United Federal Bank asking to pay $580.00 by tomorrow

KP,

They are not going to arrest you, come to your home or work. They are a collection agency that has issued a threat, which is in strict violation of the fdcpa laws. You need to file a complaint with the attorney general office. If they call again, be firm and let them know that you know your rights and you have filed complaints against them.

Please don't worry...they've called me with the same threat a couple weeks ago!
Tell them you want a validation of your debt letter and when you get it, you will call them a make arrangements and hang up..

They did the same thing to me a while back. They called me at work and said a deputy was going to be showing up at my work to arrest me if I didn't pay by 2:00p.m. I asked them to send me something in writing validating the debt as mine. They said they would not. I politely advised them that they were breaking the law, violating my rights, and to never call me at work or home again. I told them that I would be tape recording my phone calls and if they called again, the recording would be turned over to my attorney, and all the state, local, and federal authorities I can find.

Needless to say, they did not call back and no one ever came to arrest me. The other funny thing was is when I asked them what jurisdiction they were filing the charges in, they had no clue what I was talking about and couldn't tell me that information. If they really were filing criminal charges against someone, they would need to know where to file them and they would surely know what the term jurisdiction means.

The guy also kept asking me for my address so he could send somebody over to get me. If he really knew everything and had an account on me he should have my address already.
Another thing, the PDL I had a loan with has an account at the same bank I do..not to mention I also work at that bank. So he tried to say I was check kiting and he kept referring to the bank as the old bank name WE used to be prior to our mergers. I starting laughing and said you are such an idiot. I told him, "I WORK AT THE BANK AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT....CHECK KITING IS WHEN YOU ARE FLOATING FUNDS BETWEEN TWO ACCOUNTS YOU OWN PERSONALLY, NOT BETWEEN YOUR ACCOUNT AND SOMEBODY ELSES" he just got quite "ANOTHER THING, WE ARE NO LONGER CALLED xxxx BANK AND HAVEN'T BEEN FOR 5 YEARS SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET YOUR LIES STRAIGHT AND IN ORDER BEFORE YOU START SPILLING OUT TERMS YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE DEFINITION OF." He just said "Good Luck" and hung up.

I'm telling you, just take control of the call and be firm when talking to them.

The nerve of some compaines just amazes me. Rock on to all that know what to do when they smell a skunk!!!!

I do have voicemails on my phone from them threatening me and I have filed complaints on them throught FTC, Attorney General of FL and the BBB. They do have my current address tho...that kind of scares me.

Don't worry. They will not come to arrest you. They can't. There is no basis for any charges against you. The reason they are threatening to arrest you is that they hope they can scare you into paying. The problem with most of these internet PDL companies is that they are not licensed in your state to do business, are attempting to get illegally high interest from you, and therefore have no legal recourse to collect the debt when you default.

Normally, if you default on a debt, they can send you to collections or sue you and attempt to garnish your wages or bank accounts (with a court order of course). The PDL companies cannot do that b/c the "contract" they have with you isn't worth the paper its printed on. The only thing they can do is hope you naieve and that they can scare you into paying. If you stand strong and know your rights (because what they are doing is illegal), nothing will happen. By law they are REQUIRED to validate your debt and send you a notice in writing that they are attempting to collect a debt.

I know its hard not to worry. I went through the same thing. And like an idiot, the first time it happened to me, I paid. When I found out what they did was illegal, I turned around and SUED their A$$ES!! I felt really stupid but at least I found out how to handle these people. I probably have received about a dozen of these phone calls and nothing has ever happened.

Thats awsome Pink Lady!!!!

So if I choose to default a loan...there is nothing they can do unless they send a letter of validation

Correct!!! The collection agency must validate the debt in writing. Read this portion for better knowledge.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#809

Send your letter through certified mail with return receipt requested. This is to gather proof of taking care of the matter with proper documentation.

If it's an internet loan company as well, you may want to check and see if they are licensed in your state. If they are not, there's no way for them to legally collect in the case that you do default.

How do you go about checking to see if they are licensed in my state?

In which state do you live? The state licensing authority board or the dept. of finance will be having a database of all the legitimate business and collection agencies listed in your area.

AL

What kind of lawsuit did you bring against them, Jenn? I had the police call them after they listened to my taped recordings and she said they were just quoting random info. like they just watched Law and Order. I told the police they are harassing me at work and home and they have filed a report, plus called UFB (Andrew Flintoff)to let them know they are being investigated. I live in Washington so I am going to see if they are even licensed here to collect debts.I love the site - gives me great ideas!

therese,

What did the police say when they called them? Did they give the police a hard time?

go to the state web site, select business in alabama.

on the right hand side you'll see a link for corporate records. I'm guessing that's most likley where it is. If not try to contact the office of the secretary of state to find out if they are licensed.

Either way, they have to conform to the laws of Alabama (since that's where you are) in regards to their service fees and charges. They will of course tell you that the laws of the state they are in apply, and there's also probably wording in the contract as well to back it up. None of it is legal, and they are of course blowing smoke.

Therese: I filed a civil lawsuit in federal court for violation of my fdcpa rights. It was Ellis & Crosby (who is now out of business because they filed bankruptcy) who I initally paid because they threatened to throw me in jail. I guess a LOT of people got wise and started suing them and they went out of business (although I think they are already operating under a new name somewhere). The more people complain and file suits the more of these places we can get shut down.

After all that they sold my debt to another scam collection company who tried the same thing for the same debt. I faxed them over the receipt for my money gram showing I had already paid and copies of the court papers I had filed against Ellis Crosby & Associates. I told them if they don't stop attempting to collect this debt I would sue them too! They never bothered me again!

It's great to hear so many success stories!