Advanta Legal Action

Hi teamtrav,

Try to work with them. Let them know how bad your situation is by applying for a hardship program. Be warned, though, if you get on a good payment plan you need to stick with it, even 1 day late on a payment will cause them to cancel the plan.

chrys

I have been offered several plans from them and even a few settlements, but none of them have been realistic at all. I am hoping that at this point they will be more willing to offer me a really good option that I know I can stick with.

Yeah, just let them know that you cannot afford their offers. Advanta can be quite difficult to work with, apparently. You should see the complaints on Consumer Affairs!

Yeah, they really are a bad company. From the looks of it though, they are going to be out of business soon.

I hope so. They apparently screw people left and right, and their good customers at that. What a shame, such paltry business ethics. :roll:

They sent me that letter a year ago. They were blowing smoke. After charge-off, they sold the debt (about $11K with junk fees) to a junk debt buyer. But I have not been able to pay most other creditors, either, and my credit report reflected that. Plus, I was sending them small, good-faith ($10) payments every month. I don't know if that made a difference, but my understanding is they can't sue in my state (OH) if partial payments are made.

So what has happened with your debt? Have they given you a great settlement offer or arranged payments?

I haven't really been making any kind of payments what so ever. I was worried it would reset the stute of limitations

Also, who has been better to work with, Advanta or the junk debt buyer?

The debt has been sold off to a junk debt buyer. My philosophy with them is they took the risk, caused injury to themselves, by buying bad debt, and I will not pay them unless and until a judge orders me to. Plus debtors have more protections with third parties collectors under FDCPA than with original creditors. They sent me two letters, I sent them a Debt Validation letter, and have not heard from them since.

They are certainly less aggressive than Advanta was.

Advanta offered me a 75% settlement (25% reduction) as part of their legal threat letter, like the one they sent you. If I'd had the money I would have jumped at it, but I didn't.

TeamTrav:

I do not know of any direct line to the legal department. I am pretty sure though that anything you tried to send directly to them would just be routed to whatever team is working your account right now. Please be aware that the wording in your letter says MAY -- that is a big word. That still means that this is just a threat. They MAY legal it or they MAY not. I do not recall what state you said you reside in but even if the account is sent to legal, there is only so much they can do even then. The balance has to be a certain amount for a wage garnishment, bank garn or property lien. Some states don't permit property liens. The bottom line is anyone can get a judgment against anyone else - that doesn't mean they can do much to enforce it... unless they are the IRS I suppose. If you can't pay it, you can't pay it and all the eloquently worded letters attempting to scare you or make you feel like a loser isn't going to change that. Check into your state laws and find out what can really happen if they do legal the account. Additionally - if you have EVER done any payment on their website or over the phone with them - get your money out of that account the minute you actually have been legaled. I'm not sure if they can use the information off of check mailed in for payment but I do know that bank garnishments are done with information given by pay by phones and/or online payments.

I'm sorry you are in this situation. I hated working there more than any job I've ever had in my entire life. I was constantly getting scolded for not pushing people hard enough or for being too nice. I would set out the call dates for people I really felt bad for and believed so we wouldn't bug them every 2 days just to hear the same thing and got in trouble for that too. They truly have the worst policies as far as treating customers goes and I've worked for more than one company as a collector. It's just asinine to me that they are legaling anyone at this time in the world anyway. People are losing their homes and living in their cars. The unemployment rate is like 10% isn't it? Do they seriously think that all these people not paying are just hiding stashes of cash somewhere? Advanta isn't a typical card. IT's a business card. People's entire hopes and dreams were built into a business that is obviously failing - it isn't like the cardholders went out and charged up $5000 worth of Victoria's Secret and Chili's dinners for their friends and just stopped paying within the first 3 months (what you usually see from the college crowd in consumer cards). I dunno - I just think there is a big difference in the way you should treat a customer in the process of having all their dreams crushed as their business tanks and the teenage twit who just doesn't give a crap.
Guess that is why I don't work there anymore :)

I am in Idaho

By the way, the guest post above is me.

Thanks for your feedback. I noticed that wording as well. I think they are bluffing to some extent. When I called, they directed me to a company called ACT. They were not helpful at all.

Honestly, I don't really care about a settlement. But I would atleast like some reasonable payments and for them to forgive some of the rediculous interest and fees. I added it up and I payed about 5,000 in interest and fees over the past 2 years. Rediculous considering the balance I have maintained is pretty low.

Is there any department I should try to talk to or just see what happens with legal?

Hi everyone,
I am interested in filing a class action suit against Advanta Corp for them not following the ftc guidelines. I have already made a complaint with the FTC and waiting to hear a response from them.
Don't pay them ANYTHING. What are they going to do? Nothing. I have recorded all my conversations with them and have a return receipt for my mail communication warning them of their failure to comply with fair collections act. Contact [email]advantafigher@yahoo.com[/email] to start this class action suit.

teamtrav:

Hey, did you ever send them a DV? Had they ever sent you a letter prior to this? It seems very heavy handed to me, and even though it says 'MAY' the 'least sophisticated consumer' would easily miss that with all that doom and gloom of 'what could happen'. It sounds like they are trying to scare the money out of you.

I hope they have provided validation since you tried making payment arrangements...you shouldn't pay anything until you have documented proof from them.

But you could send them a letter back outlining in great detail how that should they sue you, you will have the option to once more inspect every dang document you can think of and that in the end, the judge will at least give you a reasonable payment arrangement and so that is just dandy with you.

Former Advanta Collector. Advanta claims to be a business card, but they are actually a personal card hiding behind their claim they are a business card. They use small business owners personal credit reports and personal FICO scores to establish the account. They don't even check to see if your business actually exists. I know of someone who was able to get a card with a totally fictitious business name and thusly it was solely issued based on his personal credit and FICO. Dennis Alter even says on American Banker in an article they cater to those small business owners who have high PERSONAL Fico scores and most of their million or so small business card holders have personal FICO scores in the 650-690 range. So Advanta thinks they can skirt the law by not having to conform to the Fair Debt Collection act by claiming they are a small business card.

I've been dealing with them for six months now. First it is send me a statement detailing how I got behind in my payments and how I plan to get out of it and make sure I make a payment of at least X amount of dollars. Do that by begging and borrowing and they "can't find my paperwork so I must not have sent it". Sorry, I Have t fax confirmation page proving it was transmitted/received. So they will work with me, but i have to resend the paperwork, which I do, but now it is too late and I need to come up with even more $$$.

I"m sorry, but I dont have any money. My business tanked after 10 years and then my DH lost his job and ended up in the hospital the same month and is now going through cancer treatment. I would love nothing more than to pay them off or even just send them their regular payment, but they screwed me last year by first tripling my interest rate at a point where I was not behind and was making minimum payments plus each month. Then they reduced my credit line creating more fees and penalties so my payments went from $400 a month to nearly $900+. I did my best.

That card was a blessing to me because it did allow my family to keep this home and stay warm and fed during some rough times and had they just left things alone, everyone would still be happy. I'd be making my payments, they'd be receiving their money, etc. But they just couldn't leave well enough alone. So now, they want to send it to legal. I have no savings or property. I'm not "employed" and work as a consultant so they can't "garnish" my wages. My DH is not making any money at all and if it were not for the kindness of my brother, we would have been living out of his basement.

I give up and I'm not sure what they are trying to accomplish.

Let me know how it goes. I have continued to try and set something up reasonable, but they always want the unreasonable.

I am sure my account is well over 210 days past due now. I have been playing this out for a long time and I still haven't seen an offer I can afford.

I think Advanta may have charged off my account, because my credit report made reference to it, but I have gotten phone calls from NCB trying to collect the debt before it goes to a private investigator to investigate my assets and liabilities.

Anybody work with NCB before or heard of them? What are my best options at this point?

Can they get your money from a new account you have at the same bank?

I always paid promptly, no late payments. Advanta increased the rate, cut off credit as I paid it down, caused me to have little credit with another credit card company because of that. This hurt my personal and business credit, especially in an economy where unsecured loans are difficult to get.

I got that letter today (8/18/09). They offered me a hardship plan that was worse that the original payment. They told me one thing on the phone and the hardship agreement said another. When I asked about this, they said not to worry about it. They told me on the phone that if I sign up and then default, it would be forgiven upon charge-off, but if I didn't pay at all, they may sue. Awesome company!

I got the sample judgment, after letters & phone threats, then they call after about 3 missed payments & said if I could pay my regular payment they would FORGIVE my none payment. I'm in North Carolina am I in a state that can litigate? If no one knows, please tell me how to find out. I told Mr.Bensen who threatened me with jail, liens etc. he got loud & called me unreasonable & I asked if we were being recorded, yes, I said good send me to the legal dept. see if I care what you bring on, I lost my business, have no money, shall I eat or pay you. I am a bit scared that I'm in a state that they can litigate. Anyone, please tell me what you think.

I think they can litigate in any state, but you can't go to jail for unpaid credit card debt. They can file a civil lawsuit and, if they get a judgment, garnish wages or bank accounts or lien property (although I think they can't garnish wages in NC). If you have no money, what are they going to get?

They are probably bluffing. Advanta was the most aggressive and threating creditor early on in my situation, but were the first to sell off an account ($11K) to a JDB.
Just hold on, and pretty soon Advanta will cease to exist.