Help with Harrassing Debt Collector

Rock, has Citibank sold your account or they the original creditor? Either way they cannot seize your assets without having a judgement from the court. A DV letter is a letter requestung information concerning the debt. You can find a very good one on this site, edit it to fit your situation.

How do I find out if Citibank has sold my account? Can writing a DV letter do any harm?

my guess guest is CITIBANK charged it off.this sounds like a bottomfeeder CA.they would have to go a long way to prove fraud.also you are correct guest.they would need a judgement to seize assests.get a DV and C&D letter out asap.send it certified mail return receipt.also include in your limited C&D letter.all future phone calls will be recorded.that should get there attention.you can find sample letters in the also see.section,it is on the right of your screen close to the bottom.hope this helps.

What does a DV letter do and what's the purpose?

Is there a particular reason they are demanding a check by the 28th of the month?

Don't send them a check or any money until you have sent a DV request and they have responded! They need to prove they own the debt!

"DV and C&D letter out asap.send it certified mail return receipt.also include in your limited C&D letter"

It sure is hard to find decent information on these so-called self help forums. The above quote is an excellent example.

I am having trouble with Capital One right now and I have yet to determine if they sold off a small credit card I had to a bottomfeeder or not. I am now being sued in court for this mess and cannot believe it! Debt collecting attornies are spreading out all over the US and they will sue for unpaid debts. I had contacted a lawyer about this and was told that nine times out of ten they will not sue for anything under $3000.00 and that the collectors were out to scare you into sending money. Wrong on this one. I live in Kentucky and I know first hand that they are using the small claims court to get money out of consumers.

Charbo:
Have you been served with a summons? If you have, DEFINATELY don't ignore it--as if you do, they could win judgement by default. I would look on the summons and it should say who exactly is serving you.
And depending on when your court date is, I would definately do some research and find out exactly what your rights are in this case, because you do have them. I know your creditor doesn't want you to believe this, but you do.

Yes I have been served with a summons and have to appear in court. I asked for a debt validation letter and the attorney sent me Capital One's rules and regulations and a letter stating when I took the credit card out. No copy of a signed application at all. I am almost positive this is a bottomfeeder suing me because the debt was originally $525.00 and they are wanting $956.00! I was under the impression that all collectors and attorneys had to disclose who is actually suing you and not use only the original creditors name. I do want to pay these bills, but I really do not have the funds at this point because we are now struggling to get back on our feet. (I have three more cards to deal with as well who have not done this) Last year we got into a mess because my fiancee was disabled and waiting on Social Security to come through. He recently got it, but it's been a struggle to get caught up. I was the sole supporter for a long time and chose to pay rent, food etc...We are not deadbeats only people who fell on hard times due to the economy etc..Every collector/attorney I have dealt with want you to send $150.00 or more and there is just no way to do this. I recently settled with Faber and Brand on a medical bill and have to send them quite a bit each month. I dread going to court because it will be another pitch to force you into paying a high dollar amount each month or something like that and it will really put me behind on paying other bills.

Through the court you can force them to prove that this is a valid debt, they are authorized to collect and how they came up with the money they say you owe.

The information they sent you is worthless. The CapOne rules and regs can be obtained from the internet and a letter (is it possibly an afidavit) stating that you took out the card is worthless unless the person who signed the letter is available for questioning at the trial and they were there when you applied for the card.

Proof of debt must come from the original creditor (CapOne) not from the collectors.

Did you request Validation before or after the summons?

I was sent a first letter from the court that I had to respond to and that is when I asked the Debt Attorney to validate the debt. They sent me the "letter" a couple of days after that letting me know when the card was requested , the last four digits of my SS etc...It was on their letter head, an attorney office out of Louisville Ky.I looked them up on the internet and it appears they are legit and have been in the business for over twenty years. The letter was not from Capital One. The rules and regulations are obviously something they got off the internet or had copies of. Who knows? I know the judge that presides in our court for small claims will tell me it is best to work it out and blah..blah...In other words, they just want their money and to heck with you. I dealt with them before on the medical bill I had. It is very sad that the economy is so bad and the government is bailing out these big corporations and working class people like myself have to put up with this kind of tactics from these greedy guses. If I truly felt this was Capital One doing this, I would not feel as I do. I can't imagine a huge corporation like Capital One would bother with attorneys, lawsuits etc..over a small amount as mine was. This has to be a second or third party who bought this penny on the dollars that is trying to squeeze this money out of me. I wonder if the attorney is getting a huge kickback as well?

I would suggest that anyone dealing with these Debt Attorneys check everything out and make sure you get the appropriate validation from them. I am going to request in court that they furnish me a legitimate document from Capital One on what I supposedly owe and a copy of my application.

To answer a question: DV is debt validation

C&D is Cease and desist.

You send a Debt Validation letter to make sure that it is your debt and that the amount is correct and they are the ones that are suppossed to be collecting the money. There have been companies that have tried to collect money they shouldn't be collecting, collecting from the wrong person, etc.

Be sure and send everything certified, return receipt and keep copies of everything..Karen

UCB collects third party for citibank. C&D them and it will be imediately returned. Have fun with them....they like to break the law. Like calling third partys about you being arrested. Or threatening legal action they cannot and will not take. (I have an old friend who worked for them briefly....he quit due to fdcpa violations that they were encouraged to commit!) The do not sue and will not sue.....they simply collect and close.

They also pay out very nicely to avoid being taken to court!! They have now paid my husband twice!!

Yeah these clowns tried to collect from me last year claiming they were calling from the 'litigation' department and if I didn't pay in 24 hours 'It would be out of my hands and good luck, you'll need it'

If I would have been more educated then like I am now, I would have sued the pants off of them

This is my problem. Alot of the bottom feeders know alot of us are not 'educated' when it comes to debt collection. Had I known alot of what was allowed or not, I would have taken care of this a long time ago. I am stressed to the max and just wish I had someone helping me take care of this. Being taken to court is not fun and I am sure the judge where I live will make me work it out with the attorney. They think that the actual creditor retained the attorney when that is far from the truth.

It looks like the debt attorney filed an amended summons for some errors and I now have twenty days from the date of the letter (Sept 15), that I did not get until Sept 20, to reply.Does anyone know what kind of letter I need to send to these people and the court? I am disputing this claim because the attorney has not sent valid proof that I owe this amount. Thanks so much.

You can demand the validation in discovery. At this point sending a DV won't do any good..but you can bring up the fact that you requested this information before and they did not provide it as they are required to by law. Respond to the summons and deny it.

I OWED ON MY PLAINS COMERCE VISA, $1040 THEY CHARGED ME OFF AND SENT THE ACCOUNT TO UCB, I JUST GOT A CALL FROM THEM,THERE SAYING THEY ARE GOING TO GARARNESS MY WAGES IS THAT TRUE?

not without a court order.keep tabs with your court clerk to see if suit is filed.if not get DV and C&D letters to them asap.send them certified mail return receipt.

All collection agencies are third party collectors. Be careful, eveyr account is different. SOme account are "red flagged" and marked for recall by the original Creditor. If a collector tells you this, pay good attention to it. Recall dates signify that an "asset investigation" has occurred and the original creditor is considering fileing for a judgement. Your job is an asset because your wages can be garnished up to 30%. What happens is that most collecotrs take advantage of this information and make everyone think their account is red flagged... this is dangerous because if it really is, you have no way of knowing. This is why collection agencies are not allowed to talk to you about judgements unless the creditor has indeed retained an attorney. Most collection agencies will pay out settlments because law suits look bad to their clients... but, make sure your ducks are in line when you sue, because winning a law suit will make them look very good to their client. So, how do you know if the collector is threatning with non-sense, or its really red flagged for a legal review... 1. your account should have been in collections for over 90 days 2. It should be in alegal department at the collection agency with a complete asset investigation attached 3. The collector won't tell you.

that was nice except that some states like PA and TX won't allow garnishments.except for student loans,child support.the rest you can keep because a legit collector won't blindly threaten like bottomfeeders do.they will send a dunning letter and work from there.

one lander they can NOT garnish your wages if it was charged off !!!! Sue the pants off of whoever tries to do this especially with the new administration :-)!!!!!

I have seen many of the bottomfeedrs making use of psycology to collect. Threatening is one of them. But most of the times they are diplomatic. The banks have internally developed a good network. I have observed that before any big amount of cheque is deposited or credited the banks would withdra money before the check get paid within one day clearance. In another case at small towns they have made a formality to obtain no dues certificate from all the neighbour companies. Even if you are a gurantor of a defaulter you get an imact during a new loan. Thankfully the banks were never arrogant in my case and they told their problems for not paying the debts on time by me!!

I was sent a certified letter and received it yesterday. I have twenty days to respond to a debt collection attorney. I believe the amount is about $1450.00. I just need step by step instructions as what to do. Do I contact the attorney and make monthly payments? My husband is furious and I'm in hot water.

Lou Ann:

What exactly does the letter say? Is it a summons? Check with your county clerk to see if there is a case filed against you.

Have you ever asked for validation of the debt? It is your right to make sure the debt being collected and the one doing the collecting and legitimate and legally able.

Do not offer any payments until you are sure it is all on the up and up. Do not be afraid of going to court, because you can demand that the company give you documentation to prove their claims.