ExpertLaw.com Forums

Credit Report Shows Debt As Charged Off, But A Lawyer is Threating to Sue

Printable View

  • 11-11-2007, 11:32 PM
    hounded07
    Credit Report Shows Debt As Charged Off, But A Lawyer is Threating to Sue
    Brief history:
    I live in Connecticut. I have about 5 credit cards that I have used over the past 3-5 years to start my home business and pay for schooling. They are in my name only and my husband doesn't know about them or the massive debt that I have.
    Business has been up and down and I ended up maxing out the cards - total as of today - about $34K.

    Up until the past 8 months I was doing pretty good at making at least the min. payments on all the cards. Most times over the min. payments.

    This past year, things have been very slow and I have had numerous late/missed payments.
    I have worked out a payment plans with 2 of the creditors. Those have been going OK.

    With one of my accounts (Citibank - $5k) I was bullied by a collections dept. (not theirs, I researched tonight) into paying a huge "good faith' payment - I couldn't afford it but they kept insisting that they would take it from me based on the fact that I had one other credit card account in my name that had a balance to cover it. (This other CC is one that is used by both my husband and me for groceries only and is paid off every month.) This happened before I found this forum and found out that it wasn't legal - don't know what my recourse is regarding that, but I'll save it for another post.

    My biggest worry is this: I have a Capital One account($5k balance) that I have tried talking to regarding setting up some kind of debt payment/lower interest plan (like I worked out with the other 2 creditors) but the number they keep sending me to is in overseas collection department and no one there will redirect me to some one in a department that can make the agreement with me. All they will allow me to do is set up a regular payment. I have since stopped paying the bills - it has been 6 months now.

    Well on Friday at 7:55pm EST, I get a call from someone (sounds overseas with a heavy Indian accent) telling me that my account is in severe trouble and they will be filing a lawsuit on Monday if I can't discuss setting up a settlement with them. He also asked if I had received the paperwork in the mail. I haven't received anything from the company, and I haven't even received my statements every month since I started with the late payments.
    Well, I'm in the middle of putting my 3 young boys to bed, so I tell him I can't discuss it now. He said to call him back on Monday between 10:30 - noon EST or else the paperwork is going to be filed.

    Now from what I have read here (I have spent the last 4 hours reading as many posts that are relevant to this situation here as I can!), they should have sent me something via mail about 30 days ago before filing a lawsuit. Am I correct in this?

    I am really pi**** that they would call me on a Friday night and tell me that on Monday they will be filing a lawsuit... Sounds to me like a scare tactic that they are trying to get a payoff from me without giving me time to find out what was going on.

    Anyways, I also ran a credit report tonight to see what the status of my accounts were - with this account in question, the status is "Charged off as Bad Debt" it also states Date Closed: 11/2007.
    So how could this collection company have even had the time to send me 30 days written notice of a pending lawsuit regarding this account if it was just closed and charged off within the past 9 days? (Called me 10 min earlier on my business phonenumber according to my voicemail and left a message - his name wasn't clear and the company he mentioned was called "Global", 'yeah, that was all he said' left a phonenumber and a case number- he actually reached me on my home number which I had told the company to remove from my account last year!)

    Is this company just blowing smoke? What should I do when I need to call them in the morning? Should I ask about the written notice and also refer to the FDCPA rules that they broke?

    Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
  • 11-12-2007, 12:58 AM
    hounded07
    Re: Credit card debt shows "Charged off as bad debt", now a lawyer is threating to su
    Also worth noting, Would it be possible still to contact Capt.One and see if they would settle and delete the charge off as 'paid' or do you think I'm too late for that?

    Not that I have any cash sitting around to barter with, just if I could pull it together, it might be an option.
  • 11-12-2007, 09:05 AM
    aaron
    Re: Credit card debt shows "Charged off as bad debt", now a lawyer is threating to su
    A charge-off is irrelevant to whether or not the debt can be legally collected.

    You can try to negotiate your debts directly with the lender, but once they've been assigned to a collection agency they may not be willing to negotiate directly. Sometimes they will have sold the debt, and will no longer be able to negotiate.
  • 11-12-2007, 11:04 AM
    hounded07
    Re: Credit card debt shows "Charged off as bad debt", now a lawyer is threating to su
    OK, Quick update - I called to find out more about this claim. The company is called Global and is the pre-legal department for Capt. One. He states that written notice of this account leading to the lawsuit was sent to me on Fri. (11/9) the same day as he called me.

    I told him that I haven't received anything as today (Mon 11/12) is also a holiday and all the postoffices are closed. He was able to tell me what the outstanding balance was on the account and the creditors that hold the balance.

    He explained that he was the last stop for being able to do some sort of settlement for the account. He also went on to state that they wouldn't accept anything less than 85% of the outstanding debt. I told him that I didn't have that kind of money or else I would have already contacted them to settle the account. Duh.

    Anyways, he started getting bullying and stated that I could find a way to come up with the money and that my husband should help pay it off. (This is my own account and has nothing to do with him. Used for business expenses and is an unseccured credit card. Husband's name isn't linked to the card at all.)
    When I told him that no one is able to help me out and that if the legal actions were to pursue, they wouldn't be able to get anything from me as I don't own any assets.

    He kept accussing me of falsifying the debt and that am refusing to pay when I have the means to pay. (Meaning my husband can help pay off the debt with his money.)
    He then proceeded to tell me that he would be calling my husband and have him help pay off the debt. I kept repeating to him that my husband has no link/responsibility for this account and that he has no right to call my husband and demand payment.

    He continued to state that he would be calling my husband and that I was refusing to deal with this account. Which I promptly denied - as I did explain that I was willing to set up some sort of installment payoff but I don't have any lump sum amount that I can pay off now. The CA/lawyer? then stated that the only way that a creditor would even consider an installment payoff was if the account was in good standing, which I know is a bunch of bull as I have worked things out with 2 other creditors and the accounts had to get to the point of missing 4-5 payments before they even considered a payoff plan.

    So now my question is - I am sure they will go ahead with legal action, but am I correct in thinking that they have no right to involve my husband with this mess I've gotten myself into?

    Thanks again for your help.
  • 11-12-2007, 11:08 AM
    aaron
    Re: Credit card debt shows "Charged off as bad debt", now a lawyer is threating to su
    If this is your own separate debt, with Connecticut not being a community property state, they should not be able to involve your husband.
  • 11-12-2007, 11:28 AM
    hounded07
    Re: Credit card debt shows "Charged off as bad debt", now a lawyer is threating to su
    Thank you. That is what I figured after reviewing all the posts last night and finding out the laws of my state.

    I also forgot to tell the person on the phone today, that the number he reached me on Friday night was a number that I had told the CA remove from the system last year. They had told me it was removed.

    I don't have an address to this comany yet in order to send them a letter to stop contacting me. Should I bother recalling this person in order to get the address, which I forgot to get in the first place, or should I wait until I get the written notification that they sent me?

    Right now my husband is away on a business trip and won't be home until later tomorrow night but I don't want the company by chance, talking to him regarding this issue.

    I feel that it is against the FDCPA for them to do so, but after the conversation I had today, I wouldn't put it past them.
  • 11-12-2007, 12:29 PM
    hounded07
    Re: Credit card debt shows "Charged off as bad debt", now a lawyer is threating to su
    OK, just got a call from my Dad saying that this CA/Lawyer guy I spoke to just called and left a message on my Dad's machine looking for my husband, he left his name, number and case number with info regarding the fact that he was trying to collect a debt.

    This seems like if goes against the FDCPA:

    § 1692b. Acquisition of location information

    Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall--

    (1) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer;

    (2) not state that such consumer owes any debt;


    § 1692c. Communication in connection with debt collection

    (a) Communication with the consumer generally

    Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt--

    (b) Communication with third parties

    Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.


    I think I will be looking for a lawyer now, as that
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:10 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4
Copyright © 2023 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 - 2018 ExpertLaw.com, All Rights Reserved