At what point is a creditor calling considered harrassment?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Speaking of loans under a thousand dollars, is there any “microcredit” program near you, Opal? These are programs that handle small loans, typically around a few hundred dollars, and a social or cultural group handles the support. I first heard of it when the Grameen organization made a big splash with it in Bangladesh, but I believe it’s spread all over the world.

A Google search on microcredit Virginia yields:
Grameen Foundation info on the USA and
Microcredit Lending Programs in the United States.

Two of their addresses for Virginia are:

Ethiopian Community Development Council
1038 South Highland Street
Arlington, VA 22204
Phone: 703-685-0510 Fax: 703-685-0529

Virginia Eastern Shore Economic Empowerment and Housing Corporation
P.O. Box 814
Nassawadox, VA 23413
Phone: 757-442-4509 Fax: 757-442-7530
E-mail: ee@esva.net

22

Opal

E-Mail me.

23

Be careful with these. I know it’s not what Sunspace was referring to, but please don’t go to a “payday loan” company. I worked for one for several years, and while they can, in theory, be an acceptible short-term solution, they are not a long term solution to debt issues - and it can be difficult to get out once you’re in them.

24

If you have other debts that you are in good standing with you may be able to get them to give you an extension. Basically skip a month and tack that payment on to the end of the loan. Most mortgage companies will not do this because the accrued interest will kill you and the mortgage has a “certain” date that it is to payoff by. Maybe worth a try, lots of companies do this around Christmas time so your timing is good.

Good Luck

25

StGermain is 100% spot on.

Read Financial Peace - it’s absolutely worth your time. In fact, if you’d like OpalCat, I have an extra copy I would be glad to mail to you (yours to keep) if you would like it - you can find my e-mail address in my profile.

Also, if you do go the Consumer Credit Counselor way, do not use Ameridebt - they have a horrible reputation for not making your payments & causing you more problems than you started with. I would use CCCS (the original) only and as a very last resort. Using a CCC makes your credit almost on par with bankruptcy.

I know you have surgery coming up soon, OpalCat but once you have recovered is it possible for you or UDD to get a (temporary) part time job? If one of you delivered pizzas for just a few months you could pay off the $500. Tips add up quickly.

(Skip borrowing $$ elsewhere - you can’t get out of debt by continuing to borrow more money - the answer is to make a little more til you clean up the mess).

Best Wishes (and please e-mail if you would like the book, I’d be glad to send it - I’m out of town Thursday - Sunday)

26

I third the recommendation to NOT, NOT, NOT get involved with AmeriCrap, as I call Ameridebt. We made the mistake of getting involved with these idiots, and now I cringe every time one of their cheesy commercials comes on TV. They defintely made things worse for us, in fact one of the accounts they were supposedly “handling” was a Capitol One account. Did I mention how much I hate Capitol One as well? “What’s in my wallet?” Answer…nothing from Capitol One, that’s for sure!

AmeriCrap is very dishonest. They give the impression that they will “take care of everything” but they most certainly do NOT! Your credit will just get worse and worse, while AmeriCrap gives you vague BS about how they are supposedly “taking care of things.”

27

You might try this website.
Benjamin Dover is a pretty well-known consumer advice giver-guy.

At least in Dallas.

28

Financial advice from a guy named Ben Dover?

Ouch.

Happy

29

Umm, Scylla?

According to the cardmember agreement, the bank can bill her exactly the way they are. Sucks? You betcha but once you open the account, you are agreeing to the terms.

Opal, according to bank regulations, if you tell the representative “I don’t want to contacted by telephone, only by mail”, they have to respect your wishes or face some hefty fees.

30

Slainte, are you sure you aren’t misspelling your name? Offering to send someone a book for free, and what you did to help me a couple of weeks ago (concrete Santa statue), is very saintly behavior in my opinion. Props to you!!! :smiley:

Quasi

31

hardygrrl - Any request to cease communication must be made in writing to be valid persuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Section 805 Subsection ©.

The full Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can be found here:THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT

StG

32

Quasi, you’re too kind.

It was no trouble at all to make a few calls (sorry they didn’t pan out). And c’mon, you were the one who was trying to make a sick child happy. :slight_smile:

And the book is no trouble at all either; I bought several copies for Christmas gifts & have an extra one (should OpalCat want it). This particular book is (IMHO) life changing and I would gladly send it to anyone who wants a way out.

But thanks for putting a smile on my face (even if you do exaggerate).

This concludes testing of the emergency hijacking system, we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

33

This only applys to collections agencys, not the original company you owe. Some states allow you to send a drop dead letter to the original company as well, but most states dont. The federal law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, only applys to a seperate collection agency.

34

//Consumer Credit Counseling Services is fairly well known. //

Thanks!

//Is there any way you could manage to make a lump sum payment of the actual $200 balance on your card? //

Not this month or next, that’s for sure. Not sure about after, but it’s unlikely. We owe money to past-due bills and that has to come first.

//Sunspace//

Thank you for all the links!!

//Could you take out a small loan (around $450) from a bank //

Maybe their laughter following me out the door would cheer me up. Take a guess as to why my credit card only gave me a $200 limit. We were on even harder times until about 6 years ago.

//Have you considered refinancing your house and consolidating your debt?//

I’ve heard about it but have no idea how that goes, what it involves, or how to even start. Anyone have any links?

//Scylla//

Will you hold my hand? I’m a woman, so I don’t have much in the way of balls. I’m willing to put some walnuts down my pants, though, if it would help.

//If you have other debts that you are in good standing with you may be able to get them to give you an extension. Basically skip a month and tack that payment on to the end of the loan. Most mortgage companies will not do this because the accrued interest will kill you and the mortgage has a “certain” date that it is to payoff by. Maybe worth a try, lots of companies do this around Christmas time so your timing is good.//

The only loan we have is our mortgage.

//everyone else//

Thanks for responding! Anyone else with advice, please jump in!

As a note, I want to say something in case anyone is wondering.

In my journal you may have seen that we just got a new car. Well, new to us. We bought it from the neighbors’ friend for $2700. This sounds like “hey, you could have spent that money on bills, you didn’t need a new car!” and you’d be right…

…except that my mom paid for the car. And no, she won’t lend me money for my bills. I already tried that.

35

We’ve been scouring our bank statement, btw, looking for recurring charges and cancelling anything that we can. Unfortunately, all of those things are peanuts. Yeah, they add up… but not to enough to pull us out of this. They’ll help, obviously, but it’s still going to be a long road.

36

Cheer up, you could be me. 48,000 plus in credit card debt (probably over 50k by now, with the late fees and such). The credit counselors told me to go see an attorney. That whole out of work cuz of back surgery just pushed me over the edge. Credit wise, I am screwed.

But I make my mortgage payment, car payment, and utilities, and have privacy manager on my phone so I can screen out the collection agencys. Not exactly the way I would have prefered things work out, but thats life…

37

If all else fails, just stop paying on CC’s - they are unsecured - the bank can’t repro anything, and, in all probability, they will just “charge-off” the loan, and sell the paper to a collection agency (which will spend about 4-6 weeks threatening you before selling the paper to another agency, who will spend…)

Of course, if you take this route, you can kiss consumer credit good-bye for 4-5 years.

Extra bonus - only the original bank would have the documents required to prove that you owed anybody anything - once they sell the note, the paper trail disappears.

(this is why:

  1. CC interest rates are outrageous.
  2. The GOP wants to re-write the bankruptacy laws so an unsecured creditor can force you into formal bankruptacy proceedings, wherein the unsecured creditor gets a shot at both personal and real property - the CC co could get a piece of your house, if the GOP gets its way, which it apparently will, pretty soon.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: SEE LOCAL SLEAZY LAWYER (they are good for this kind of thing, just don’t pay them a “retainer” -pay by the hour, and if a summons does appear, see a real lawyer) before stiffing the CC.

38

How would I pay said sleazy lawyer?

And that is scary about the GOP. Should I cancel the cards before stiffing them?

I REALLY HATE THIS IDEA but I’m at a loss (literally) as to what to do.

ANd it’s not like I’m Karyn who racked up a whole buttload of CC debt… I only ran up about $190.

39

I second Scylla’s motion to dispute the service fees. When the collection rep calls you today tell him/her that you intend to pay the amount you owe, plus interest, as quickly as you possibly can. You cannot, and will not, pay exorbitant service fees.

If he/she argues with you, say, “Here’s the deal. You will either get the $190 back, as I can afford it, or you will get back nothing. Which do you prefer?”

Repeat daily.

Good luck getting back on your feet.

40

Did you call them when you got the first late fee?

I have paid late (just by a few days) on my cards before (both Citibank and CapitalOne). The minute you see a late charge on your bill you should call them and ask them to take it off. They always have for me. Just explain that you thought the payment was mailed on time. It was a horrible mistake. Won’t happen again. I am a good customer. Etc.

The idea of them charging you an over limit fee on a late fee is crazy. And can they really charge you a late fee on the over limit fee if you made the minimum payment?