I have a question about collection agency/law firm?

Question

Hello,
last week i got a call from a very mean person asking for my wife. I told him that she was not here. This guy asked who i was i told him her husband. He then told me she is in big big trouble. I asked him what about, he said that he is from a law firm and there is a pending law suit for against your wife. It was for a cc card that she opened 5 years ago and only made a few payments. He told me i have to pay him 2200 now or else he is going make life a living hell for us. I told him to send proof. so here comes this letter from a completly diffrent organization a law firm demanding 3100 for that debt. I pulled up her credit report and it shows that a account has been opened with Portfolio associates seince may of 2005. I belive the orginal balance was 1k for capital 1 she had some financial problems being out of work. A friend told me to talk to a lawyer and they will fix it, it will cost about 300 bucks. is this true, this company sounded shady.,

Answer 1

If a lawsuit has been filed, it would be with the court in the county in which you live. Go down to the courthouse and look up your name to see if it is true. By law they have to serve you. Also, if they have filed suit, they cannot call and harass you. No law firm is going to call you like that--the attorneys would lose their licenses.

Credit card companies sell their debt to different agencies for collection. If she does owe it, I would not waste time with an attorney--contact this attorney, tell him you would like to work out a payment plan and you can avoid Court.

Answer 2

Portfolio Associates is a big collection company and it is legit; however, they are not allowed to threaten you and should be reported to the Better Buisness Bureau. If he calls again and makes statements like that, tell him that he continues to harrass you and make threatening comments you will be forced to get a lawyer and file a lawsuit. Be prepared to follow up that threat. You can usually settle with collection agencies but get a letter from them first stating that if you pay such - and - such amount they will consider the account paid in full (or settled). I would start by offering half of what is due (you'll have to pay it all at once though) and go up from there. Usually you can end up paying about 1000 less than what you originally owed by offerring to pay a lower amount all at once verses payments. Once you recieve this letter and you pay the amount settled on make sure you get a payment confirmation letter from them. Sometimes these companies wont send the letter but legally they have too so keep on them. Once you recieve this letter call the 3 major reporting bureaus:
Experian: #800-831-5614
Equifax: #800-685-1111
Transunion: #800-916-8800
and open a dispute for that collector. More times than not, collection companies will either stop reporting to the bureaus (but it will continue to show up for 10 years) with a balance or they will keep reporting it with a balance. Opening a dispute with the bureaus will make sure this shows as paid.

Hope this helps, email me if you have any questions regarding this.

PS: many times a collection company will try to collect the debt for a while and if no success it will go to a lawyers office. This is common too. Doesnt mean there is a lawsuit against you but they may be able to get a judgement against your wife if not paid.

If you are having seruious doubts about this collection get information from the collection company and call the original creditor. Tell them you are having doubts whether it is legit they will usually be the ones to give what info you need to verify the collection is legit. Good Luck, sorry this answer is long just wanted to give you as much info as I could.

Answer 3

You have some really good advise in here. If you dig deep enough and send out some letters as what some of the people in here are advising you could do this with out your lawyers help. First thing you need to find out is when you made the last payment on that card looks like shy of 5 years, then check your states SOL-- if you are over send them a letter stating you are out side of your SOL, stop with your collection. If not send that validation letter and ask them to stop contacting you. send them both certified. the debt is like 5 years old they will not have the document ion to support that. If the do contact you then talk to your lawyer about filing a law suit against them. I bet NCO has hired a law firm to push you, after those letters they will stop. NCO/portfolio associates have a huge profit margin, they will be carefull in reqards to a lawsuit.
BTW this denny is a collector and his is giving you very bad advice
good luck

Answer 4

Debts are typically sold to other companies (credit collections) for about 1cent on the dollar. The original company then writes off the claim as a loss. Since this was 5 years ago it should only be listed on her credit by the original company as deliquent when she stopped paying and they closed the account. Beleive it or not this new company has NO right to collect money from her now. Most americans don't realize they are dealing with these companies and the lack of legal right they have to collect the old debts.

I would certainly refuse to speak to them without proof of the debt, sending you a bill on their letterhead is not proof. Ask for a statment showing the original debt from the original creditor and total balance at time of account closure and a list if fees and interest acculmated since then to present.

My bet is they can't provide the information at all but in order to dipute a collection claim properly you need to have these details. By all means if they refuse or can't offer the debt details tell them to stop calling your home, they are legally obligated to stop calling and contact a lawyer to dispute the claim.

Also WRITE DOWN, who calls, when, what company they say they represent and who you speak to and notes about the conversation EVERY time you recieve a call, it will help you dispute the debt and the lawyer.

Answer 5

You may want to check your state laws. FDCPA is one thing but a lot of states have laws that are stronger that FDCPA. One person on here said to contact the Better Business Bureau. That is totally INCORRECT. Make sure first of all to know your rights. The FDCPA is your rights, but also the FCRA protects you as well. Check both of them. Next, make detailed notes of time called, collectors name (if you can get it) and detailed notes of the conversation. Contact a attorney in your area or state that deals with protecting consumers against the FDCPA. I just had a case in Atlanta that eliminated the debt and earned me $1,000.00. Nope, it's not a lot of money...but it's money I didn't have!

As far as a company "repairing" your credit...there is no such thing! DON'T GO FOR IT!

Answer 6

Collection agencies have very specific rules, and threatening is not in the book. I had a very similar experience and the agency harassed me incessantly, calling at all hours, 7 days a week, finding the unlisted phone numbers of family members and calling them, calling my workplace after I told them to cease calling me there. I contacted the state atty general office, by mail, cc'd to the agency. Voila! Never heard form them again, and the bank I owed fired that agency shortly thereafter.
Good Luck!

Answer 7

You have very specific rights regarding debt collection, there is only limited things they can do and threatening and verbally abusing you isn't one of them, get information about what these people can and can't do, the info is available on the web or a quick consultation with a lawyer should get you what you need to know.

Answer 8

I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU THE BEST ADVISE, PAY YOU BILLS PERIOD. BO WHO THE COLLECTION AGENCY CALL YOU IT IS IN YOUR RIGHT AND NO JUDGE WILL SIDE WITH YOU.
HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED
1) THE HAVE FILED A SUIT
2) YOU WILL GET CALLED TO COURT
3) YOU WILL LOOSE YOUR COURT CASE AND YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY ALL ATTORNEYS FEES I AM GUESSING 5 GRAND.
4) IF YOU DINT HAVE THE MONEY UP FROM YOU WILL BE SERVED WITH A JAIL SENTENCE INSTEAD

YOU NEED TO CALL THE AGENCY YOUR SELF AND SET UP AN PAYMENT PLAN EVEN 10 BUCKS AND THEY WILL BE HAPPY! IF YOU HAVE A LAWYER CALL THEM THEY WILL DEFIANTLY FILE A SUIT FOR THE FULL AMOUNT
GOOD LUCK

Answer 9

Maybe, but I'm not 100%

Answer 10

listen to your friend bill collectors can be very rude and the best way to deal with them is thru your lawyer