settling vs lawsuit

Oh and the other question I had which maybe someone who has worked for a collection agency can answer is - the attorney's office I'm talking to keeps threatening to file a lawsuit saying that the debt is mine, they will win, they will get a judgement and they will garnish me.

Well, if that is the case, why don't they just go ahead and file the lawsuit instead of bothering to negotiate with me at all? It seems they are spending a lot of time and effort to call me daily and keep trying to demand payment, threatening me with a suit, etc.

I mean, if they hold all the cards, why don't they just take me to court?

How much more does it cost the attorney's office to go to court? Doesn't the debtor end up paying the attorney's fees in the judgement?

I don't understand this maybe someone can enlighten me.

They don't want to go to court, if they can get you to pay. If the attorney is not local, then chances are they will not sue. They can send it to a local attorney and have them sue you. If that were to happen, you can still reach a settlement. If they will not take any of your offers, then ignore them for awhile and see what happens. Do not answer the phone. Make them sit and wonder. Check the local court house website every couple of weeks to make sure a suit has not been filed without your knowledge, they do that alot. What state are you in?

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I live in MN, last payment was in January, so after about six months it charged off and they sent it to Zwicker. I do not know if Zwicker has a local office, the letters come from out of state.

As recent as October they offered a payment plan with 0% interest, but we were scraping just to buy food and keep gas in the cars that month so we couldn't do it then. They sent several letters by mail. They never called me, not even once.

I did send a debt validation letter, and they did respond timely.

We will have the money to settle on January 20th so since we are within six weeks of that date I started talking to them last week. I initiated the phone calls as soon as I received their response to the debt validation letter.

I am talking with a non-attorney collection agent who works in their office. His tone is threatening but he does not violate FDCPA as far as I can tell.

He first said he would 'go to bat' for me with Cap One and present our settlement offer but he needed financial documentation first. I wrote a letter explaining our financial circumstances and the basics of our mortgage, household expenses. I gave very limited information as a starting point.

As soon as he got our household income and expenses he did a 180. Then the tone turned demanding instead of helpful and he seems to be fixated on my wife's paycheck. She is an employee while I am self-employed, so now he threatens wage garnishment and just says they will collect the 25% of her pay and there is nothing we can do about it.

After we've gone through all the usual suspects - can't refinance our house because it's 6 months behind and we're working on a loan mod there, can't borrow money anywhere because credit is toast, no rich friends or family to borrow from, house is underwater, no credit cards to borrow from (all closed, working on settling them all), nothing to sell - all he has to threaten is wage garnishment.

So he is demanding that I find someone to borrow the full amount from by the end of this month. He says he won't even take an offer to Cap One unless it includes an offer to pay by Dec 31st. My counter was that we can pay 50% on January 20th. We're literally days apart and I can't get him to budge from the Dec 31st. date. I suspect that he has some quota to make by the end of the month or year, but sorry buddy I can't help you with your quota!

I have sent all settlement offers in writing. I have answered all phone calls and dutifully tried to negotiate. I've documented every phone call and recorded them. But when I have a collector that won't even present my offer to the original creditor do I have any recourse?

And back to my original question if they just aren't interested in entertaining any offers and are going to sue anyway, why the song and dance - why don't they just file?

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I'm not sure if my wife is liable for this card or not. It was in my name but an extra card was issued for her.

So I could refuse to give any financial documentation and a collector would still work with me? I've settled half a dozen of my credit card accounts and the process always seems to go:

1 - write them your hardship letter (or tell them what your hardship is over the phone)

2 - supply W-2s, financial statement, etc.

3 - come to agreement on a number and settle.

None of the credit card companies I've settled so far would entertain settlement offers until I supplied both 1 & 2.

I guess I thought I had to give that information.

If the card is in your name, the extra cards you extend to others does not matter. You still get the bill. I would not supply them any info, if they want to get something then they will take your offer without financial documents. It's none of their business.

I think you're right about the end of the year quota, I would stick to your plan and if they refuse then tell them you only have so much money to settle with and if they won't take your offer then you will call the next one on your list and offer the money to them. I think you're offering too much anyway. Offer less and you can always end up some where in the middle.

Mornin' Scarecrow -

Hey, you didn't answer my question from yesterday. What did they send you in response to your validation letter? I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think it was important. In particular, who do they list as the current creditor? How long ago did this account first go delinquent (when was the first time you missed a payment)? Come on, give.

As to your most recent post... Guest59's advice is spot on. Let me amplify on it just a bit for you.

To find out if your wife's a joint holder of the account or an authorized user, grab one of your old statements. Who is it addressed to? Just you? Or you and wife? If it's addressed only in your name, or if you remember requesting an 'extra' or 'additional' card for her, then she was just an authorized user, and they cannot touch her pay. Refer back up this page to the law I posted in blue.

On supplying financial documentation, it's none of their damn business. If I were in your position and asked for such information, I'd turn them down flat. If they didn't like it, too bad. If I were asked for such information in discovery, I'd object to the request as "overly broad and invasive of privacy."

Guest 59's advice on your settlement strategy is good, too. If they don't want your money, somebody else does. And they'll know that.

Mind if I ask how much they're after you for?

Zwicker cant do anything ....Cap One is more likely to pull the account and place it with a law firm in Minnesota.

As an authorized user, I would recommend that you call cap one and have your name taken off the account.

Tonya Camille French of Dominion Law Associates tried to sue me for being an authorized user. She tried summary judgment against me and the judge declined. A year later she filed for summary of judgment against me yet this time I got a hold of the media and Bank of America stopped further efforts. I ended up getting a lawyer and am waiting until right before Christmas to have her served for several different FDCPA violations in an effort to spread cheer to her holiday season.

Now is the time to react to being an authorized user. Either have her name removed by Cap One or wait until they file suit against her to file suit against them. It would not surprise me if they file suit against you in the near future. Since Obama came in office and revamped the banking industry there are many suits filed against rotating credit lines within the same year the user defaulted. They are trying to beat the clock on his new rules by filing suit against everyone they can. For instance a former co-worker of mine defaulted on his Amex and was served within 6 months of default (last month to be exact).

[QUOTE=unclewulf;507177]Mornin' Scarecrow -

Hey, you didn't answer my question from yesterday. What did they send you in response to your validation letter? I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think it was important. In particular, who do they list as the current creditor? How long ago did this account first go delinquent (when was the first time you missed a payment)? Come on, give.

Sorry there was a lot of back and forth, didn't mean to leave that one out. They responded to my debt validation letter with a copy of my most recent billing statement. That is it.

I looked at the statement and my name is the only one on it. So maybe that settles that - perhaps they can't touch my wife's paycheck.

I thought of something today. As I've said I've been trying to figure out if they can just go ahead and sue me, why don't they? Why prolong it by making me haggle with this non-attorney collector that works for their office?

Well, duh. I'm wondering if he loses or greatly reduces his commission if he can't beat a payment out of me and it has to go to court. Is that how these debt collectors get paid - a % of the settlement?

But if it goes to court, does he lose $$s? Hmmmm.....can someone more familiar with debt collector's pay scenarios comment?

Actually they typically make more from a judgment unless you agree to pay the amount in full. Many settle for less than the full amount and take a % as a commission. However when they file suit against you they will first sue you for the amount owed in full along with interest if your state allows it. Many times they will delay before filing suit against you again for legal fees and court cost.

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The collection agency gets nothing. Cap 1 generally doesnt sell off accounts so they will pull it from the CA and place it with an attornies office in Minnesota.