Had a credit Card with Chase (I’m in NJ). The card was ‘charged off’ last week and written off as ‘bad debt’. They referred my account to Collect Corp. Chase told me to negotiate with them and if we can’t come to a settlement they will take the account back and refer it to another collection agency and this will go back and forth until it’s paid. We called Collect Corp. yesterday to try to negotiate and they told us they did not have our account. Then later that night they called us demanding payment of $15000 immediately and that we were to take money from family if we didn’t have it. My husband told them we didn’t have it and we’d call them back. Later that night they called and talked to me…they told me to get a lawyer, that I was stealing, that I was a terrible person and should be ashamed for the awful things I have done and that they would be calling my employer to garnish wages. The debt is not even in my name for starters and I am a stay at home mom. They lied to me repeatedly saying my husband agreed to things he didn’t and then he said he would "harass the hell out of me until I come to grips and make right for the awful things I’ve done". My husband was laid off last year and we just haven’t been able to afford credit card payments…we can barely feed our kids and he’s telling me I’m awful for not paying my credit card on time.
I want to pay this debt. I have a small amount from my tax refund I’d like to pay them off with. They will not negotiate. All they do is yell at me and harass me.
Has anyone worked with them? Does anyone have advice?? We did have another card that we settled quite easily. This just seems wrong to me.
Thank you all very much in advance!!
it WAS the manager
The next time they call, allow them to talk for about 2 minutes, then inform them that this call is being recorded at the request of your phone co. If that does not work, then you can call your phone co and request they put a tracer on the calls. Then the collection agency will have a new problem to deal with.
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I would like to think that it’s just one bad collection rep. I hope they don’t all work like that. Try asking for a manager to see if he/she is more reasonable and level-headed. I can’t imagine they all speak to customers like that. Good luck!
References :
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
If you send them that certified letter required them to stop calling you, keep in mind that they will just send it court faster.
If you go to court, they will tack on a few more charges, but DO show up.
That way you can haggle, and try to get only 10% of wages garnished, instead of the standard 25%.
/
References :
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
First off, the next time they call you should tell them that they are not to contact you or anyone else about this debt by phone ever again. Tell them the FCRA (fair credit reporting act) and FDCPA (fair debt collection practice act) states that once you inform them that they can’t call you anymore, that they are no longer legally able to call you.
Second, if they don’t send you something in WRITING about the debt, they can’t legally go after you for it at all. Now this is a little tricky, because often times they will state in their records that they sent you a letter without actually sending it so they can attempt to make things worse on you. Your next step is to WRITE A LETTER stating that you want to know the balance they state you owe, a DETAILED list of the charges that led to the balance (according to law, the ORIGINAL creditor has to keep this information to continue pursuing you on it), what account number it’s for and who the original creditor was.
Make sure you do NOT admit to owing the debt, just state that you want the information claiming you owe the debt. If they can’t/don’t provide it, you can actually go after them for $1,000 per infringement. You should also include a statement in that letter that they are not to contact you by phone.
Next, after they actually send you the letter with the info, you should try to see if you can come up with 80% of the debt you owe, and offer that to them in a follow up letter. Let them know it’s a 1 time deal and it’s not up for negotiation. Tell them you are NOT agreeing to actually owing the debt, you just want to try and settle it so it can stop impacting your credit.
Charge offs only stay on your credit for 7 years (and only will hit your husband’s credit if your name isn’t on the account) from the date of the charge off, that’s even if you don’t pay them.
Also, make sure you always send it certified mail and KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS.
References :
FCRA
FDCPA
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The next time they call, allow them to talk for about 2 minutes, then inform them that this call is being recorded at the request of your phone co. If that does not work, then you can call your phone co and request they put a tracer on the calls. Then the collection agency will have a new problem to deal with.
References :
Retired bill collector 35 years
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
A lot of times people say they are the manager when they arent. You may need professionals to negotiate on your behalf. These folks may even get you a much better settlement. I have seen Chase accounts settled as low as 37 cents on the dollar. 50% plus a fee is more realistic. Good luck.
References :
http://www.totaldebtsolutionsllc.com