Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to court I go....

Originally Posted by anc526

I'm going to be going to court. And I'm actually happy about it. After taking the advice of so many smart people here, I invested in a small voice recorder.

Mann Bracken has be harassing me non-stop for over a month now. They generally call about 20 times a day, but the peak was when they called 43 (yes 43!) times on a Sunday between noon and 2pm. Do the math. That's 21 times an hour, once every 2 minutes.... Most of the time I was hung up on or I got pushed to a voice recording, that's if I bothered picking up.

Any how, last week I invested in the voice recorder. When Mann Bracken called at 7:55am I immediately turned it on. Since, I'm in PA, I needed their permission to record. So, when someone actually answered, they gave me their mini-miranda and told me the call may be recorded.

So, I informed them that I was also recording the call, that if they did NOT wish to be recorded, please hang up. That if they continued speaking I would consider that their consent to record.

The lady told me "whatever" and kept talking. Bingo!

She told me she has my private student loan in her office and that she was filing court documents. I asked if she was an attorney and she mumbled something, so I asked her to speak clearer. She then said no she wasn't. I asked if an attorney had even looked at my file. Once again, the answer was no.

I told her that I'd like to make monthly payments. She laughed and told me to get real. But then said that they would take $10,000 down and $3,000 per month after that.

I told her that was absolutely not affordable, that my husband doesn't even MAKE $3,000 a month and we have a baby on the way. I explained that I'm due in a month.

Her response was (and this is a direct quote):

"Well, now isn't that interesting. You can't afford your bills, but you can afford a baby? I'm making a notation in your file here. When we hang up I'm calling child services in your area. When I tell them you are too poor to pay your bills, they'll come and take your child."

At this point I get upset because NO ONE threatens my unborn child. I tell her she's full of it, that if child services took every child from a home with too much debt, that no one in this country would have kids!

Then she continues:

"Oh, they will. They'll come and take the child. They'll snatch the kid out of your hands as soon as you give birth. You'll never see the kid again. So, is your kid worth $10,000?"

At that point I was too upset to continue and I told her that I was ending the call. That the call had been recorded and I would be speaking to an attorney. Then she tried to back track and say she didn't give me permission to record. I repeated to her what I had said in the beginning. I've never been so glad to have something on tape in my life. I knew Mann Bracken were scum, but that was low. Threatening to have a child taken over debt. This is after they've threatened previously to take my dog because he's an asset they could sell to satisfy my debt. I wish I had THAT convo recorded.

Regardless, I called a local attorney today and he put me in touch with an FDCPA attorney in my area. He thinks I have quite the strong case against Mann Bracken. Especially considering the fact you could hear me crying and obviously upset on the phone as she threatened to take my child.

Obviously I know in my heart they can't do that. But I'm 8 months pregnant and I dare any mother to say she wouldn't be upset when someone is threatening to take your child, no matter how crazy it seems.

Can't wait for my day in court. No one should have to be treated the way they treated me.