Dealing with a Collection agency/how trust worthy are they?

Question

Hello, i am in a real mess here. I got a call last week from a Presily Williams from a company called portfolio management demanding 4500 for discover card. I told this Presily i had a Discover card, a long time ago, then he went on telling me yeah thats what you owe on it now. I told him i would have to check my credit report. Then he got mad and told me look i have to get this out pd now or else see you in court, then you will loose your house and my paycheck. I told him i dont have the money! He then told me i could pay 3k, go take our a equity line of credit on your house/ then pay it. He is giving me 20 days/ i just got a demand letter from an attorneys office in new jersey spelling our the agreemend this Presily presented. I went to take a look at my credit report from 5 years ago when we bought our house, it showed it was charged off in 3/1999 at 2400. The mortage is in my wifes name, i had some financial issues in the past. We live in Michigan. Help Advise please

Answer 1

While collection agencies sound fierce, they are much more bark than bite. The laws require quite a bit of work to garnish wages or pressure you. It sounds like you did not really owe that much in the first place. Do not let them get to you and do not pay them anything.

Once you start paying, you show that you owe. If you say that you no longer owe anything than all they have to go by is whatever the credit card company gave them, which is almost never much.

Take it easy and ignore them. What can they really do in twenty days? There are no laws that can even be enforced in twenty days. It is expensive to pursue debts. Too expensive for less than $5K.

Take care,
Troy

Answer 2

If I were you, I'd do what the guy says. Although it's not professional for the man to 'get mad and yell'. The only way to get it resolved is by looking at your credit report (you can get a free credit report online once a year) and finding that it WAS paid off, or paying it off as the man says. Take out a small consumer loan, or take out a home equity loan. That's about all you can do it you really don't have the money. You could also try calling Discover directly and asking them to lower the balance. They will sometime's do that if you take the initiative and call. Goodluck to you. You'll get through it tho. It could be worse..it could be 30,000 you owe !

Answer 3

i found out that there is a statue on this types of collections i belive it is either 5 or 7 years call an attorney and find out if the statue is over you can sue for harassment,what these companies do is they buy all the accounts that have been written off because they cant collect on them and then some company comes along like portfolio management and buy the loans they mad for pennies on the dollar and they go after the consumer i wish somebody had told me this before because i went through the same thing i hope all this made sense i have 3 kids in the house running around like crazy let me settle them down good luck

Answer 4

Collection agencies are not at all trustworthy. There have been numerous articles on the Internet about debt collectors using shady tactics to collect zombie debt. These articles advise that a debt that was written off long ago is best left dead. You may already have done too much by talking to this character. Don't sign anything and tell them not to call any more. If you make a promise to pay anything, that could bring this old debt back from the dead (hence zombie debt). Check out these links.

Answer 5

Collection agencies will tell you whatever they feel will work so that they can get your money. I have been lied to by one collection agency about 5 times. I spoke with 3 different people before I was even told the name of the agency. Talk to an attorney, that is your best bet right now. They will garnish your wages eventually and that is a real pain. They don't care how much of your money they take each check either. Good luck

Answer 6

I don't know about the legal issues concerning the account being charged off but I would certainly be hesitant to send this *ss any money. These guys are the slime of the earth, they try to put pressure on you because they get a commission when you pay it off. The sooner you pay it off the more % of the bill they get. You don't pay it, they don't get paid on your account. You have rights, they can't call more than once a day.
I find it hard to believe that a court would take your house for 4k. Besides it's not in your name.
Good Luck

Answer 7

NO. i'm by no potential petrified of any Muslim. not even Bin weighted down. yet...by no potential will I trust a Muslim. It obviously says now to not take unbelievers as awliyah (companions, friends, etc.) so why could I evaluate a Muslim a chum? If a Muslim takes position to artwork contained in the corporate I artwork for, I swear i stands proud because the first one to stop! Muslims may instruct you their pretend faces and brilliant area at the starting up, it purely turns into maximum threatening the prompt you grow to be too close - not that they could blow u up or something, yet they'll finally attempt their very best to pull you of their cult, THEIR seize - Islam! the numerous issue doesn't come from the followers, the issue comes from the ideology, Islam. And non secular Muslims are really risky and hateful. maximum muslis (if not all!) are hypocrites. they received't tolerate truth, yet fairly, in case you ask a question "why does Islam facilitates this" they reply with yet another question "then why does judaism/christianity/hinduism, etc. say this". maximum dont even recognize their faith nicely!!

Answer 8

If it was charged off in 1999 most likely the statute of limiations has expired and they cannot legally collect on this debt. Ask a lawyer in your state over the phone for advice...but DO NOT pay them a dime until you get advice.

Also, on a debt this old, they probably paid pennies on the dollar to buy the debt-- I bet they have less than $100 into it. If you do decide to settle-- dont pay as much as they want...cut it astleast in half.

Answer 9

DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MONEY UNTIL YOU HAVE A FORMAL PAYOFF/SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN WRITING!!!

Many companies will offer to settle, you send them a check, then 2 years later some other company will come to you for the difference. Unless you get it in writing first, do not pay. Threatening court is illegal in most cases. Find an attorney, maybe they can help you settle out the balance and facilitate the payments.

Answer 10

Based on what you said, I can't determine if the card was paid off or not. If it was, you have nothing to worry about. Overall, it sounds like a scam though. It might not be a bad idea to contact an attorney to look into it. Or, contact the Better Business Bureau to make sure the company is legitimate - http://bbb.com/
Good luck.