help -- zwicker & assoc

Depending on which state you live in, they may not be able to put a lien on your home (Texas). If legal in your state, record your phone calls with the rude debt collectors, it may give you evidence of illegal harassment which you can use to bring claims/counterclaims. Also, the hardship payments may not be helping you, especially if the account balance stays the same or goes up. If they won't work with you in a way that helps resolve the account, you may have to look at other options.

thanks for responding... as there is 0 interest being paid on the balance, the balance is going down, but $75 per month on each account, it will take a while. originally they told us we only have one year to pay off the balance at a much higher payment than we could afford. due to our hardship, they reduced the payment to 75 per account for 6 months. we have one or two more payments and the 6 months are up, and we will have to renegotiate payment. there is no way we can pay off the balances within another 7 months. why they say discover only allows them 12 months to collect the balance i dont know. i tried right after talking to them the first time, to contact discover. took some doings to get thru, as it kept immediately transferring me back to za once i entered either acct number. once i did get in touch with a person, they tried to access the account to see why it was sent to za, and they were locked out, nothing they could do to correct it. as they were current when sent to za. i am thinking maybe i should talk to my attorney about possibly suing the DS company.
when i talked to the ds in dec, and found out how much our monthly pay would be, they told me if we joined the program, they would not notify any creditors of our signing on until they received the first payment which would have been 30 days later. after receiving the ds paper work and going over the fine print on how fees were distributed (they lied to me on phone about that part), we called them back within 48 hours and cancelled our enrollment. that was early dec 09, then in march '10 we find out they had in fact sent letters to creditors within that 48 hours! when i found that out from za i called ds back and gave them an earful ! they sent me copies of the papers stating that we had cancelled. but since discover couldnt access that account to pull it back from za, we have to deal with them and their hatefulness. i reported the ds to ftc, bbb and a few others asap. but they are still doing business ! really messed us up.. our sam's club cc also got sent to za, found that out in april. i spoke to the sam's bank on april 12 and they had gotten the same note from ds, i had to send them a copy of the letter showing we had cancelled that plan and were not involved with them. they set me up on hardship plan for 6 months in which i can then call back and extend it if needed. when i talked to za last week, the lady told me i had a sam's acct with them also (they have had it since april 16), but they had not sent a letter as it said i was with ds. i told her i had set up pay with sam's (ge), and she said they knew that, but my account was showing i had not paid sam's since may. i told her yes i have and i have receipts to prove that. she said "well, we have not been notified by sam's that payments have been made".. that is when she started getting rude. i told her i did not call to discuss sam's, i called about discover accts, that i would call sam's direct and get that straight. the guy who is the case worker on discover at za was not in, and i had to talk to this * instead... i will only talk to our case worker there from now on, he has always been polite.
we are considering bk, but we were told to start our mortgage mod first. i have just found out that now bk'ers do not have to wait until mod is finalized to file bk. new law went in effect june 30 or july 30. banks can not void mods not finalized and can not refuse to do mod because of bk. they have to work with you reqardless.
my #2 ssdi claim is at reconsideration stage, and within the next 2 months, i should get a decision from that. my atty took over the ssdi claim and they filed the recon papers, so hopefully recon will grant my ssdi (they approve less at recon that at initial, but it is possible). if i get denied and have to go for hearing, it could be a very long wait. if that happens, we will have no option but to file bk. if i get approved and they pay me enough back pay, i will just try to settle with za, boa, stop making any pay on others until they are ready to settle and avoid bk...

Couple of things first:

1. "We do not do that cause people promise to pay and never send money or send it later than the due date" - That is total bull. If you request that your bank account be taken off of automatic draft for payment, they have to do it. That collector said that because it's easier to maintain payments from a debtor if it's coming directly out of the bank account automatically every month. It's true that debtor's often promise to write a check and never do, but that doesn't mean jack as far as setting up payment methods the way YOU want. You can even write a post-dated check if you have to, and they'll hold it for you until the date of the check, and put a hold on your account for 21 days (depending on what state & firm you're dealing with) until the check clears. If you want to pay by check, by all means do, and don't let them tell you otherwise.

2. "...record your phone calls with the rude debt collectors, it may give you evidence of illegal harassment which you can use to bring claims/counterclaims." No, no it won't. Just because someone is rude doesn't mean it's illegal or harassment, and you certainly can't use it for any sort of litigation proceeding. The line for illegal harassment by debt collectors is pretty clear, and rudeness doesn't cross it. A collector's behavior only crosses the line when you start getting phone calls in the middle of the night, phone calls to your neighbors or friends asking for you, obscene or offensive language used while you're on the phone with them, threatening language or behavior, etc. If that EVER happens, then you have a leg to stand on. Until then, you just have to deal with it.

To kind of play devil's advocate here (sorry), imagine you work in a room roughly the size of Walgreen's or CVS store. Stark fluorescent lighting overhead; no windows; poor ventilation; and about 300 people each seated in a half-cubicle just big enough to put a phone, a computer and a chair. For every 10 people, add a jackass manager who's more concerned with how many calls you make in an hour and the fact that you were 30 seconds late to work that morning than whether you need to get up and take a break or get a cup of water. Now, get on the phone with someone who just lost their job and/or their spouse, can't even get together enough money to pay the essential bills on time or in full, or just saw their business go under - and tell them you're after them for a credit card bill. See if you get a little cranky.

And no, I'm not and never have been (and never will be) a debt collector, but I know full well how it works and can tell you it's not exactly a pleasure cruise for them either.

So now that's out of the way, I'll keep my response to your actual question short and simple:

Take off automatic bill pay and start paying by check - do not let them tell you they don't do it because they do. Every day.

Keep making your hardship payments on time and in full. Even if you think it's not helping, it is in a big way. A collector isn't going to set you up on a payment plan that sets you up to pay less than the interest that accrues on your debt, because a) that doesn't help them at all because all it does is drag out the process, which costs them more money in the long run, and b) because the client (credit card company) wants to see resolution in full, not bleed you dry for everything you've got. If the client doesn't see results, they pull the collection firm off the case and refer it to a competing firm. Not good for them. If you ever get to a point where you can't even afford your hardship payments, call the collector immediately and try to negotiate a new plan. Just don't let it go, because the collector will be WAY less likely to work with you again.

Oh by the way:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf