Collector violated FDCPA but is still suing me...
Date: Tue, 11/07/2006 - 20:35
Submitted by DebtCruncher
on
Tue, 11/07/2006 - 20:35
Total Replies: 16
I knew they weren't dead and would some day come back to life, but I was hoping to save enough money to settle them in a lump sum instead of pay the full balances. So far, I've been successful settling with over 1/2 my cards. Except one of them beat me to the punch.
Chase Bank gave me a $500 limit in 2003 and by the time they charged it off the balance was $1373. They were reporting this balance on my credit report up until 2/06. That's when they sold it to Resurgence Financial.
In July, Resurgence sent me a balance letter that said I owed $1800 ($500 more than Chase charged off). I wanted to pay them, and I could have, but I don't think they can charge that much interest in the span of 4 months, or if it's a "collection fee" I think it's a little excessive for sending out one piece of mail.
So I wrote a letter back attempting to settle with them for $1200. In the same letter I stated "In the absence of your acceptance of my settlement offer, please be advised that I dispute the the balance for the following reasons," and I continued to say why I thought it was illegal for them to tack on $500 to the account. I also requested a validation of the account and ledger so I could see how they calculated my balance. I sent my letter certified, and they signed for it.
They did not write back or validate my response. Instead, (they have their own attorneys on staff) they went right to court and filed a lawsuit.
We all know they're not supposed to do that, without validating my dispute, but they did. They haven't served me yet (I just know of the filing because I looked it up on the courts website). The sheriff returned the summons unserved and now they are on a motion to appoint a special process server.
But what should I do? Do I show up to court and tell the judge they violated the fdcpa, or do I have to file a separate case. I found one attorney that claimed to deal with FDCPA litigation, faxed them all my paperwork, and they sent me back a letter saying "sorry but we're not interested in your case."
Any suggestions??
You will be notified if they file a case against you and then yo
You will be notified if they file a case against you and then you will have time to respond. Go to court with your proof that they did not validate your debt, have you filed a complaint against them yet?
So this place filed their lawsuit and our court date was set for
So this place filed their lawsuit and our court date was set for this Tuesday JAN 16, 2007. I had planned on bringing all my paperwork showing they violated fdcpa, and figured I'd let the judge sort it out.
Back in December I put together an 11-page complaint that I was going to file in a US District Court against them : @@http://debtcruncher.blogspot.com@@.
In one last effort to avoid court, I sent them a letter saying I was still willing to settle for $1100, but if they really wanted to go to court then here's the complaint I will file against them (and I sent them a copy of my complaint ... cost about $12 to mail).
TODAY, 4 days before court, I get this letter from them that says "I apologize for the delayed response. Your proffered settlement amount of $1103.59 is hereby accepted." And it is signed by their attorney. He also sent a copy of a dismissal agreement/court order that he wants me to sign and send back with my payment. Except the wording is a little contradictory:
Quote:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 1. That this matter be settled with payment by Defendant to Plaintiff in the amount of $1820.91 plus court cost in the amount of $167.40, for a total of $1988.31 payable as follows: one time settlement payment in the amount of $1,103.59 in certified funds due on or before January 29, 2007. 2. That this matter be dismissed pursuant to said settlement, subject to reinstatement with waiver of Clerk's fee upon Motion by the Plaintiff in the event of Default by Defendant of the terms of this Settlement Order, the Court retaining jurisdiction to reinstate. 3. In the even of reinstatement upon Motion by Plaintiff as mentioned in paragraph 2 above, Plaintiff shall be entitled to judgment on the date of hearing of its Motion for the balance prayed for on the Complaint, less payments to date thereof. |
Maybe I am cynical, but the way it is worded, it sounds like I am agreeing that I owe $1820.91, but that we are doing a one-time payment of $1103.59 to settle it. ... I am afraid he's trying to get me to pay a big amount now so that I think it is settled, and then later on they will still try to come after me for the rest ?
I'm also a little hesitant, since court is 4 days away, that this may be a ploy to get me to think everything is all good so I won't show up in court. Then Tuesday comes and they get their default judgment, and it doesn't matter anymore that they sent me settlement papers ...
I wish these things were cut & dry. I guess I'm going to court anyway, and I'll bring my money and these papers with me and we can settle it there...
DebtCruncher - I think the wording may be ok, but what you w
DebtCruncher -
I think the wording may be ok, but what you will find on your credit report, rather than "paid in full", after this is settled is "settled for less than owed". I have this on my report from a couple of settled debts. I also received a letter from one of the settled debts saying I would have to claim the "forgiven amount" (the difference between what they say I owed and what we settled for), as income, and would have to claim it on my taxes when I filed for that year. The letter said they would send me a 1099 form for that amount. I never received it, and that was over 2 years ago.
Just my take on the situation.
Debtcruncher, Have you contacted your Clerk of Courts about t
Debtcruncher,
Have you contacted your Clerk of Courts about the matter? Don't you have to follow up with the courts as well as the creditor who sued you? The wording is kind of odd but I also took it as a one lump sum payment.
I'm not an attorney so I don't profess to offer any legal opinio
I'm not an attorney so I don't profess to offer any legal opinion. However, I personally would not agree to the document as it's written. Unless there are words to the effect that outline your agreed upon amount, I wouldn't sign it or mail them a payment. Moreover, if they are truly in violation of the fdcpa, perhaps you could pursue that action against them. By doing so, you could potentially lower the amount owed and you may prevent them from doing this to someone else.
Again, just my opinion.
I'm not an attorney either, but it does sound like to me that th
I'm not an attorney either, but it does sound like to me that this is saying that you agree that you owe the disputed amount and they are willing to settle with you for what you proposed. This does say that your settlement amount will pay it in full, which is good. Just my take on it.
Debt Cruncher- I'm kinda with you on this. It sounds like the fu
Debt Cruncher- I'm kinda with you on this. It sounds like the full amount is xxx dollars, and you are only paying xx dollars. I,too, would be concerned by the wording that they could come back for the unsettled amount. I would do as Mishele said, and either contact the court clerks office,and,or, show up on the scheduled date, just in case. Bring all your paper work with you when you do,and you should do fine. It would be better if there was a clause that said the rest of the debtwould be forgiven, or something to that effect,I'm not a lawyer either, just have dealt with lots of shady people!!.Good Luck..Karen
Thanks for all your input above. At first I was tempted to just
Thanks for all your input above. At first I was tempted to just send the money and consider it settled. After your comments, I realized I would rather be safe now than sorry later.
I called the courthouse this morning to ask about my case. Turns out the plaintiff never returned the summons as being served. She said a summons is only good for 30 days, and since it was issued on 11/29/06, the plaintiff would have had to serve me and return it by 12/29/06. If they would have served me, I would have needed to file my appearance today. But since they didn't serve me ... nothing, I didn't need to go to court. The plaintiff would need to file an alias summons to be re-issued, or else the case will get dismissed.
Since I already took off work thinking I had to go to court, I figured I may as well try to take care of this thing. I called the plaintiff, Resurgence Financial, and a collector verified over the phone that they would take $1103.59 as settlment to close the account. Since their headquarters are about an hour away from me, I asked if I drove there and made the payment in person could they give me a letter stating the account was satisfied? He said yes, I'll type it up right now.
So I drove about 50 miles to get to this place. Turned out to be a huge building, must have been about 100 collectors working in there. I told the receptionist that Anthony was expecting me for a payoff. She called him and I waited a few minutes. Surprisingly, he was very cordial and invited me back into their conference room to get down to business. I gave him a cashier's check, and he gave me a paid-in-full letter and said the case will be dismissed.
I had to tell him "You know, I tried to pay you guys $1200 back in June and you wouldn't take it. Now we're settling for $1100 and you just ate all those court costs - kinda silly, isn't it?" He just said "Well, yeah, but at least we're getting it taken care of now. Thank you." And I left.
Anyway, just thought I would share that. After 7 months and lots of letters, it's over. Now I just have one credit card left and I will be debt-free.
DebtCruncher - what an incredible story! Wow! I'm sorry you
DebtCruncher - what an incredible story! Wow!
I'm sorry you had to go through all that to get it taken care of, but what a nice feeling it must be to finally have it over with. Congratulations on your hard-won victory!
WHOOP-DE-DOO!! What a good day for you! Congrats and I would ha
WHOOP-DE-DOO!! What a good day for you! Congrats and I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when you left after telling that guy that he just lost money on you, and he had to go back to the rest of the snake pit and tell them about it!
Sounds like you handled that well. I'm glad you didn't sign that
Sounds like you handled that well. I'm glad you didn't sign that settlement agreement. As worded, I'm not sure you got what you needed, or that it was worded clearly enough to get you out cleanly.
Debt Cruncher, I'm glad that this was taken care of for you.
Debt Cruncher,
I'm glad that this was taken care of for you. It does seem silly that they wasted all of this time and their money. I'm sure they were holding out for more but it seems that it worked out in your benefit. Keep us updated on your progress :-) It's very encouraging to hear things like that.