Collect America
Date: Tue, 01/29/2013 - 08:27
I have a long standing debt with WAMU for an old credit card. Several years ago, I was contacted by an outfit in Houston, TX. I made arrangements with them to make payments on the debt. I sent them quite a few payments; never heard from them again. I got concerned and wrote, asking for an accounting of the payments and the debt; no answer. Concerned that I was sending money to a black hole, I stopped sending payments & heard nothing.
Later, I got a privacy statement from a CA Holding, Inc.. I should have investigated but I expected to hear something from the company, so forgot about it. Since then, I've gotten three more of these privacy statement things but nothing else. Yesterday, I get a call supposedly from an attorney in Wichita, KS, saying that they're acting for CA Holding and trying to collect a debt. They proceeded to tell me what debt and how much I had paid toward it. The woman said they had sent a letter to me as of 1/1/13 saying they were collecting for CA Holding, Inc.. I told her I hadn't gotten a letter and she said, "I called the place at (the UPS Store where my mail goes) and they said they had gotten it." I thought this was unlikely but didn't challenge her. (After work, I went to the UPS Store and told my friend, the manager, what I'd been told. She got a good laugh out of it and said that there was no way they'd say that because they don't pay attention to where the mail is coming from unless it's registered & they'd gotten nothing registered for me.) The woman from the supposed law firm put me on hold, saying she would talk to her manager. After five or six minutes, a man came on the line. He asked me some of the same questions the woman had, then put me on hold again, saying he would "...contact the client."
He came back on the line saying that I was "very lucky" because the client was willing to reduce my debt considerably. They would waive half the debt. I told him I wanted to go over finances with my husband and see how much of a payment I could make. He then said that I would have to pay the entire amount they wanted at one time or they would take me to court & I'd go to jail. I told him to back up a minute and clarify something -- was he actually telling me that if I was willing to make payments (now that I knew who these people were & what they wanted) that they wouldn't take any money from me unless it was the large amount he had stated? He said, well, the client wants this debt off their books, so it's the amount stated or court.
I'm to call them back today to tell them if I can pay the whole amount, which I can't, of course. What should I tell them besides that? Please advise!!
Later, I got a privacy statement from a CA Holding, Inc.. I should have investigated but I expected to hear something from the company, so forgot about it. Since then, I've gotten three more of these privacy statement things but nothing else. Yesterday, I get a call supposedly from an attorney in Wichita, KS, saying that they're acting for CA Holding and trying to collect a debt. They proceeded to tell me what debt and how much I had paid toward it. The woman said they had sent a letter to me as of 1/1/13 saying they were collecting for CA Holding, Inc.. I told her I hadn't gotten a letter and she said, "I called the place at (the UPS Store where my mail goes) and they said they had gotten it." I thought this was unlikely but didn't challenge her. (After work, I went to the UPS Store and told my friend, the manager, what I'd been told. She got a good laugh out of it and said that there was no way they'd say that because they don't pay attention to where the mail is coming from unless it's registered & they'd gotten nothing registered for me.) The woman from the supposed law firm put me on hold, saying she would talk to her manager. After five or six minutes, a man came on the line. He asked me some of the same questions the woman had, then put me on hold again, saying he would "...contact the client."
He came back on the line saying that I was "very lucky" because the client was willing to reduce my debt considerably. They would waive half the debt. I told him I wanted to go over finances with my husband and see how much of a payment I could make. He then said that I would have to pay the entire amount they wanted at one time or they would take me to court & I'd go to jail. I told him to back up a minute and clarify something -- was he actually telling me that if I was willing to make payments (now that I knew who these people were & what they wanted) that they wouldn't take any money from me unless it was the large amount he had stated? He said, well, the client wants this debt off their books, so it's the amount stated or court.
I'm to call them back today to tell them if I can pay the whole amount, which I can't, of course. What should I tell them besides that? Please advise!!
It seems to be a scam. You
It seems to be a scam. You can't go to jail for a debt. You can't be arrested for a debt. Don't make any payment unless you get a written assurance that the debt is really with them.