Need some guidance
Date: Tue, 06/06/2006 - 18:48
They say they represent Citibank/Gateway for a past due balance of $262.45 on an account that I thought was paid off by a Consumer credit counseling program I was in for several years. (It is possible that they are right. I pulled out of the program and have paid off all the other accounts or pulled them current.) Gateway stopped communicating with me as soon as I joined CCC and I have heard nothing from them since I ceased business with CCC 1 year ago. Based on the information from CCC the balance due to Gateway was small and based on the last bill I received and the amount that CCC said they paid Gateway the bill appeared to have been paid. I don't dispute it might not have been based on late fees and interest that Gateway may not have lowered during the CCC period.
They say they sent letters on April 20, 2006 & May 24, 2006 from Renton Washington…As of last, June 3 I had not received (to my knowledge) any mail from them…
Spoke to three people...first a Maude Daniel, then a Terrance Jones and last a Tia Lander. The calls switched in mid stream and the next person I spoke with knew all that was said before. All three refused to hear me when I said I had no mail from them and would not give them my checking account information over the phone or discuss this further without something in writing.
All three attacked me, call me a dead beat, threatened to send my information to other banks...named one in particular that I don't have any account with and said they would freeze all of my accounts and I would have no more access to my money...she threw out my social security number and date of birth and threatened some more...you know the drill...they say they sent mail and refuse to send anymore.
I do not dispute the possible validity of the bill. I have received NO mail from Gateway in over 2 1/2 years...even after the CCC ended...and I understand why Gateway may have just put this in collections. No previous collectors have contacted me about this account.
Right now what I think I want to do is this:
Send a cease and desist letter to ER Solutions
Contact Gateway and find out the true balance of the account and see if they will work with me.
The balance they say I owe is small...but still an amount I cannot afford at this time (to pay of completely) I could possibly do it over 3 month's time.
Am I on the right track?
The ER Solutions people were terribly rude and when I asked when the letters were sent out...they couldn't answer me right away, the first person I spoke with said the first letter went out on April 20 because they always send a letter when they first receive an account. She could not give me a date for the second letter. The second person I spoke with gave me that date.
Thanks for your help.
I would contact Gateway directly and explain the situation. Tel
I would contact Gateway directly and explain the situation. Tell them you were enrolled in a CCC program and it was your understanding that the debt had been paid off. Ask them if they can send you a transaction history showing what was paid when. That will give you a better idea of what's going on. However, I know several times when I had debts go to collection agencies, I tried calling the the original creditor directly. Often times I was told that they didn't have any information on my account and could not deal with me directly because my account had been sold to a collection agency. That is a possibility here but it doesn't hurt to call them and give it a try. If they cannot help you, then you will be forced to deal directly with the collection agency.
As for the collection agency, you should definately send a cease and desist letter along with debt validation lanugage. You should ask them to verify the debt is yours and ask for a transaction history. They are required by law to do so. Make sure you send the letter by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof that they received it.
I am sure they will contact you again by phone before they get the cease and desist so you should also advise them over the phone that they are not allowed to contact you again at work or at home. Advise them that calling you a deadbeat and threatening you in anyway as they did before, is a violation of the fdcpa and you will file a complaint against them if necessary. Tell them that if they contact you again, you will have a tape recorder running and taping the conversation, and you will turn that information over to your attorney for a lawsuit for violation of your FDCPA rights.
Bottom line: they are NOT allowed to harass you over the phone like they did. They HAVE violated the law. Also, if you request something in writing, it does not matter if they claim to have sent you something before, they should still send you information. Even if they won't, look up their address and send them the validation letter anyway. By law, once you've requested validation of the debt, they must cease all collection activities unless and until the debt has been validated or verified.
Hope that helps!!! :) Good Luck!
A cease and desist letter will only result in the account being
A cease and desist letter will only result in the account being sent to another collection agency. The validation letter is always a good idea.
Contact Gateway and see if you can pay it through them, if not then they will refer you to the collection agency but they will at least know if it has been paid or if there is still some left over. If it is paid they will pull the account back.
Definately send a Validation request to them first!! Make sure
Definately send a Validation request to them first!!
Make sure you send it Certified, Return Reciept Requested. Keep that paper trail, just in case!
I recieved two letters from them,
One for a long closed bank account
and one that had last name misspelled.
Sent them a Validation request, CM-RRR, on both matters.
Never heard back about the incorrect name. But did get eventual notice back that they were discontinuing collection attempts.
A second letter, asking why, they said they were not able to obtain the necessary information. So, they removed it from their files and removed Credit Bureau entries also.
Hope this help!
Good luck!!
