Please suggest the direction and whom to pay debts

[quote=bfdrdr]When I moved a year ago, I was jobless x2 mos. This put every loan I had plus 2 credit cards onto the backburner as my primary concern was survival. Now I am in a position to begin repayment, have caught up on my loans, can support myself and pay rent, have paid 1 CC down, but have not yet paid it off. I have 2 other credit cards that I want to pay off, and they are the problems: 2 Capitol 1 accts: C1A and C1B...
C1A is still with Capitol 1. We have set up payment arrangements, and we will be in close contact until the account is paid off. C1B is the issue. Capitol 1 sold the account to their own collection agency, NCO. I contacted NCO to get a picture of what their demands were versus what I can pay. Their representative was a bit "off sides". Because I do not have family to hand me the heaps of cash I need ($2700) to pay him, he advised me to go to my employee assistance program (as though they'd hand over a pot of gold the minute I'd called).

Immediately after advising me to go for employee assistance, he emphatically retracted that statement saying that they were a group of shifty, non-profit people who couldn't help me (why, just LOOK at their cars in the parking lot! That will PROVE to me they are not a non-profit!). He stated that he was powerless to accept payment plans, but would accept a monthly "hardship" payment plan of $250.00 per month (which is WAY off of my scale right now) for 4 months until I could cough up the remaining 1700 dollars.
I made an appointment with CCCS and they said that I should begin by sending certified letters, but first, call to get a viable correspondance address, and get the accurate balance on paper.

WHICH IS ANOTHER THING: during all of this collection action on C1B, I have received a total of 1 statement with the total amount that I owe, unidentifiable addresses (NCO is not found under any phone book, BBB contacts, etc., with these addresses), and a balance that does not reflect the verbally-related balance of my original conversation with NCO.

Fast forward to Wednesday, June 22nd, when I called the collection agency to please send me a statment of the balance (what I owe), and could I please have a contact address where I could send a letter. They immediately became belligerant and refused, stating that I was refusing, at that moment in time to pay the debt. I said, and I QUOTE, "Let's be clear here, at no point in this conversation have I refused to pay anything. I am simply requesting that you send me a statement of what I owe." He talked OVER me the entire time, refusing to send me a statement of "what I'd spent my money on." When I reclarified, and said that I believe that, if I am obligated to pay a debt, I think that a some statement of what I owe should be provided for me, he said, "DON'T TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" I asked to speak with the manager. He refused. He finally conceded to get the manager stating that I could "waste HIS time." The end of the conversation is that NCO Financial has refused to give me a statement of what I owe. Likewise, they have refused to give me a viable correspondance address. I have 1 (ONE!) communication from them listing a payment address and a random, Bethesda, MD address in the top left. I want to communicate with them. I have every intention of paying this debt.

My questions are these:
How can I file a FORMAL complaint against this collection agency? They have every right to demand their money in a manner that will allow me to live, BUT they do not have the right to dehumanize the situation at ALL.

How can I communicate with them?

Though at this point, I feel they really don't deserve further communication, and I will not get on the phone with these people a second time, is it reasonable to request that their parent company, Captial One, please send me the statement I am seeking for? I simply cannot get it from NCO.

If I seek to validate the debt - I do not seek to challenge it - I know the debt is mine - will this prompt further legal action on their part?

I do not have the money to pay on the scale that they are demanding. Will my offer to pay something stave them off from garnishment?

I am told that garnishment, for revolving creditors, is a pain, because they have to go back to court every 30 days to re-verify the debt, and then be sure that what they are taking does not push the debtor over the poverty line. Is this true?

When I moved (in the beginning of the letter), I wiped out all of my savings by moving to Rhode Island - I have no financial fall-upon, and am beginning to get frantic - is there some help you can offer me? It is ONLY ONE account - only $2700 that is pushing me over the edge, here, but it is enough to interfere with my every day life at this point...

Help me!
BF[/quote]

Thanks for the detailed post. Well first, I think that it is great that you are taking action and assuming responsibility for your debt. This positive attitude will go a long way in keeping you sane throughout this ordeal dealing with collection agencies. You are close to paying one card down and you are able to stand on your feet financially. Now you are on a path back to a debt free life.

First, i would suggest that instead of randomly paying off one of your credit cards, you should select the credit card that has the highest interest rates. This is critical because the cards with the highest interest rates create a situation in which you are actually only paying off the interest instead of attacking the debt head on. Those cards are the most dangerous because even though you are putting considerable funds into paying it off, it always appears as if you are staying in place. It feels almost similar to throwing your money into a fire.

You should identify these high interest cards and concentrate on paying each one off in order of interest rates. It is great that you have one card close to being paid off. However, your repayment plan would be more effective if you attacked the highest interest rate cards first instead of paying off cards according to the size of your balances.

Also, you may want to consider consolidating this debt. consolidating your debt will allow you to work with creditors in order to negotiate their interest rates down to a lower percentage. You should consider this as another tactic for paying down your debt.

[quote=benjaminz6][quote=bfdrdr]When I moved a year ago, I was jobless x2 mos. This put every loan I had plus 2 credit cards onto the backburner as my primary concern was survival. Now I am in a position to begin repayment, have caught up on my loans, can support myself and pay rent, have paid 1 CC down, but have not yet paid it off. I have 2 other credit cards that I want to pay off, and they are the problems: 2 Capitol 1 accts: C1A and C1B...
C1A is still with Capitol 1. We have set up payment arrangements, and we will be in close contact until the account is paid off. C1B is the issue. Capitol 1 sold the account to their own collection agency, NCO. I contacted NCO to get a picture of what their demands were versus what I can pay. Their representative was a bit "off sides". Because I do not have family to hand me the heaps of cash I need ($2700) to pay him, he advised me to go to my employee assistance program (as though they'd hand over a pot of gold the minute I'd called).

Immediately after advising me to go for employee assistance, he emphatically retracted that statement saying that they were a group of shifty, non-profit people who couldn't help me (why, just LOOK at their cars in the parking lot! That will PROVE to me they are not a non-profit!). He stated that he was powerless to accept payment plans, but would accept a monthly "hardship" payment plan of $250.00 per month (which is WAY off of my scale right now) for 4 months until I could cough up the remaining 1700 dollars.
I made an appointment with CCCS and they said that I should begin by sending certified letters, but first, call to get a viable correspondance address, and get the accurate balance on paper.

WHICH IS ANOTHER THING: during all of this collection action on C1B, I have received a total of 1 statement with the total amount that I owe, unidentifiable addresses (NCO is not found under any phone book, BBB contacts, etc., with these addresses), and a balance that does not reflect the verbally-related balance of my original conversation with NCO.

Fast forward to Wednesday, June 22nd, when I called the collection agency to please send me a statment of the balance (what I owe), and could I please have a contact address where I could send a letter. They immediately became belligerant and refused, stating that I was refusing, at that moment in time to pay the debt. I said, and I QUOTE, "Let's be clear here, at no point in this conversation have I refused to pay anything. I am simply requesting that you send me a statement of what I owe." He talked OVER me the entire time, refusing to send me a statement of "what I'd spent my money on." When I reclarified, and said that I believe that, if I am obligated to pay a debt, I think that a some statement of what I owe should be provided for me, he said, "DON'T TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" I asked to speak with the manager. He refused. He finally conceded to get the manager stating that I could "waste HIS time." The end of the conversation is that NCO Financial has refused to give me a statement of what I owe. Likewise, they have refused to give me a viable correspondance address. I have 1 (ONE!) communication from them listing a payment address and a random, Bethesda, MD address in the top left. I want to communicate with them. I have every intention of paying this debt.

My questions are these:
How can I file a FORMAL complaint against this collection agency? They have every right to demand their money in a manner that will allow me to live, BUT they do not have the right to dehumanize the situation at ALL.

How can I communicate with them?

Though at this point, I feel they really don't deserve further communication, and I will not get on the phone with these people a second time, is it reasonable to request that their parent company, Captial One, please send me the statement I am seeking for? I simply cannot get it from NCO.

If I seek to validate the debt - I do not seek to challenge it - I know the debt is mine - will this prompt further legal action on their part?

I do not have the money to pay on the scale that they are demanding. Will my offer to pay something stave them off from garnishment?

I am told that garnishment, for revolving creditors, is a pain, because they have to go back to court every 30 days to re-verify the debt, and then be sure that what they are taking does not push the debtor over the poverty line. Is this true?

When I moved (in the beginning of the letter), I wiped out all of my savings by moving to Rhode Island - I have no financial fall-upon, and am beginning to get frantic - is there some help you can offer me? It is ONLY ONE account - only $2700 that is pushing me over the edge, here, but it is enough to interfere with my every day life at this point...

Help me!
BF[/quote]

Thanks for the detailed post. Well first, I think that it is great that you are taking action and assuming responsibility for your debt. This positive attitude will go a long way in keeping you sane throughout this ordeal dealing with collection agencies. You are close to paying one card down and you are able to stand on your feet financially. Now you are on a path back to a debt free life.

First, i would suggest that instead of randomly paying off one of your credit cards, you should select the credit card that has the highest interest rates. This is critical because the cards with the highest interest rates create a situation in which you are actually only paying off the interest instead of attacking the debt head on. Those cards are the most dangerous because even though you are putting considerable funds into paying it off, it always appears as if you are staying in place. It feels almost similar to throwing your money into a fire.

You should identify these high interest cards and concentrate on paying each one off in order of interest rates. It is great that you have one card close to being paid off. However, your repayment plan would be more effective if you attacked the highest interest rate cards first instead of paying off cards according to the size of your balances.

Also, you may want to consider consolidating this debt. consolidating your debt will allow you to work with creditors in order to negotiate their interest rates down to a lower percentage. You should consider this as another tactic for paying down your debt.[/quote]

Also, I would suggest that you take care of your debt with the collection agency ASAP. You are on a path to recuperating your credit. Having a debt in collections is counter-productive-regardless of how it got there. So concentrate on getting rid of that debt and getting the collections agency out of your hair.

First, try to renegotiate with them to set up another payment plan that is according with your budget. Sometimes it is good to have a credit counselor or a lawyer speak on your behalf. These people would know the ropes better and they would know how to deal with the games that these collection agencies play.

Secondly, I would suggest that you demand for them to validate your debt. You see, they are just doing what is minimally required by law. They are required to give you a report of your debt within five days of their first contact with you. That is why you have not seen another statement. So, if they refuse to validate your debt with another statement, then I would suggest that you contact a lawyer to deal with them.

[quote=benjaminz6][quote=benjaminz6][quote=bfdrdr]When I moved a year ago, I was jobless x2 mos. This put every loan I had plus 2 credit cards onto the backburner as my primary concern was survival. Now I am in a position to begin repayment, have caught up on my loans, can support myself and pay rent, have paid 1 CC down, but have not yet paid it off. I have 2 other credit cards that I want to pay off, and they are the problems: 2 Capitol 1 accts: C1A and C1B...
C1A is still with Capitol 1. We have set up payment arrangements, and we will be in close contact until the account is paid off. C1B is the issue. Capitol 1 sold the account to their own collection agency, NCO. I contacted NCO to get a picture of what their demands were versus what I can pay. Their representative was a bit "off sides". Because I do not have family to hand me the heaps of cash I need ($2700) to pay him, he advised me to go to my employee assistance program (as though they'd hand over a pot of gold the minute I'd called).

Immediately after advising me to go for employee assistance, he emphatically retracted that statement saying that they were a group of shifty, non-profit people who couldn't help me (why, just LOOK at their cars in the parking lot! That will PROVE to me they are not a non-profit!). He stated that he was powerless to accept payment plans, but would accept a monthly "hardship" payment plan of $250.00 per month (which is WAY off of my scale right now) for 4 months until I could cough up the remaining 1700 dollars.
I made an appointment with CCCS and they said that I should begin by sending certified letters, but first, call to get a viable correspondance address, and get the accurate balance on paper.

WHICH IS ANOTHER THING: during all of this collection action on C1B, I have received a total of 1 statement with the total amount that I owe, unidentifiable addresses (NCO is not found under any phone book, BBB contacts, etc., with these addresses), and a balance that does not reflect the verbally-related balance of my original conversation with NCO.

Fast forward to Wednesday, June 22nd, when I called the collection agency to please send me a statment of the balance (what I owe), and could I please have a contact address where I could send a letter. They immediately became belligerant and refused, stating that I was refusing, at that moment in time to pay the debt. I said, and I QUOTE, "Let's be clear here, at no point in this conversation have I refused to pay anything. I am simply requesting that you send me a statement of what I owe." He talked OVER me the entire time, refusing to send me a statement of "what I'd spent my money on." When I reclarified, and said that I believe that, if I am obligated to pay a debt, I think that a some statement of what I owe should be provided for me, he said, "DON'T TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" I asked to speak with the manager. He refused. He finally conceded to get the manager stating that I could "waste HIS time." The end of the conversation is that NCO Financial has refused to give me a statement of what I owe. Likewise, they have refused to give me a viable correspondance address. I have 1 (ONE!) communication from them listing a payment address and a random, Bethesda, MD address in the top left. I want to communicate with them. I have every intention of paying this debt.

My questions are these:
How can I file a FORMAL complaint against this collection agency? They have every right to demand their money in a manner that will allow me to live, BUT they do not have the right to dehumanize the situation at ALL.

How can I communicate with them?

Though at this point, I feel they really don't deserve further communication, and I will not get on the phone with these people a second time, is it reasonable to request that their parent company, Captial One, please send me the statement I am seeking for? I simply cannot get it from NCO.

If I seek to validate the debt - I do not seek to challenge it - I know the debt is mine - will this prompt further legal action on their part?

I do not have the money to pay on the scale that they are demanding. Will my offer to pay something stave them off from garnishment?

I am told that garnishment, for revolving creditors, is a pain, because they have to go back to court every 30 days to re-verify the debt, and then be sure that what they are taking does not push the debtor over the poverty line. Is this true?

When I moved (in the beginning of the letter), I wiped out all of my savings by moving to Rhode Island - I have no financial fall-upon, and am beginning to get frantic - is there some help you can offer me? It is ONLY ONE account - only $2700 that is pushing me over the edge, here, but it is enough to interfere with my every day life at this point...

Help me!
BF[/quote]

Thanks for the detailed post. Well first, I think that it is great that you are taking action and assuming responsibility for your debt. This positive attitude will go a long way in keeping you sane throughout this ordeal dealing with collection agencies. You are close to paying one card down and you are able to stand on your feet financially. Now you are on a path back to a debt free life.

First, i would suggest that instead of randomly paying off one of your credit cards, you should select the credit card that has the highest interest rates. This is critical because the cards with the highest interest rates create a situation in which you are actually only paying off the interest instead of attacking the debt head on. Those cards are the most dangerous because even though you are putting considerable funds into paying it off, it always appears as if you are staying in place. It feels almost similar to throwing your money into a fire.

You should identify these high interest cards and concentrate on paying each one off in order of interest rates. It is great that you have one card close to being paid off. However, your repayment plan would be more effective if you attacked the highest interest rate cards first instead of paying off cards according to the size of your balances.

Also, you may want to consider consolidating this debt. consolidating your debt will allow you to work with creditors in order to negotiate their interest rates down to a lower percentage. You should consider this as another tactic for paying down your debt.[/quote]

Also, I would suggest that you take care of your debt with the collection agency ASAP. You are on a path to recuperating your credit. Having a debt in collections is counter-productive-regardless of how it got there. So concentrate on getting rid of that debt and getting the collections agency out of your hair.

First, try to renegotiate with them to set up another payment plan that is according with your budget. Sometimes it is good to have a credit counselor or a lawyer speak on your behalf. These people would know the ropes better and they would know how to deal with the games that these collection agencies play.

Secondly, I would suggest that you demand for them to validate your debt. You see, they are just doing what is minimally required by law. They are required to give you a report of your debt within five days of their first contact with you. That is why you have not seen another statement. So, if they refuse to validate your debt with another statement, then I would suggest that you contact a lawyer to deal with them.[/quote]




That brings us to another problem. They do not want to provide you with their address. They got angry with you when you asked for their a address because they were aware of the law. Once a consumer gets hold of their address, it affords the consumer certain actions that he/she could take against the credit agency. It would allow you to report this agency to the federal trade commission among other places.

So, try to concentrate on finding this address. Check your first statement if you still have it in your possession. If you do not, we may have their address on our "database of collection agencies" thread. So, you may want to go through that long list of creditors in order to see if they are listed. If you do not want to go through all of the pages of listings, you can try to do a search.

And finally, you do have power to file a complaint and get this terrible company in some hot water. You can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at this website: http://www.ftc.gov/

In addition, you can contact your state attorney general's office. They probably already have a file on this company. So, you do have power to take action.

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