I got a letter from a firm called Cohen and Slamowtiz on a debt. I don't want to deal with them, and would rather have them send the case back to Discover Card. Would a "cease and desist" letter work in this instance? Or would they simply stop contacting me and get a judgement against me instead? Is it also a good idea to include the cease and desist within the "letter of Validation"?
2007-08-20 16:13:05 · 11 answers · asked by Keninho 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Folks these are all great responses. I think each entry is valid. I will have to think about this. Thank you.
2007-08-21 03:32:19 · update #1
Yes - if you send a "Cease and Desist" letter, per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the collection agency must stop all contacts with you!
What will happen next is either:
1. Upon receipt of the letter, you are essentially "firing" the collection agency, and the debt will go back to the original creditor. You can then deal with Discover Card directly if you wish. If you do nothing else, Discover Card will assign a new collection agency to attempt to collect the debt. This could happen many months or even years later!
2. There is the possibility the collection agency or original creditor may decide to file suit after receiving your letter. This is extremely unlikely, as it costs the creditor lots of money and hassle to take you to court. Believe me - if they wanted to take you to court, they would, whether or not you sent a Cease and Desist letter. Don't let these other posters scare you!
If you are going to send a request to validate the debt, I would send that seperately, before sending the Cease and Desist letter. Upon receipt of your validation request letter,the collection agency won't contact you again until they have sent proof that you do indeed owe the money. They must validate the debt within 30 days. If they don't provide sufficient proof, you can stop all collection efforts this way, and even get the negative entry completely removed from your credit report!
More info on debt validation is here:
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/debt_validation.shtml
I know this information from personal experience. Years ago I had a credit card that I couldn't pay, and it ended up being assigned to a collection agency. When they started hassling me, I sent them the Cease and Desist letter, and all contacts stopped! I never got sued. The negative entry from the original creditor stayed on my credit report for 7 years, but that's all that happened.
2007-08-20 22:50:29 · answer #1 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
First your debt will not go back to Discover. They have "charged-off" the account and so no longer legally can collect on the debt. You will have to deal with the collection agency.
Send this company a debt validation letter. This will also act as a Temporary Cease and Desist letter. As they are not allowed to contact you or do any other actions until they have validated the debt. Be sure to send this by Certified mail with return receipt, to prove they got the letter.
If they do validate the debt, you can send them a Cease and Desist letter. However, that only means that they can no longer contact you, it does not make the debt go away. If you are still in the Statute of Limitations they can take you to court for payment. The SOL starts from the date of your last delinquency and depending on the state is about 2-6 years.
If you are still in the SOL and send a C&D letter they will not automatically get a judgement against you. In order to do that they first must file a suit against you. You will then be able to attempt to defend yourself but unless you have some really unique case they will find for the company. At which time they may be able to get a garnishment of your wages(dependingo on state), or attaching of your bank accounts or other property.
2007-08-20 17:45:43 · answer #2 · answered by OC1999 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Request the validation first. They are not going to send it back to Discover. If you send them a cease and desist letter, they will stop contacting you and take you to court where they will get a judgment, garnish your wages, attach your bank accounts, and lien your home.
If the debt is beyond the statute of limitations (SOL) you could offer that as an affirmative defense in court. However, some collection agencies have been successfully convincing judges that a credit card is a written account not an open account.
If the debt is beyond the SOL and you include that in your cease and desist letter, the collector might just sell the debt off to another collection agency rather than take you to court.
Bascially, if this is your debt, why not try and negotiate settlement with the collection agent.
2007-08-20 16:25:48 · answer #3 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cease And Desist Collection
2016-11-07 05:40:00 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They will not send the debt back to discover, because they are either 1. the lawyers for Discover card, or 2. Discover card sold them the debt, so it is no longer owed to discover card, but owed to the law firm. A letter of Cease and Desist only means they cannot call you, and forces them to only communicate with you via written communication, so you will still get letters from them. If you are trying to avoid paying the debt, do not send back the letter of validation. How old is this debt? If it is getting close to 7-10 years, depending on your state they may not be legally able to collect the debt, unless you send back that letter of validation. If you are coming up on that time frame, double check your states laws on collecting debt, and if it is past the time frame, you may contact the company and tell them that they can file charges if they want to, but they are unable to legally collect it. Otherwise, If the time frame is no where near, or you have already validated the debt, you will need to make payment arrangements, or go to court over it. Try to settle it, if they are really desperate to collect, you may be able to settle for 50% of what you actually owe. This will show on your credit report, but then it is paid.
2007-08-20 16:24:43 · answer #5 · answered by ALFimzadi 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I negotiated with a debt collector for a $4,000 debt. $100.00 a month no intrest added. To pay it off. As long as my payments are on time they agreed to terms. Changing your phone number will not make them go away. Nor ignoring their phone calls or letters.They eventually will contact a local court to settle your debt. A cease and desist letter will not change anything. My debt was incurred by my ex wife. They don't care about that. They just want their money. Pay off the debt an rebuild your credit.
2007-08-20 17:18:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with bdancer and OC1999
If a person is still within the collecting SOL for their state, they should NOT send a full C&D.
When a full C&D is sent, the collector can contact you "one" time, but not for collecting purposes. That one call/letter is only to tell you what they plan on doing with the debt - sell it, stop collecting on it or to sue you.
You would be backing them in a corner since they legally would no longer be able to collect on that debt except through a law suit.
If you are out of SOL, a "well written" SOL letter with a full C&D included could halt them in their tracks on any type of collection, including the possibility of suing or selling it off to another collector.
The FDCPA concerning full C&D's:
§ 805. Communication in connection with debt collection [15 USC 1692c]
(c) CEASING COMMUNICATION. If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt, except --
(1) to advise the consumer that the debt collector's further efforts are being terminated;
(2) to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor may invoke specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by such debt collector or creditor; or
(3) where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.
If such notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification shall be complete upon receipt.
2007-08-20 22:41:22 · answer #7 · answered by echo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, you see, Discover is finished trying to get payments out of you. So Discover has sold your debt to this firm to get the money that you owe them.
A cease and desist letter is meaningless. They have a legal right to attempt to collect the debt.
Should have dealt with Discover before they sold your bad debt to someone else.
2007-08-20 16:18:21 · answer #8 · answered by Let me steer you 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
From a retired bill collector. Offer to make a specific amount per month. Bet they will be happy with your offer. Proceed with the cease and desisst letter. Don't make them mad!
2016-03-13 00:02:11 · answer #9 · answered by Flor 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best and only way to make sure they go away and stay away forever and improve your credit is.....
PAY YOUR BILL.
2007-08-20 16:22:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋