General guide to dealing with collection agencies

Hello!

Who died and made me the authority on collection agency issues? Well, no one died, but when I started to fix my credit in 2002, I had 41 negative items on my credit report. That's right, 41. I fixed my credit, and two years later in 2004, I purchased a 3700 square foot home (after only putting $175 into it), a brand new Ford Explorer for my wife, and a 2001 Honda mini van for myself. How did I do it? I'm glad you asked:

I cleared off all of my negative OC (original creditor) accounts accept for one, and all of my collection accounts. I did this by fighting, fighting, and fighting more. The way you fight is you send FCRA letters to OC's and fdcpa validation letters to CA's (with cease and decist letters to CA's). You say: "Yeah, but we've already done that." Yes, but there were several mistakes made here and I will clear them up:

NEVER NEVER NEVER call a collection agency. Always send letters or fax, or e-fax (like faxaway.com, etc.). When you talk to them, you WILL say something that you didn't want to say. ALWAYS use letters/faxes.

Make this your standard way of dealing with CA's:

1. Send validation letter (CMRRR, or fax), with cease and decist.

2. Keep all letters sent from them, even the envelopes. If they send one letter without validating, there's a violation, document it.

3. Record all calls from them. My state is a one party state and I can record without their knowledge. If you have caller ID, simply take a picture and there's your proof. When they call after they've received your validation letter without validating, there's a violation.

4. When they've violated three times, sue them. Period. Forget about the attorney. You don't need one. Read the FDCPA and learn it! It will be your best friend, and that's what you need to know to sue. Go down to your local federal court house (don't use local small claims courts, the judges don't know consumer law), talk to the clerk, and tell her you need a pro-se packet to file a suit in their court. There are people willing to help you make your own petitions, etc.

5. Never accept anything as validation unless it has certain things on it that make it FULL validation. To keep the CA-preditors from learning these techniques, I won't disclose on here what FULL validation is. But it's much more than you've been getting! If it ain't FULL validation, then you have no obligation to pay, so says the FTC!

6. There are wolves in sheeps clothing on this forum. I won't name any names, but DON'T LISTEN TO THEM!!!!! Comments like: "....Ask for a settlement..." is advice from the enemy. NEVER settle with a CA. Take it from ari, collectors are scum-sucking bottom feeders, who want nothing but money! Trust me! They are not, nor can they be counselled to care about your consumer rights! Besides, when you make a settlement with a CA or even an OC, "Paid for less than agreed upon" will be typed into that tradeline on your credit report, and it will pull your score down. Other comments like "...stop dodging, fighting and trying to get rid of us..." are just another way for those jerks to intimidate consumers.

I say: Mr. CA, I'm not fighting or dodging you. I'm gonna make you validate. If you refuse to validate and you send another letter or phone call, I WILL sue you!

Friends, you owe it to yourself to learn the FCRA and FDCPA. Especially the FDCPA! Sue these companies that are harrassing you. They deserve it for breaking the law. Besides, do you know why congress created the FDCPA? You can read it in the Act itself: to keep debt collectors from harrassing people and breaking up marriages.



A call to arms! A call to arms!