Can Central Credit Services threaten to sue and garnish wages?

Hi Tracy

It is true that a person needs to appear in the court before a wage garnishment takes place. The court will give the orders and then only wages are garnished.

Since the collection agency is using illegal methods to recover the money from your husband's wages, you might require consultation of an attorney.

The attorney will dispute with the fact that the fax was in no way calling for a wage garnishment but it was verifying employment. Filling up a fax cannot prove that your husband has assigned wage garnishment from his employer. It must be in legal papers of the court.

Thanks Ben, I appreciate the information. I am just curious as to why they sent the fax in the first place. It just seems suspicious to me. I mean, they are asking for salary information, I didnt think that was any of their business.

Tracy, if you had not been informed of their illegal activities by now, they would have tried to scare you and get the money from you. You would have thought that fax to be the only legal document required to get wages garnished.

Now that you have been informed, you can strongly dispute with it saying that you have not received the legal papers from court about it.

I owe discover card like ten thousand dollars, the collection agency wants to settle for two thousand, if not they will garnish my wages. Can they do that really? Do they have the power to take me to court and hold my wages until I fully repay everything?

They are also harrasing me at work and wanting to speak to my supervisor. Can they do that? Please help!

Nancy

Hi Nancy

Welcome to the forums.

Please do not tense yourself. Use your federal rights before you start paying to the collection agency. Ask them to send you the debt validation which will provide you the complete picture of this account.

You can't be forced any legal actions unless the debt is validated. Send your letter through certified mail with return receipt requested so that you have a valid proof of your request made.

Regards
Roxette

Thanks a lot for your help. They are really scary and calling my job. I beleive the name of the company is Encore and searching throughout the web, I have not heard good references form them. Anyway, thanks for your help. But one more question, once I get my debt validation, what should I do? Will they still be calling me, speak to my supervisor? I heard that until they don't report it to court and I show up, they can't garnish my wages? Thanks a lot.....

Legally a debt collector CAN NOT speak to anyone other than the debtor, their spouse or their attorney regarding the details of a debt they are attempting to collect. They can however call your friends, co-workers and other family members to gain current telephone and address information only, but that is it. They can only call them once and they MUST not discuss any details regarding your debt. By them asking to speak to your supervisor is just their way of intimidating you into believing they are going to disclose the debt and embarras you in front of your boss and co-workers. However, they can not do that and if they do, it is illegal and you should report them to the BBB, your attorney genernal and even maybe seek advice from a private attorney.

To answer your other questions, since they offered you a settlement, ask them to send it in writing in addition to the debt validation information. Once you receive it and verify the debt is valid and they have the right to collect it, then contact them and work out payment arrangements that you can afford. They are going to tell you that they will need all the money at once and if you cant do that, then the settlement offer will be voided and you will be responsible for the entire amount. They will probably also tell you that they are going to garnish your wages, if they tell you this, then they are implying that they are going to take you to court and get a court order for garnishment. They can only tell you this if they actually intend to do so and have legal right to do so. The question is if they (the debt collector) have legal right or not. I always thought the original creditor only had the right to sue. If this is the case, then Discover could take you to court and you will be required to appear. You would want to appear in this case because you may have a chance at getting the debt reduced. Besides, you might get in trouble if you are served and dont answer or appear when ordered.

If you want them to stop bothering you at work, you can stop them by sending a certified letter on your company letterhead stating you are not allowed to receive personal calls at work and to immediately cease all calls to your place of employment. By law, they must cease all calls after receipt of the letter. If they dont, then again, report them to the BBB, your attorney general and even a private attorney.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Thanks a loT,,,what a relieve!

They have called again and they are giving me until the end of the month to settle for 3000. I asked them to send me the debt validation and they said they had mailed me something in writing by the beginning of October which I have not received. They refuse to send me another one. To settle for 3 thousand they faxed me my account number with the amount I owe and the amount I'm wishing to settle for. They are even going down to one thousand for now and pay the rest until the end of the month. I don't know what the deal is with them. I'm telling them by all means that I don't have the money and they keep giving me an extension. The lady has been nice and has not yet lost her nerves but she is very close to and she has even said that I've been nice that's why she is treatin me nice. The name of the company is Encore RMI, have you heard anyhting from them? I'm really thinking in consolidating my debt but to shut them up and stop calling me, should I tell them to take me to court? Also they mentioned something about Florida is a community service state and they can go after my husband as well. Please respond and thanks!!!

Nancy, understand this thing. Everyone says that you should send your letters certified with return receipt requested. Why?? So that you have a proof of it and show that you have done the required part.

Similarly, what is stopping the CA to do so? They should have sent letters to you certified. But they say that they have sent you which you have not received. Ask them to prove it if they have sent. The court will also be looking on facts and proofs. So, you don't get intimidated by their call. They want to make money from you in every possible way. They are doing it politely as of now.

Not knowing exactly if they are holding your debt in real, if you give money to them, what will prove that they will pay towards your account and your credit report will be updated as 'paid'. You have to understand their deal clearly.

Feature these points and talk to the CA very confidently.

discover card will really take action to garnish wages .Well that might not be allowed in your state /whatever your state allows some states such as MA ,TX, FL i think dont allow but they can try to get a lean on your home ,seize checking account AGAIN !!!
they only do what is allowed in your state .

You're right, states such as Texas don't allow wage garnishment except for Federal debts or child support. It depends on what state you're in. As to the fax that the original poster mentioned, that seems a bit old fashioned for the CA nowadays. Neither you or your boss have to give them any information. I remember some time back seeing a set of "pre-trial interrogatories" which were sent by a CA to a "debtor". This was just trying to get information about the "debtor", and of course illegal because no complaint had been filed. It seems to me, if they sent a "employment verification", they must not have very much information about your husband.

I have a business debt that was picked up my Encore RMI by my original creditor. Turns out they called my mother halfway across the country looking for me, when they had my numner the whole time. They were infact calling me, but because they are not willing to accept any other form of payment accept for payment in full, I refuse to talk to them. So to get my really upset, they called my mother and lied to her stating that I had put her down a referance for some vender services that they were offering me. When I call them back, they denied everything until I threatened to conference her in on the other line. That is when she explained that they had a right to do what is called Skip-Tracing. That answered my question at that point even though she didn't admit that they had lied and provider my mother with false information. I again offered to payment plan in which they refused unless I was making payment in full. I have fowarded all this to an attorney network that deals with cases against collections agencies. Do you feel that my rights have been violated here? THX

It is my understanding that they can contact another person and ask for your number as long as they communicate nothing at all about the debt, the lying is another story. I would talk to an attorney.

please tell me if they can gsrnish my wifes wages

Encore RMI startd calling our phone this wk for XXXX or XXXXX. I told them I don't know the person and do not call this house again. They've done this every day this wk. After I told them the same thing today,and the guy said, are you sure you don't know him, my husband called them back. He told them he wanted to talk since they keep calling our number and they've been told XXXX doesn't live here. My husband kept the guy on the phone for 30 minutes, hung up and called again. My husband has been talking to him this time for about 45 min. Why is he doing this? they keep calling us, talking silly, and the recording they leave is stupid. When the answering machine picks up, theirs responds with, if you don't answer in 3 seconds, we will assume you are XXXXX. I think everyone who is receiving these kind of calls should start calling them back and keeping them on the phone. We don't know the person, never heard of them.

Sally -

Send this company a Cease and Desist Letter informing them that they are contacting you regarding a debt that is not yours, and that the person they are trying to contact does not live at your address or use your phone number, nor do you know the person they are seeking.

Send it via certified mail/return receipt requested, so you can be sure they receive it.

As far as I know wheat they cannot garnish your wifes wages unless her name is on any loans or you have joint accounts which you owe. They also cannot garnish wages without a judgment and court order.

If they are verifying ones employment chances are they are considering a wage garnishment. You will receive notice, hopefully if not lost in the mail, of their intentions. If they intend to freeze your bank account you may not notice the warnings until you attempt to remove money from the account or the bank might be the first to tell you your funds have been frozen. This is completely legal and a means to collect what is due. I know because I froze many accounts, ordered many automobiles to be picked up, and seized property. When debts are not paid, interest piles on, along with fees, and once the collector decides to collect they will. Even decades later. There is no way to escape, you can even cause someone else to have their funds frozen you are sharing an account with them. It will go before a judge if you object but the funds will be frozen for months. Nothing is free. Also, if one does happen to pay less than they owe, they usually recieve a 1099 (copy to IRS) showing the unpaid amount as income. Afterall, it was given and not paid back so it is considered income. People can avoid paying the debt for years but one day the debtor goes to the bank or tries to sell property (such as a car or home) and they are stepped dead in their tracks. Automobiles, if not paid for, can also have a lien placed on the title which will keep the debtor from trading or giving it to someone else.

To bad you don't even try to know what you are talking about. If you come after me "even decades later" you will end up doing the paying because of a certain little statute in ALL states called Statute of Limitation which means you can ask for payment but you cannot force. Of course you can lie and deceive the court into believing that it is a valid debt but I will prove you wrong. And the courts generally don't appreciate being lied to. And if you are a lawyer I will go after your license.

What a funny post guest! There is a sol on bringing civil action against a consumer and once it expires,you can't do anything thru the court system legally. If you would file on a out of statute debt,the consumer would be collecting from your company.Please inform your compliance officer or in house counsel that your training in fdcpa procedures is definitely putting your firm at risk. :lol:

Every collection agency automatically sends you notice your in collections. Most people don't open it and throw it away. Then they want another letter. Open all your mail people. By federal law it looks like junk mail. Why, because debtors will complain about anything to run from their obligations.

And quit complaining about late fees and interest. Pay on time.

pay your bill works for encore receivables.a CA that thinks the
fdcpa is a nuisance to them not a set of standards and practices.follow the rules troll and there would be no need for the fdcpa and this forum.

I work for a collections agency. They can call ANYONE to find you unless in a state with specific laws agains it. and there are only a handful of states witht hat law. They cannot give any info to a third part accept the name of the compant, it's a business matter, and a number for you to reach them. They cannot ask a place of emplyment for anything except to speak to you and for verification of employment. they cannot threaten legal action (not legally anyway) but the discover or whatever company it may be can take whatever legal action that is allowed in the state.

A PERSON DOES NOT NEED TO APPEAR FOR A JUDGEMENT TO BE REWARDED - IF THE CREDITOR CAN PROVE THAT SUMMONS WERE SENT TO A VALID ADDY AND THAT THEY HAVE MADE ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT A PERSON - A DEFAULT JUDGEMENT IS AWARDED AND IN FACT, THE OWNER OF THAT JUDGEMENT (DEPENDING ON STATE LAWS) CAN GARNISH WAGES.

if the consumer isn't served properly(which does happen with bottomfeeders)they can have the default vacated for improper service.CA'S like the one you are defending wouldn't stand a chance if the consumer was served properly.

I am receiving calls on my sisters phone and they tell me that they can continue to call until debt is paid. Is this correct? Also, I live in Texas and know that they cannot garnish wages, however, they do call every telephone number at my office (Federal Office) trying to get ahold of me. Can they continue to do this?

Have you told them you you cannot receive work calls? Send them a letter cmrrr reinforcing this.

To pay your bill:

Sounds like you work for a collection agency. You probably attempt to collect old debts on behalf of large banks, the same banks who received billions in government bailout money. If these companies "paid their bills" they wouldn't need to take taxpayer money to then use to harass the same taxpayers who may struggle to pay the ridiculous 29% interest that most credit card companies charge. Also, if nobody ever struggled, and everyone "paid their bills" on time with no problems, in a perfect world, people like our good buddy "guest" on here would not have a job, and therefore would not be able to "pay his/her bills". Also, standing up to collection agencies who pay five cents on the dollar for old debts and then try to make thousands of dollars in profit off of it by intimidating, annoying and harassing people is not "running from your obligations."

Well they are after me now. Threatens to contact my work even though I told them not to that it would endanger my employment. Said some really nasty things to me refused to let me speak to a supervisor and hung up on me - a guy by the name of Chip. I am contacting the FCC and reporting them. Evil people!!!
Told me Chase was going to sue me if I didn't give them money right now. Turned into a shouting match - really - really nasty.

I am going through the same thing that the previous person went through. My question is did they ever garnish your husbands wages? They are threatening the same thing with my husband.

Can they harrass me and tell me they are going to garnish my wages. Even if I am doing an automatic draft every month. When I asked to increase they told me they were through talking and this call was ending.!And they would stop my monthy payments.

My case is in regards to a voluntary repo for my vehicle. I was told that I had a balance of 12,000. The "manager" was extremely rude, sarcastic and intimidating. I advised that I would not be able to set up an arrangement at this time but in a week or so and he stated that the state of Pa would place a judgement on me. He also questioned and brought up past credit history and how my "back was against the wall". None the less, I called him back a few days later to get my personal information: money owed, their address etc and he immediately got very upset and stated I didn't need the address because they will withdrawal from my checkings account and why did i need all this information. When I tried to explain to him that I wanted to have this for my records he got very upset and stated that it was evident I was not willing to work with them and hung up on me.
I'm not disputing the amount owed, trying to get my finances situated so I can set up some type of payment and being that I didn't do it right then and there he stated he was going to move this situation along and have the state press charges against me and hung up.
Besides the obvious harrasment is there anything else I can do before this gets out of hand? Since he hung up on me and made that statement I feel like there's no payment arrangement I can now try to set up!!

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