No, it’s attempting to put low-life, unscrupulous parasites out of business.
The original creditor made a business decision to wholesale the debt to a collector for a few pennies on the dollar. They’re no longer involved with you, and even if you wanted to pay them, you’re generally not able to as they’ve closed out your account.
The collectors made a business decision to buy, oh let’s say 10,000 delinquent cell phone accounts at fifteen cents on a dollar. They prey upon people who don’t know their legal rights and do everything they can, legal or not, to bully people into paying when they people have no legal obligation to pay anything.
Exercising your rights is not ducking anything. Your obligations vanished at the very moment the original creditor sold the debt to a collector.
I’m definitely not a lawyer, but I’d consider suing their butts for continued collection efforts and harassment. Send them a cease and desist letter by certified return receipt mail in which you order them to quit contacting you about the debt because it has already been paid - they should contact their own client for confirmation.
If the collection agency tries to sue you for the debt you might be able to show up to court with your ironclad evidence of payment and counter-sue them for damages for violating the FDCPA. You might get a bit of money and satisfaction out of it if they try any funny stuff with you and you’ve already paid the account. Make them prove their case.
*I’m not a lawyer, not giving legal advice - just my thoughts.
OK, well, I’m just trying to get to the heart of the question.
When you write them a letter not claiming that is your account, but just your alleged debt, or when you attempt to avoid “validating your debt” with them, what is the motive?
Is the real question here: how do I stall debt collectors while also shutting them up?
This sentence is completely incorrect. If you owe the money to Company A and they sell the debt to Company B, you still owe the money. Debts or “accounts receivable” are business assets that have value and as such may be bought and sold (in most cases). Selling one – or 10,000 – doesn’t absolve the consumer of the obligation to pay the money he or she owes. Failing to pay will just result in your credit being wrecked.
Trunk’s point, which I agree with, is that if you in fact do owe the debt, the best and easiest way to take care of the problem is to make arrangements with the company to start paying it off. Many companies will allow you to get on a payment plan to take care of it over time. Some will even agree to reduce the total amount of the debt if you will pay off part of it. However, if you cannot or will not pay the debt, you can certainly tell them to fuck off by instructing them in writing never to call you again. You can also make them send you verification of the debt, but if you don’t actually dispute it, that’s just a delaying tactic on your part. Are they then going to sue you? Maybe. They certainly can. You owe them the money, you haven’t paid, and you haven’t made arrangements to pay.
By law, they cannot harrass you and you certainly should review your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, assuming you are an American. But learning all the hoops you can make them jump through will not really help you with the real problem which is (I assume) that you do owe them the money. Your life will be much more peaceful once you’ve addressed that root cause.
That is utter crap. Your obligation doesn’t vanish because a third party collector has been assigned to collect the debt. There are a lot of companies that use collection agencies because it’s cheaper than having their own internal collection department. Many collections don’t involve selling the debt at all, quite often collection accounts are assigned to an agency on a commission basis.
Yes, some collection agencies use tactics that violate the law and they should be punished but that doesn’t describe the entire collections industry. And there are some companies that attempt to collect debts that are not legally valid, but that doesn’t mean that you do not owe it simply because it was assigned or sold to a third party agency.
DAY-um. Good thing you’re using your powers for good, not evil now.
gotpasswords, in my experience of working in accounting departments for over ten years, debts don’t get sold until they are well into delinquent territory. There seems to be a consensus in this thread that SweetHomeColorado is a victim here, but if she’d paid the bills that she legally accumulated, with full knowledge that she would be expected to pay after using the products, none of this would have happened. Yes, the consolidation company were less than professional, but that ship has sailed now - the responsibility and blame for this situation still rest with SweetHome, and the best solution is to pay the debt.
Don’t avoid the collection company; be polite and forthcoming with them, and work with them to make this debt go away. Then wait and be a very, very good credit user for the next seven years it takes for this black mark on your credit report to go away (from the time the debt is re-paid in full). I wouldn’t waste any time fooling around with lawyers and registered letters - you’re going to lose, because it was your legitimate debt, and they are legitimately collecting it now. I’d get to work on re-paying this mess and making it go away as soon as possible. And don’t let your accounts go into arrears again.
That doesn’t make it right. Collections agencies have a legal obligation to not harass or be assholes to people they’re trying to collect debts from. If more people took a stand against this kind of thing, they’d learn a lesson and be polite.
Every time I’ve had a collections agency call me, they’ve either been polite or they’ve become polite by the time I was finished lecturing them. Polite = they’re getting paid, and promptly, even. Not polite = reporting you to the AG’s office.
As consumers, we have a moral obligation to make sure that the next person they call doesn’t get the same treatment if it’s through ignorance. Yes, SweetHomeColorado ought to pay off their debts, but they don’t need to be unnecessarily harassed about it because they made a mistake, either.
On edit: I’ve made a few mistakes in my time, but the problem is that my parents used my name on a lot of bills when I was younger and the agencies tried to come after me. Illegal, yes, but it kept the power on so we’d have heat in the winter. I don’t begrudge them the use of my name and SSN.
Okay so I think things are taken a little differently than I intended so allow me to clarify.
In no way do I plan on ducking the creditors in order for any debt to go away (if that is the case) I plan on making it go away by paying it (if thats what it entails)
Paying is not an issue. However, I don’t want to deal with the harassment of the collection agency.
So once again, in no way do I plan on ignoring the situation in order for it to disappear. If everything lines up, then payments will be made on my end. I have a full-time job now… In fact, I run a business. I realize that it’s their job to get the payments but my life should not be interrupted by constant calls… especially now since I have not received any documentation. I hope this clarifies.
It looks like the cease and desist letter is the way to go. Any thoughts on how to draft it? What should I make sure it entails?
Okay, I just got a message from our friend at the collection agency who told me that I need to start making payments to American Express OR “the best case scenario, get back in touch with me”
So, I’m given the option? I am so confused.
Also, he’s stating things like “Two weeks ago you talked to my manager” Never happened… I only talked to him and I said I’ll look into this and get back to you if necessary before terminating the call after a barrage of harassment.
What is everyone’s thoughts?
I have no expertise or experience in this area, but since he raised the possibility of making payments to AmEx, why don’t you call them to try to figure out what you owe and set up a payment schedule?
They would possibly be interested in hearing if someone ostensibly working on their behalf is acting unprofessionally (tho from your posts I’m not exactly sure what this collector did that is all that wrong. You say he was rude on the phone, but you realize that he a large portion of the folks he deals with all the time are deadbeats trying to avoid paying what they owe.)
I really don’t see what your complaint is against anyone involved. The surest and quickest way to avoid hassles is to set up a payment schedule and keep current with your payments.
And I don’t understand why you are being so coy regarding whether or not you owe anything to AmEx. You certainly should be in a position to know who you owe what to.
This is a chicken and egg argument here - which came first, the obnoxious collection agencies, or the lying, cheating, and stealing deadbeats? Not saying YOU are a lying, cheating, stealing deadbeat, SweetHome, but I’m sure you can imagine who collection agencies usually deal with. No, they shouldn’t be rude or aggressive or harrassing; they have probably found that that is the only way to get results from some of the chronic deadbeats they deal with. People who don’t pay their debts often lie (I know, big surprise!). It’s a running joke in accounting departments - “The cheque is in the mail!”
That said, there seems to be something fishy going on here. American Express sold your debt at only 30 days? That must be their automatic response to consolidation plans, because that is extremely trigger-happy for the accounting world. Unless you are dealing with the collection branch of American Express themselves. This whole thing doesn’t make sense to this accounting professional. You absolutely should be provided with proof that they have indeed bought your debt, and they are the people you should be paying. I am also confused by them saying you can still pay American Express - if the collection agency has bought your debt, American Express is out of the picture completely for you.
But what if a collection agency has politely called you once, advised you of an unknown company who says you owe them $21.22. I asked them to have whoever the hell send me proof that I owe them 21.22. They tell me they have requested this from the company, but six months later, the company still has not sent anything. At some point can I ask them to remove it? It does not seem fair that this is possibly on my credit report for months now because the company will not respond to my request for proof.
Look, do you owe the money or not? If “that is the case,” then yes, paying the debt is “what it entails” to make it go away. That or declaring bankruptcy.
“Harrassment” is defined in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. It includes “causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.” If you feel that’s what they are doing, then send them a letter telling them you want all further communications to be in writing. Note that this will make it more difficult for you to get them to work with you if you’re looking for a reduction in the debt or a repayment plan.
“If everything lines up”? If you owe the money, work with them to set up a payment plan. If you can’t pay now but can in a few weeks, make those arrangements with them. If you absolutely cannot pay or won’t pay, then sure, tell them to fuck off. The next communication you receive may well be a summons.
They should have sent you validation of the debt in writing within five days of first contacting you. If they didn’t do so, you certainly can refuse to talk to them until you received validation. But I don’t see how that gets you any further down the road in terms of getting the underlying problem solved.
Again, what is your goal here? If it is to arrange to pay the debt, the how could a cease and desist letter be the way to go? If you notify them to stop communicating with you, then by law they must do so. That doesn’t mean they can’t continue to wreck your credit and take steps against you, including filing a law suit – it just means they won’t be talking to you first.
It sounds like AmEx hasn’t sold your debt but has merely outsourced collections – meaning, they’ve hired another company to do the unpleasant work of calling people and dunning them for payment. So you can either make payment arrangements through AmEx or through the collection agency. The “best case scenario” for the collection agency is that you work through them, so that they get paid for having recouped the debt.
My thoughts are that the guy probably talks to 50 people a day and confused you with someone else.
It sounds like AmEx outsources collections. The collections agency doesn’t need to provide proof that they bought the debt, BTW, only proof that the debt is owed.
Damn, Jodi! Gets me all excited when you talk straight forward, no BS, common sense like that. Stop beating around the bush will ya and let us know what you really think!
So they’re halfway between AmEx and a third-party collections agency - AmEx still owns the debt and will still accept payments on this debt, but the collection agency will also accept payments on AmEx’s behalf and forward them to AmEx, for a fee. That makes more sense. Still seems extreme for someone only at 30 days owing, but I am not the policy maker for American Express (“No!” you exclaim, “You’re not?”)
!) They like to fight. So don’t argue.
2) They are impatient, so stall, put them on hold while “I have to take this other call”, “I’ll call my spouse to the phone, so don’t go away” Then go out for coffee.
3) Pretend you are "going through a tunnel and breaking up - are you still there? Hello? " Even if it’s your land line.
Talked to AmEx, it turns out they turned over the case to the company. I got their address and will be sending a certified letter.
He was incorrect with saying I could make payments to amex
