Added Costs to original Debt
Date: Wed, 02/06/2008 - 11:04
simple question for me. I am a Canadian citizen and
have a timeshare property in Florida - we owe and are
willing to pay the outstanding maintenance fees we
have however we could not pay them fast enough for the
resorts liking.
They have referred our debt to a collection agency
which is charging us (upfront) fees equaling nearly
40% of the debt - on top of the debt. In Canada any
debt I have ever seen collected (I am a Accountant)
the fee for the agency comes out of the debt...
I am hesitating to call this agency back because I
want to know my rights prior to talking to them. Can
they influence my credit rating if I am Canadian?
I realize I am asking for advice here and I am hoping
you won't mind answering this for me I spent alot of
time online looking and am really not getting
anywhere.
Regards,
Jenn
Can you tell us the name of the agency and are they in the US or
Can you tell us the name of the agency and are they in the US or Canada. They should not be charging you fees on top off the debt. I would send them a debt validation letter and have them explain how they arrived at these fees. Hopefully someone will be along who understand international collection better than I do.
reply
The company is Aspen National Collection in Spring Hills, FL. They have sent me a letter and called once and left a very vague message. As I said I wanted to get all the facts straight before I move forward - since I am uneducated in US law. I know in Canada they would never get away with this!
The debt amount is $1,670.56 they are charging a fee of $551.28!!!!on top of that and I haven't even spoken to them...I am very hopeful there are laws against this - If so I will go back to this luxury resort and inform them of what they are doing to their clients - I cannot believe they know.
Thanks for all your help.
hi jennn33-- I would recommend that you first go back through
hi jennn33--
I would recommend that you first go back through the contract for the timeshare. It is entirely possible that they have a clause in the contract, if there is a contract, that allows for this fee. You see, in the US, it is legal for any fee to be charged on a collection account if you agreed to it in the contract. If you signed a contract that had provisions for the additional charges to be added if collection had to take place, then this is legal. However, the burden of proof is on them--by law they have to show you how they arrived at the number they are claiming you owe.
Check the contract, if there is one. If this is not permitted in that contract then you need to send the collection agency a certified letter requesting full and proper validation of the debt. Also, I would inform the resort as well at that point--they are not going to look good if they continue to deal with a company that does illegal things like that.
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