Advice on a payment

I misplaced the letter giving me the option to pay 114.38 by the 25th.

what does misplacing the letter have anything to do with the fact that you cant pay anyhow??

I found the letter and I want to pay something but I cant pay what she is wanting me to pay?

when you say misplaced,is it kind of misplaced,or permanently misplaced?if you find that letter,it will give you leverage.it sounds like a typical ham and egg ca.someone should be able to give more info,but finding the letter is key to me.

Would they have any right to garnish your wages, such as a judgment or wage assignment clause in a contract?

so what were saying is,they want more than the amount that was agreed upon correct?if so and you have the letter.they don't have much wiggle room here.

Actually, the letter was to pay the $114.00 today (2/25) which tweety cannot pay. So if they are asking for $228 at the end of the month, they are within their rights since the arrangment on the letter could not be met.

Tweety-If you dont mind me asking, what is total amount that you owe and what kind of debt is this?

The total is 457.52. This is so a silhouettes credit card.

So they're pretty much looking for 50% of the balance by the end of the month.

If you send them something, I havent known of a CA to send $$ back, but you would need to send them as much as you can, as quickly as you can.

If I send them in what I can today-Can they still garnish my wages?

tweety dont they need a court order to garnish?
have they taken you to court already?

Do you have an active judgement with them right now? In other words, is this payment arrangement in conjunction with a judgement?

No they do not have a judgement on me. The woman I spoke to said they were an Attorney's office. There is no court order but I'm just afraid that if I dont send them 1/2 by the end of the month they WILL start the proceedings?

Honestly, they can start actions if they really want to. I see that they have tried to make arrangements with you, and perhaps you should contact them in writing and propose a payment plan that you can afford.

GREAT! Thanks for your help.

She did tell me that I had to have the balance paid off by March 14th......

Do it if you can, but if you can't then you cant, no amount of threats, etc. will change your financial ability.

Thanks JCEMT. I'm stressed over this......Last thing I need is to have my wages garnished. :(

Chances are they cannot without a court order or without a wage assignment clause in the contract.

I wouldn't stress too much either, they would have to get a judgment against you then get a court order to garnish you wages. Also, I would have my doubts on their credibility, myself, just on the fact it seemed she tried to scare you by asking for your payroll department. She knew darn well if she spoke with your payroll department it was pretty much a waste of time; I doubt any payroll department is going to start sending your money out to other people without the proper paperwork.

I think everyone pretty much agrees, send them what you can right now (by money order or cashiers check) with a letter advising what you can pay and when you can pay it. Send it CMRRR. If they return the contents and don't accept the payment, then you have documentation that you tried to work something out with them. This might be useful if they attempt to sue you. You might want to mention in your letter they are only to communicate with you directly concerning this matter, no third parties, and they are not to call you at work.

Just my suggestion.

Forgot to mention that you should find out if there is a wage assignment clause in the contract. If there is, you can easily revoke it with a letter stating that.

Since it sounds like this is a credit card, though, I doubt wage assignment is involved.

Somehow I missed this thread and just now read it....I agree with Ron. You were coerced and browbeaten into agreeing to the payment....since by law she can't talk to your payroll dept in a collection effort! It was purely to frazzle you into an agreement.

Do you have full validation on this account? Check the contact for that wage garnishment clause, if it is there, revoke it.

Do as was suggested earlier, write a letter to them proposing a payment arrangement you initially wanted to do. If they give you any flak or bring up the fact that you agreed to the hardship payment, respond with you were coerced and threatened into it by an illegal threat of speaking to your HR dept. They have to produce the tape to prove you agreed to the payment, that SAME tape that has them violating the law. :)

Wow, not sure how we started posting in that other thread.

Tweety this is in response to your comment about the woman trying to stress they were and attorney's office.

Please, she's just arguing about words with you. What is she trying to imply, your particular debt is the only one they are collecting on?

If they are an attorney's office actively collecting debts, then they are a collection agency. They are bound by the fdcpa just like a CA would be. Attorney's offices that do function as CA's also violate the FDCPA as would a crooked CA, I think there are a couple of threads in the forum that would back me up on this.

And Yes they can sue you, but so could a CA. Their lawsuit isn't any more mystical or powerful that a CA's would be. Believe me when I say this, an attorney from legal aide got a lawsuit against me dismissed, that was filed by a collector attorney, because they did a botched job with the backup paperwork. I'm sure they were banking on the fact I wouldn't show up or follow up and they would get a default judgment.

The more I hear about your story, the more I feel she's just trying to scare and intimidate you. Don't be. Be firm and assertive when you deal with them, I wouldn't be rude or disrespectful unless they are, and make sure you can back yourself up with the FDCPA when needed.

I think the other thread was my fault. Sorry. Thanks for everyone's help. I sent them a money order at lunch- got one from the post office so I can track it. I know they are not going to be happy with the amount but that's all I can do until next week. :(

The fact your making 2 payments a week apart should be enough, but alas, it never is. As Ron as said, so what if they get angry? Just remember that if she tries to badger you about that agreement you made, point out that she broke the law in getting you to agree to it.

tweety,as long as your'e making payments and staying in contact with them.i don't see how they can do anything like a garnishment.keep the faith my friend.

This company is making me mad....They keep calling after I sent a letter telling them NOT to contact me especially at work! They have called 4 times and each time it's a different extension I need to ask for! :evil: Just had to vent! I'm starting to think they are shady- they always say the "law office of stokes and clinton"......wouldnt you think that I would need/should talk to 1 person only? :P

That was me on the above post.....Thought I was still logged in. My sorrys!

no need for sorries,did you send them some sort of payment at last month's end?if you did just send another when you can.that is all you can do.jcemt should be along to help with the legal advice. i know it's irritating,but as long as your making payments whatever they are.they shouldn't be able to do what they are doing.

Tweety, I think we should be saying "Sorrys" to you. Sorrys you are going through this.

OK, this might be an obvious question; however, did you send that letter CMRRR? I'm sure you did, just want to make sure. Are you able to document they continue to call you at work? Do you have a caller ID on your phone at work? A cell phone with a camera? Can you take a picture of said CID with your cell phone? Any witnesses that can back up the fact they are calling you at work?

I think you see where I'm heading with this.

From everything you tell us, you have tried to negotiate in good faith with these people. That doesn't seem good enough for them and they want to demonstrate this by violating the fdcpa.

If I were in your situation, I would be ready to start playing hard ball! I would be checking www.naca.net and locating an attorney in my area that specializes in FDCPA violations. Attorney collection agencies can be sued for FDCPA violations just as "regular" CA's can. I might start thinking about going that route.

That's just what I would do. I'm curious to see what others think about this situation.

If you sent them a C&D to keep them from calling your place of employment CMRRR and you received the receipt you should remind them of their duty to follow that request. If they refuse then file suit for each call they have made in violation of the fdcpa

If they call again I will file complaints....

I got letters from them too..in fact, today they called my sister in law up in Maine...to leave me a message...I live 400 miles away, have never lived or visited Maine...how did they get my sister inlaws number?????

Did they disclose any information to your sister in law? Such as the fact that you may owe a debt?

You know, I'm just amazed at what CA's think when they start calling relatives and leaving messages. Especially when they have your CORRECT home phone number, as it has not been changed in several years! I had a CA call my mother's house the other day, leaving a long message on her answering machine for me advising they were an attorney's office and I needed to call them ASAP. I looked in my caller ID and saw their number in it, as they called my phone number at about the same time (like within two minutes of each other) yet they left the message on my mother's phone number and not one on my phone. So they knew they had my correct phone number, so I don't understand why they called my mother's house! My mother does not need to know all my personal business, nor does she need to be harassed by a CA when they have my correct contact information!

I think it important to note, this was the very first communication I have had from them also, other than the letter in the mail I got the day before the call. So it's not like I was avoiding their phone calls as they only called once.

Needless to say, I sent a DV letter and in it I put my first fdcpa violation warning to them. Once could be an honest mistake; however, if they do it again, then they are indicating to me they have a clear disregard for the law.