NCO & SRA & B of A

I meant violation of fdcpa not fdspa....sorry

Did you send a C&D to BofA? They don't really have to honor it. More details please. What state do you live in? When is the last time you paid on the account?

I live in AZ- I did send a C & D to B of A and also to NCO & SRA- all certified mail. Also separately sent the requ for debt validation to all 3 - all certified 3 separate times.

NCO has threatened with debtors jail, filing fraud charges against us and SRA has threatened to come when we least expect it to auction our furniture. They (NCO) are also trying to push us to use American Express, which we havent used for many years to pay them off.

My husband had 4 surgeries for sinus tumors last year and just got diag with diabetes & prostate cancer. He has only worked 4 days in the past few weeks due to kidney stones which he had to have smashed. I'm working two jobs just to pay basic bills so no money for debt payments.

Also in the process of losing the house even tho I've had it under contract 4+ times since B of A is so slow responding to short sale package( i'm a RE broker so short sale package is in complete order)

I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles.

But take heart - there is no such thing as debtor's prison. And they can't file fraud charges against you. And SRA can't auction off your furniture. Every state allows debtors to keep a certain amount of cash plus many household goods even after a judgment has been won by the creditor.

Have they won judgments against you? If not, don't worry.

You may want to consider bankruptcy at this point. Especially if you have medical bills, too. The filing will stop the foreclosure process, at least temporarily. And the court will force B of A to work with you on the short sale.

Good luck, and stay focused on what's important. I know (believe me) how nasty the CAs are, - you need to stay firm. And if you sent a C&D letter to NCO and they're still calling, you need to find an attorney because that's a clear violation of your rights.

Again, check into bankruptcy. It's not as scary as many people think.

From another Realtor I feel your pain on the short sale. What you have to understand is that Bank of America nor any other bank really want you house to sale in short sale. If they can leave it on their books they can keep applying for more government tax dollars. Sorry to hear this but don't give up!

Hi teambonisolli,

And file complaints with the FTC and your State Attorney General's Office about these issues. Also, you may wish to send those disputes to the CRAs directly, because if the company doesn't (or can't) validate, then the CRA must remove the offending mark from your credit report.

They cannot lie to you or threaten to do something that is not legal. No debtor's prisons. FDCPA violation. They cannot charge you with fraud. FDCPA violation. They cannot just come to your house and auction off your furniture. FDCPA violation. And those are only the ones you mentioned, I am sure there are more....

I would definitely go for bankruptcy. You may be able to save your home.

I am sorry to hear of the unfortunate circumstances under which your husband labors. I wish you both the very best. You have enough issues to deal with without these illegally-behaving collection agencies completely violating the law in their hapless greed. You could actually sue them for FDCPA violations, and get attorney and court costs, and also $1000. I'm sure you could get an attorney to work pro-bono. Go to the National Association of Consumer Advocates' website ("www.naca.net") for referrals to a Consumer Protection attorney who also specializes in debt issues and knows the FDCPA and your state laws well.

And since this illegal behavior is taking place over the phone lines, you should file a complaint with the FCC also.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the great help. We went to see a bankruptcy atty & was told we would have to file chap 13- my RE brokerage would essentially be closed and taken over by a trustee of the court. Can't let that happen. Its my only opportunity to make extra money right now and pay some of these debts off.

We haven't been taken to court yet but don't the creditors have to go to court and get a judgement before auctioning off any furniture?

Right now we are paying each creditor ( except the visa with B of A that they have not validated) between $25-50 a month just to avoid going to court. But we have over $100,000 in unsecured debt ( we're not into material things or "vacation" people.... I was rolling out a condo project for CityView & Henry Cisneros- slimebag- and lost over $150,000 and went into debt over $100,000.) B of A was the lender on the project & happily lent me $75,000 in unsecured. After I spent all that money on promotion they decided to lease & not sell; hence the debt. Then my husband got sick and everything went downhill.

I will file with FCC today and check www.naca.net. I can't live with this pressure for the rest of my life.

NCO called 7 times over the weekend & with a C & D in place.

Also, Chapter 13 would require debt repayment of about $1800/mo according to an attorney & I just don't have it. Just paying basic bills we only have $75.00 left each month & need to save that weenie bit for emergency.

They will *not* be allowed to just come in and auction off our furniture. That *may* happen through the bankruptcy trustee if you filed Ch 7 bankruptcy and the furniture is antique or valuable...

Wow, that's unfortunate. Were you operating as an LLC or as an independent contractor? It's better to operate as a business because that way you could file Chapter 11.

I don't understand how they could force you to make an impossibly high payment. I also don't understand how they can just take over your business and close it when it is your opportunity to make some money. The new BK laws are a real pain, that's for sure. I can understand that some people were taking advantage, but they've made it a problem for many. However, as I understand it, if the 13 causes you too many problems, you would become eligible to convert to a Chapter 7.

See Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics for more information. "In chapter 13, 'disposable income' is income (other than child support payments received by the debtor) less amounts reasonably necessary for the maintenance or support of the debtor or dependents and less charitable contributions up to 15% of the debtor's gross income. If the debtor operates a business, the definition of disposable income excludes those amounts which are necessary for ordinary operating expenses." $75 a month is not enough to survive. "No later than 45 days after the meeting of creditors, the bankruptcy judge must hold a confirmation hearing and decide whether the plan is feasible and meets the standards for confirmation set forth in the Bankruptcy Code. ... The debtor may also convert the case to a liquidation case under chapter 7. ... In any event, if the debtor fails to make the payments due under the confirmed plan, the court may dismiss the case or convert it to a liquidation case under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code." In other words, they try 13 first. If 13 cannot be reasonably fit within your situation, then you could convert the case to 7, but you would have to start at 13. And there is also the fact that 13 nets more monies for the BK attorney, so many attorneys would just want to head for 13. I would get a second opinion just to be on the safe side.

BofA would likely sue you. Don 't give up on the BK yet, explore your options.

Chrys ...thanks for the advice. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Husband has prostate cancer and the surgery was a few weeks ago. Looks like he's have to go the Chemo & Radia route so our income will be even more severly reduced this year.
I asked the BK attrny we've been talking to if I will have to close the business if its converted to CH7 & no answer. Guess I better find another BK attorney.

I just don't want to close my business or have it taken over by the court. Who on earth would list their home with my firm if it has to be approved by BK trustee?

I am so sorry to hear the tragic news and my thoughts go with you in these trying times. Each of these situations is stressful enough by itself and if I could send you strength in your trying time I would.

According to the US Courts Bankruptcy Basics page:
It looks like the answer is yes, if you go to Chapter 7 your business will be taken over.

As far as your clients, I think by now that every American knows that the economy is reeling from the sheer weight of the rapaciousness of the financial sector, so the social stigma against BK may not be as strong these days. It's not your fault that you were left hanging in the wind to dry.

But it does look like you are stuck with Chapter 13 or 11. 7 would be pretty drastic in your case, but the process is relatively quick (I believe that you should get discharged in around 3 months or so) and that would leave you at 0 to start all over again from scratch. So maybe while that process is happen, you may have a few stressful moments with prospective clients, and it would be up to you as to how much you wish to disclose to them if they should question it. But still, it's only a short term problem. Of course, B of A will more than likely show up in court to contest it, which will delay the proceedings somewhat.

On the other hand, with 13 or 11, when (or if) the economy picks up and you are able to increase your income to the point where you are quickly becoming solvent, you can drop the 13 or 11. But if you cannot afford the payment, then what?

Yes, you should get another attorney.

Thanks for the info and advice. I have an appmnt to see another attorney next week. I don't have any debt for the business....its all in my personal name... and its a PC. I will find out if I can file personal BK under CH 13 and just leave the business alone. I just don't want to start over with new logo, branding, etc.

between 8-30% of the updated balance

First off, NCO has called me about 30 times in the last 3 weeks even with a C&D letter. They have left 12 messages, and I've caught 18 other times on my caller i.d. where they called and left no message. I'm not sure if I need to call them and record it or just file a complaint with the FTC.

Now to SRA. Never got any written communication from them about a BofA account. Yes, I had a BofA account that I'm in default on, but they called without a letter, and both at home and work - 4 mins. apart.

Then I called their 888 number and told them not to call my home number early this morning. At 2:39 p.m., lo and behold, they called my home number, but not my work. I had expressly told them NOT to call my home number and they totally blew me off.

I faxed my C&D letter, which I'm sending off by cert. mail tomorrow.

I also called this guy back and told his associate that I wanted their fax number. He gave me another number, but that number didn't work when I tried to fax the C&D letter. I told this guy that I was in a debt consolidation program.

Well, this guy says BofA doesn't deal with debt consolidation agencies; he tells me that debt consolidation agencies charge their customer a fee and then try to get the debt lowered and BofA won't deal with them.

At that point, I hung up with him and called my rep. at New Leaf Debt. He said that NBC did a special about this - how credit card companies will tell you this, but that it's false. He said they WILL work out an agreement. As I said to him, it's either $0 from me directy or X amount of dollars through my debt consolidation company.