Need a tad bit of advice
Date: Tue, 12/08/2009 - 12:16
I was told that in Ohio, you are able to write off one debt one time and be done with it. I don't know what to do. My only 2 educated decisions at this moment are to go ahead and accept the offer and probably default on the monthly payments or at least be broke every month OR deny payment and see where that leads.
My main concern is if I am not able to pay this $3,500 debt, can they come and take my car? That is the only thing that I really own worth any value. It is a $10,000 car, but in its current cosmetic condition probably only worth $5,000. Can they repossess my car? and if they can what if I transfer the title to my grandmother's name?
Any information or reccomendations at this point would be GREATLY appreciated. I just need to know how much I should let this stress me out, because I got enough on my plate at the moment and don't need much more. Thank you
Quote:I was told that in Ohio, you are able to write off one deb
Quote:
I was told that in Ohio, you are able to write off one debt one time and be done with it. |
Newer heard that one.
Talk to a consumer protection attorney in your area by going to
Talk to a consumer protection attorney in your area by going to the 'find an attorney' link at the the National Association of Consumer Advocates' website naca.net. This forum will not provide you with the state-specific legal advice you need, and although I am a lawyer who sues debt collectors, I am not an Ohio lawyer (neither are the moderators, as far as I can tell), and we don't have information on the law in Ohio to properly advise you. Good luck.
Hiya-- OK, first, they cannot possibly attach a lein to anythi
Hiya--
OK, first, they cannot possibly attach a lein to anything you own without first suing you in court and winning a judgment. This isnt a fast process, it takes them time. You would need to check the laws in your state as to what exactly they could attach a lein to in that case.
Aside from that, me personally, I would NEVER even speak to a debt collector about making any arrangements or payments until they validated the debt in writing. They claim to have bought the debt, but any debt collector can pull a credit report, see what debts are on it, and then claim to be collecting on it. Seriously, this has happened to people before, where they paid a debt collector that didnt even own the debt or wasnt assigned to the debt. The end result is that the person lost that money, and the debt still remained officially unpaid. It's illegal but it has still happened. Also, validation forces them to verify that the amount owed is correct.
If you know that they own it and you agree with the amount owed, then you can talk about settling the debt. Here is a big point--NEVER agree to payments that you cannot make. It may shut them up on the phone today, but they will hound you twice as much if you break an agreement you made with them tomorrow. It is better to send payments you can actually afford--regardless of what they say about it. They may tell you that they cannot take payments that small, that is BS.....want proof? Send them the payment you can afford, 99 times out of 100 they will cash that payment, not send it back to you. They wont like it, but making payments that you can afford will work to your advantage--even if they sued you, you would then be able to show the judge that you have been making honest effort to pay the debt off.
But I wouldnt be worried too much about them taking your car right now. The debt isnt connected to your car, so they would have to sue you and win in court before that could happen. Just try to work out a payment plan that you can afford. If you cannot afford it, dont do it. And dont be pressured by their complaining--they dont care if you eat or not, because they only want the money. One more thing--if you do work out a payment plan with them, dont pay them a single penny until they send you a copy of that agreement in writing. Not one penny. They will likely claim they don't do that, or a whole host of other reasons why they cannot or will not or do not send those in writing, but you just tell them if they do that the entire business world relies on written records and that you will not accept anything less. No legitimate business does not keep written record of agreements, especially those that deal with money.
good points made.. did you ever get anything in writing?
good points made.. did you ever get anything in writing?
