ARS rejected their own settlement?!
Date: Fri, 12/15/2006 - 19:51
So, today in the mail I have a letter from ARS. I figured it was my letter of release. Oh no. Instead, it was a blank letter.. it had my name, acct number, and a balance! So I called 'em up to find out what was supposed to be in the body of the letter. I spoke with another rep (reps that I previously speak with seem to disappear.. it's odd.) and he told me that the settlement was rejected.
... uh... what was that again?
Yeah, rejected. He did seem to understand that since I had a settlement letter and that I met the terms of the settlement letter, that I didn't actually owe it anymore. Especially since they CASHED the check.
Next, this rep was like, "Whoa! You have a 728 credit score! I've never seen that with someone in collections." Well, a couple of months ago it was like a 428... so I'm skeptical. Can they even see that???? Anyway, he's telling me that since I only owe $950 more, I should just go ahead and pay the rest of it off so it will reflect better on my credit score. While I know this to be true, and I would like to buy a house in the near future, I don't have that kind of money just lying around... I'd probably end up taking a loan from my 401k which would probably limit my buying power for the house cuz that was my strategy for the down payment.
I'm so sick of dealing with ARS. I could already file complaints for harrassment on them... So what are your thoughts?? Are they just trying to make me pay more than I actually owe at this point? What can I do about this "rejected" settlement??
If you have the settlement letter they sent you in the first pla
If you have the settlement letter they sent you in the first place and proof of your payment by the due date, I don't see what recourse they would have.
They could have been jerks and held the check until 11/1 to cash
They could have been jerks and held the check until 11/1 to cash it (or maybe they did actually receive it after that). Since their settlement said payment had to be received by 10/30, they might argue the agreement is null and void because payment was received after the due date.
Do you have proof of when you mailed it? Frankly, the date you write on a check does not mean anything. What matters is when they actually receive it. I have customers that send me a payment 3 weeks late and then try to "pre-date" the check to get out of a late fee... when I catch this, I always save the envelope w/ post-mark in their file (just in case they try to argue later on that the check was dated before a late fee could be charged.)
If you can get a copy of the check from your bank, it should show on the back what day they deposited it.
If your check arriaved to their offices a minute after the close
If your check arriaved to their offices a minute after the close of the business day then your settlement would have been voided.
I highly doubt they held your check until the next day because it would have hurt their over all numbers with their client. Their client is more important to them than you so posting your money on a differnt month would not have made their client happy.
You need to be able to prove that your check was in their office before the close of business day on the 30th.
Mail time, depending on where you are mailing from takes 3-5 business days.
