are not going to stop harassing you for payment in full?

I don't believe all CA's are evil, a good amount are probably like everyone else trying to earn a living but theres also a good amount of them who break the law daily, debtors can wind up in worse situations by paying bad collectors whatever they can without a payment arrangement in writing.

I disagree with your advice on this post but I respect your postings in general, it can't be easy to be a CA on a board such as this.

No, they don't have to be nice; however, they do have to treat the debtor professionally, with dignity and respect. This includes not making the debtor feel like a thief or verbally abusing them.

I had my own run in with the Law Offices of John P Frye, and if my experience is any indication of what IleneBalitch with through, I would definitely send them a DV and partial C&D letter, advising them I only want them communicating with me by USPS. They were nasty, rude, condescending, and just plain not nice. When I told the jerk I was talking to that I was going to contact Florida's Attorney General's office after I was through with him on the phone, his response was to ask me if I was going to contact them and tell them I wasn't paying my bills. The call ended right there.

And even if I wasn't worried about resetting the DOLA, I would not just send money to them willy-nilly. It would more than likely become "lost" in a black-hole somewhere and I would never see it again. The only way they get money is if I have an agreement in writing from them. Period.

I seem to forget when I am off of work and when I am on and I tend to leave off a few important pieces onto my advice.

If the debt is within the SoL I believe it is important to send in what you can when you can because if the size of the debt is enough you could potentially be taken to court for what could be considered as a refusal to pay.

If the debt isn't in the SoL then I feel that if you can't PIF/SIF off within 3 months or right away then it's best to wait until you can.

I know what you mean FYI. As to sending out DV letters, that's why I would always start with "This is not a refusal to pay". If the SOL has run, and it is owned by a debt buyer, I would say don't pay them anything, but we've had our arguments over this before LOL.

lone gunman and unemployed ron !!!!
good advice!!!!!..
the statement made...
"They don't have to be nice nor do they have to agree to payment arrangements unless a judge orders it."

I would respectfully disagree that if they aren't nice and break the laws they will get their a@@ sued for fdcpa violations...I myself think they DO have to be nice or they are pee-ing up the proverbial rope!!! Screwing themselves so to speak ....but hey I have been wrong on this sight before and might be wrong here!

ps how could someone seem to forget they are off work? uhm how did that happen?

I finally turned them in to the bbb.after talking to that lady again i had it. She refuses payment, wants the whole amount. Accoding to the laws of pa, since my mom is over 65 and on a fixed income, she could send in 20 bucks amonth and thats it. After i told her that she hung up on me, again. We offered 200 bucks a month to settle this debt and she refused it.
I realize they do not have to take payments, so i said take it to court and it will be settled there and she said we are going to settle it now or else, so i turned them in to the bbb.

ps Ilene
don't let them get the best of you search the sight and you will be well informed of your rights don't let them make you feel bad you have found the right place for advice good for you!

I'm kinda of two minds on this one. I too initially just thought to send what I could when I could, but then it did dawn on me that the SOL would never be counting down that way, plus that is many payments I would have to keep track of and making sure that if they are accepting them, that they are crediting the account. Of course the good side of this is how much of a pain I can be to the CA.....say I owe $150 and I send in a $30 payment they cash....my credit report BETTER show that I owe $120...if it still shows $150 then they are reporting wrong information. :)

Ilene-Did you get that DV letter out?

I wouldn't go as far as saying a CA should be nice, BUT the word civil comes to mind. Any and ALL CA's I have ever dealt with have all spoke to me in a threatening and demeaning manner. I don't intimidate so easliy, and have learned how to turn the conversation around and make people like this stumble over their words, most of them just hang up on me though. I would like to add, I have never raised my voice to a CA, I just have a way with words. :lol:

[quote=UnemployedRon]When I told the jerk I was talking to that I was going to contact Florida's Attorney General's office after I was through with him on the phone, his response was to ask me if I was going to contact them and tell them I wasn't paying my bills. The call ended right there.[/quote]


Ron, Ron, Ron.....

Don't let the scumbags get to you or make you angry. Otherwise, you miss out on the free entertainment. Go back and read that post from a couple of days ago, about verbal intimidation. It works both ways!

They want to harass, call names, and play head trips? Cool. We can do that, too..... I had a CA calll a while back when I was just sittin' here thinking I needed a break from working. I strung that poor idiot along until he was so flustered he couldn't talk. It's actually great fun, if you happen to have a sadistic streak right then. So far, my record is a little over half an hour.

The funny thing is, I wasn't angry at the putz. I just felt the butt-head was moving the conversation into one of those CA cliche' calls we read so much about in this forum and I had better things to do with my time. I tried to take the high road and explained to him what my employment status was (at the time 6 months unemployed) but he just didn't want to hear that. So when he started spouting the mindless CA drivel, the conversation was finished. His respones to my telling him I was going to file a comlaint with the Florida AG's office pretty much proves my point that some of the less-than-reputable CA's think the fdcpa doesn't apply to them. That the debtors they are abusing are just too afraid to stand up for themselves. And unfortunately far too many of them are.

we are on that high road with ya Ron!!!!

I DID SEND OUT THE DV LETTER AND THEY RECEIVED IT ON 1-30-08. HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE BEFORE I HEAR ANYTHING, THEN WHAT DO I DO. THESE PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS

There is no set time for a ca to send back the validation. All collection activities must cease when you are awaiting a validation.

So basically, it's indefinate? Does this also mean a CA can't pass the buck (can't sell to another debt buyer?), and they can't really do anything with the debt until validation has been made, and if they don't validate, the debt is basically in limbo? I am just trying to fully understand.

In limbo until validated.

Thanks!

This clown is threatening to send us to prison for 6 to 20 years and iwll nto give ma name of a bank hew claims i owe or an acct #. He says I swindled money from a bank. He will give an address of his company and is all over the internet as a scammer threatening people and cqalling my work and other peoples work and stalking my houise haveing other people do his dirty work. He calls from so many different area codes but always want everyone to call him back at the above #. He need to be put behind bars.

This clown is threatening to send us to prison for 6 to 20 years and iwll nto give ma name of a bank hew claims i owe or an acct #. He says I swindled money from a bank. He will give an address of his company and is all over the internet as a scammer threatening people and cqalling my work and other peoples work and stalking my houise haveing other people do his dirty work. He calls from so many different area codes but always want everyone to call him back at the above #. He need to be put behind bars.

My account was with Capitol One. My monthly payment was $299. I wrote Capitaol One letters requesting to pay $150 due to hardship situation. I was informed they could not lower the monthly amount because it was a loan. They sold the account to Atlantic Credit & Finance who are demanding monies I just do not have. Every other creditor place me on their Advocacy program except Capitol One. What Can be done?

Have you recived anything in writing from Atlantic Credit or John P Frye? Are you sure Cap1 sold the debt? Check your credit reports and see if Cap1 shows "Sold/Transferred to another Lender"

I just checked my credit report and it said that the debt was charged off. not "Sold/Transferred to another Lender". I still am being harrassed by JPF. I was initially intimidated by them because they said that they were an attorney's office and threated to sue me. If Cap1 did sell my account to JPF then can they legal collect from me??

Yes