At the point of considering suicide to escape these jackyls

I feel your pain. I felt the same way when I was in deep with the payday loan companies.

Discover calls me several times a day; leaves messages. They are relentless. This is a temporary setback for you and not worth comtemplating suicide. You will get through this.

Have you tried to negotiate payment with them? or talked to them about a hardship program?

Who on this board can help her??? I'm too new dealing with the credit card companies. I

I just don't get how they can skip right past me and talk to my relatives about the debt! Is that even legal?

well original creditor's don't have to abide by the FDCPA.did you inquire about hardship programs.that might help.please don't think about that rash move.

I will have to look into a hardship program. Maybe that will get them to stop calling my relatives. Maybe I should get my grandmother to set it up for me, since she has been chosen by them as the contact on the account!

send a cease and desist letter to the original creditor anyway. often they will honor it even though they arent bound to many of the provisions of fdcpa.

good premise,but DISCOVER is one that will turn around and sue depending on the balance.you are right in this case,because they are not contacting the OP,but another party constantly.a c&d is in order for your family that they are contacting.that should stop the harrassment of them.then you can inquire about the hardship.

Is there any kind of legally binding way to make them stop calling my grandmother? I'm afraid they are going to give her a stroke or heart attack the way they keep terrorizing her. That's really what I need from them right now. Just to stop calling her. She told me that they said that "your grandson is a deadbeat, so that is the reason we don't contact him anymore". If I were to ask them to stop calling her, and they refused and kept on with this behavior, would I have any other recourse?

For one you need to take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly. I don't care if you ran up these debts. You are a living, breathing person who has fallen on hard times JUST like everyone else in this dang country. Some people are not hurting from all this, well goody for them. For the rest of us, it seems like there is no way out.

First speak to your family, explain the situation. It is NOT your fault these people are calling your relatives. Put together a cease & desist letter for whoever they are calling and have them mail them certified mail. That will stop the calls because the simple fact your family is not obligated in any way, shape, or form for your debts and Discover knows that. If they don't want to bother with mailing the letter, tell them to simply hang up on them, don't even talk to them, but to hang up the second they identify themselves.

As for your own situation, take stock of what you can do. If all you can do is pay your essentials, then that is ALL YOU CAN DO. Take the hardship program if they offer it, or look into it yourself. If you can, mail them money order payments whenever you can. 10 bucks here, 5 bucks there.....it will keep the SOL alive (but it seems SOL wouldn't apply to this situation for quite a while anyway.) Send them a certified letter explaining your situation. That way, if you do get sued, the judge will see you were making every effort. If you have a financial hardship and all your money goes towards your living expenses, then the judge will not beggar you!

Please don't allow this company to push you to the brink of suicide, they simply are NOT worth it!

Thanks goldenbast. I will be writing a cease and desist letter on behalf of my grandmother. That poor woman does not need this constant harrassment from Discover.

They also have told my grandmother that they will have me arrested. Why do creditors persist with that worn out threat? You can't be arrested for debt, right?

Make sure the letter is from your grandmother...unless you handle her affairs legally they might try to ignore a letter from you on her behalf. You can try to send the letters from you, but I am not sure if they will take them seriously since you can't sue on behalf of someone else.

Now this is starting to get out of the realm of original creditors.....the credit card companies don't use these threats as far as I have heard...are you SURE it is not with a collection agency? Call Discover and find out! Some CA's have no problem with pretending to be collecting for another company or to even be a part of that company to avoid having to follow collector laws.

Thanks. I will definitely make sure it is from her directly. Will she need to make sure and mention in the letter that she is the grandmother of a Discover Card customer? Also, should she mention her age and health problems as well so that it's documented and they can't "slip up" and call her again at a later date?

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Correct! Now apparently there are SOME OCs who act badly...my own history with a certain loan place attests to that fact! But in general, these kinds of threats are the realm of the collector.....most OCs just call and pester you relentlessly, but that can be handled by a simple, "I have no cash." and hang up....mind you, this is a response I use after I have told a company multiple times I can't make a payment right now...no point telling them the same old thing every dang day.

As for your grandmother, it can be a VERY basic letter with just the facts:

I have been getting telephone calls from your company on behalf of my grandson, (put your name here). I have told your representatives time and again that I am not responsible for (name's) debts and that these calls are very upsetting and detrimental to my health as I am 86 and not in the best health. I am informing you know that I wish your company to cease any and all communications with me. If you cannot comply I will be forced to file suit in my civil court for harassment.

Just make sure her name and address is on the letter. She doesn't even have to sign it (no one signs anything to CAs for fear of jumping signatures)...just type her name out. Then send it certified mail return receipt.

One suggestion, have you grandmother change her phone number and have it unlisted and unpublished. As, for you, don't be so hard on yourself and please do not even consider something so devestating, think of how your family would feel. I know these times are hard, but you will get through them. I have good days and bad, I'm still dealing with third party collectors, and they can be aggressive. Hang in there, the worst thing they can do is take you to court and get a judgement against you, and depending what state you live in, they can garnish your wages in certain states. I know that sounds bad enough, but they can only garnish so much and not everything you have rights too. They can't do much more than that, yeah they try hard to make you live miserable, but you have to fight back and not let them knock you down. If you have to just quit answering the phone, period.

I agree with the others. Dont give them the satisfaction they are not worth it. Your life is worth more than what you owe them....hang on there and always look to God or whatever religion you are in for guidance.
God Bless....

hang in there, did you find out if this is a collector yet and which one?

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Cab -

Your question has been moved here.

First call Discover and find out for sure whether it is them or a Collection Agency calling. How old is this debt? Early on in default, the debt is actually sold but the collection is farmed out. i.e., Discover still owns the debt but sub-contracts a CA to make efforts.
My guess is that that is what is happening here. I had URC call and tell me they were representing Amex. But I knew from the number is wasn't Amex.
If Discover says they still own the debt, ask what CA it is with and tell them what is happening. Sometimes they will just move it to another CA.
All that said, I think some of the CSRs at Discover are psychotic and multiple ones will call every day.

First off, I am in agreement with everyone here. Don't let them push you over the brink--then they really have won! Besides getting the phone calls, have you gotten any letters from the collection agency? I know they usually write and then start the phone bombardment. That would also tell you who they are. SEND THAT C AND D LETTER!! and send it IMMEDIATELY!! I would also call the appropriate state agency in your area and mention that they are doing this.
I would also get the Corporate address for Discover and shoot them a letter explaining your situation. You want to pay this off, but times are indeed tough and they need to work with you and show you some compassion. Keep us posted. We care.

Virginia Morris, I moved your questions here.