What can a collector do to you, been told i could go to jail fraud?

Question

Hello,
I had a cc debt i stopped paying on 10 years ago for 5k, financial difficulties. They called for 3 month after my last payment, but every so once in awhile. i moved to a diffrent state. Now this last month i am getting calls on this demanding 7k for this card and now. I hung up the phone and that was the last time i talked to him in person. He calls from hear on out 3 times a day leaving messages a jail time, fraud ect. He even called my neighbors, relitives and even my grandma, leaving messages ect saying he has a pending law suit on me, or he tells them that i have a case filled agaist me. He left a message just last week telling me if i dont call him he is going to contact the IRS for fraud. I have all of the messages and my relitives to and i talked to a friend and he advised me to pull my credit, so i did and here is a 7k thing in collections for NC recoveries. I bought a house about 2.5 years ago and that was not on there nor the orginal. My fico droped 90pts.

Answer 1

There are two different statute of limitations (SOL) that you need to be aware of.

One is the reporting SOL and the other is the collecting SOL.

If it has been 10 years since you made a payment or a charge on that account, you are out of SOL for both of those.

Reporting SOL starts the first time you became 30 days late and never brought the account current leading to the charge off. And ends 7 years later.

The collecting SOL in many states is the same as the reporting SOL as far as when the SOL starts to run. Though some states have a last action clause. Where if you made a payment (even though you never brought the account current) or made a charge, the SOL runs from that last action. Every state is different on how long the SOL is, but not one state has a 10 year SOL, or longer, for open accounts.

It sounds like you have him on so many violations that if you filed against him, you can really make him suffer financially.

Check with the county court clerk in the county that you lived in when you incurred the debt and also in the county that you live now. If there is no law suit filed, and you have him on the message claiming that he had in fact filed suit - that is another violation. If he has indeed filed suit - another violation for filing on a time barred debt.

Speak with an atty that is "well versed" in the FDCPA. Go after this guy, not in small claims, but in a higher court where you can recover "per violation" and not just per action. Which would be - "up to $1,000 and no less than $100 per violation"

You will probably be able to find an atty that will take this on contingency, since you have saved the messages, and have further proof of the violations. Your atty will ask the judge to rule that he (your atty) and all court costs will be paid by the collection agent.

I don't have the particular statutes in front of me, but I can tell you that he has violated your rights by:

Speaking to 3rd parties about your debt. ($1,000 x ?)
Claiming to have filed a lawsuit when no suit was filed.($1,000 x ?)
Harrassment. (claiming jail time, contacting the IRS etc.) ($1,000 x ?)
Re-aging the account and placing it on your reports. ($1,000 x 3)
Any violations that he is reporting on your reports, and I'm sure that there is at least 2 or 3. ($1,000 x ? per report)

If you had applyed for credit and you were denied because of the tradeline he placed on your reports. ($1,000 x ?)

Those are just a few of the things you can sue him for. The (x ?) means how many times you were violated. It looks like the amount could easily hit the 5 figure mark (and maybe even higher) Yes, people have sued collectors and won a 6 figure amount.

You should also get notorized affidavits from each person he talked to and had made those accusations, spoke about your account etc with them.

Find out if your state requires a collector to be licensed and bonded, if so, find out if he is licensed and bonded in your state to collect.

Take "EVERYTHING" to the lawyer.

Answer 2

I don't know what state you live in, but most have laws against what he is doing. There are laws that bill collectors have to abide by. I have been in a similar situation. The collector was in N.Y. and I live in Texas. I told him that if he ever called me again I was going to file charges for harassment. He stopped calling imediately. He then sent me a letter saying that I owed money and that I could be prosecuted for theft by fraud. So, I called his office and talked to him to just see what he would say. The represntative was a jerk. I let him carry on for a few seconds and then asked him if he was licensed to do business in Texas. He said he didn't have to be. Now keep in mind that he didn't know that I know that there are laws that do regulate bill collectors. And here in Tx. you have to be licensed to do business here. Can we say busted. I had the proof in just the letter alone, not to mention I recorded his harassing calls. I informed him of the trouble he just got himself into and I haven't heard from him since. That was over two years ago. By the way, the debt he was trying to collect on was bogus in the first place. That part is a long story. The worst they can do is sue you in a small claims court and get a judgement against you. But I do believe that there is also a statute of limitations involved here if you haven't paid any money for 10 years. Here in Texas it is 7 years. I hope this helps. Take care and God bless.
P.S. After 7 years it isn't supposed to effect your credit rating. I know because Mine cleared after 5 years. The prob is you have a house and you need to check out the statute of limitations before they sue you so they don't put a lein on your house. I would go talk to an attorney who specializes in this. As in a bankruptcy atty.

Answer 3

Hi, I used to work as a collector but it was in Canada not the US so the laws may be different. Here a collector must be licencsed ( and when we were collecting in the US we had to be licensed for there as well) We were only allowed to call between certain hours and we were not allowed to leave any detailed messages. (ie, we could not say what the call was about only a name, number and that it was a very urgent business matter that they needed to get back to us about ASAP) The company you owe money to might decide to sue you for it but, before they can do that they have to retain a lawyer. The lawyer will have to notify you of their intent to sue and then serve you with papers after that. If they win in a lawsuit they can guarnish your wages and put a lien against your property, but until they sue they can't do much. I worked for 3 different agencies that collected money in the US and none of them would sue for less then $5,000.00 but you may want to contact a lawyer and get their advice. If you contact the collection agency before they sue, if you do it right they will settle the account for as low as 30 cents on the dollar. Good luck.

Answer 4

I would get with a lawyer and maybe debt counselor.

Doubt that the collector is even close to accurate.

Remember, they dont care, they just want their $$$.
Besides call u 3 times a day is illegal.

Seems a good lawyer would probably tell him to cease & desistt. Once thats done, he would be criminal.

That presumes u own up and pay a fair portion if not all of what u really owe.

Ultimiately get with a lawer &/or debt counselor to get this.

In some states he has already broken a dozen laws, and could go to jail in one states case for 10 years for what he as already done in total.

Answer 5

the collector is in violation of the FDCPA (fair debt collection practices act), which is administered by the FTC (federal trade commission).

www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm

most likely, the original creditor sold your account to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. they will try to collect as much as they can from you and it's all legal. you don't have to talk to the guy. it is your right to tell him that you will deal directly with the original creditor and that you prefer to have all your correspondence on this account in writing. if they continue to call, then get all of his information and report him to the FTC. read the act, you have more rights than you think.

Answer 6

A collector can not threaten you it is agianst the law. they can't put you in jail the worst they can do is get a judgement agianst you and take it from your paychecks or tax returns. I would call a lawyer. good luck.

Answer 7

That is harassment andis in violation of local and Federal law. You can call the authorities and file a complain against them. Please go to the following link.

http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/litwiki/index.php/Debt_Relief:_Credit_Harrassment

Low lifes like that should not be allowed to operate.

Answer 8

report the jerk for unethical and misleading statements and unfounded threats in the course of a collection business . They will lose their license and probably get fired .

Answer 9

They will verbally interrigate, perhaps even try to intimidate you into paying,but legally that is all that they can do. They cannot lagally repossess property or money unless you are Christopher Scase.

Answer 10

check your rights. HEPA. He cannot leave messages first of all. take him to court!!! THey are threatening. Tell him to not call again. IF he does take them to court