What do I do about this creditor? I think their going to garnish me?

Question

This may be long but I need help, please read. Ok, I have had this credit card for 3 years. I always paid them on time until I got into a real financial trouble. I was in an accident, in and out of doctors, missing a lot of work. I couldn't pay them. Then when I was getting a little things worked out & was able to pay, I logged onto their website & it said they had been bought out by another company & gave their phone number. I called them and they were very rude and would not set up payment arrangements with them for less than $100 a month. I couldn't do that. I explained my situation to them & they said they couldn't do it. I ask them for a mailing address so that I could send them payments when I could and they would not do that. They said they couldn't accept anything less than $100 so I told them well I don't know what to do & they said they would turn it over to a collections agency so I said ok, do what you gotta do. Then today someone from Apex called me & said it's

their understand that I am refusing to pay this debt and that it has been charged off. It has been 10 month’s since I paid anything on them. And 3 months since I talked to the person that said they couldn’t take less than $100. The guy from Apex said I have to pay the full amount of $1300 or payments of $108 for 12 months with check drafts. I told him the same thing I told the other company; I never know how much my check is anymore because I am out so much due to this accident I was in, going to doctors, therapist, and just being sick. So I can’t say I will have $108 in the bank on any given date. I asked him for an address and he said he can’t do that. He was VERY rude to me, he kept implying that I was refusing to pay but I wasn’t I just can’t pay what they require. I told him I was tired of talking to him because he wasn’t being helpful to me and I have to get back to work plus he was making me very upset to the point of me crying. I don’t know what I can do.

. I don’t know what I can do. I don’t have $108 to pay each month; I don’t have any access to get the $1300 so what can I do or say and can or will they garnish my wages and will they let me know first if they do that. Please don’t criticize because other than the information I have given you, you don’t know me. Just please give me advice I can use. Thank you.

BTW: I am offering them $50 a month.

Answer 1

Look up your state laws on statutes of collections.
There is so much info to give you but I can't post it all here.
basically, the FDCPA or pub law 95-109a covers your rights.
it is found on the ftc.gov site.

So they bought it, whoo hoo, that means more play time for you on the phone! LOL, I always play like an insane person, or claim no english, LOL. Just remember, you control the phone call, just hang up!

Also if you want them to stop contacting you, just send a letter, stating cease and desist all communications. If they contact you requesting payment one more time via email, phone or mail, sue them
You can sue them for harassment as well now for the threats.
Also, post dated checks are done to build the collectors monthly commissions. Also if they debit earlier than the date listed or take more, (depending on if they are the primary or a 3rd party) you can sue them for hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention, the individual responsible for thousands as well too!

just contact my pal Bud Hibbs for some insight. Keep in mind, there are great collectors out there, that will help you! You just need to be lucky enough to have them call you.

budhibbs.com

I am a former collector for 11yrs and can also assist you in what to do

Answer 2

OK this is a bad situation. You are doing all of the right things, trying to call and resolve this debt in some way. These people are paid to be rude and get your money anyway they can. Stand firm about what you can pay per month. DO NOT give them access to your bank account whatever you do. They are sneaky and sometimes they will take more than they are supposed to and good luck getting that back. Call them and tell them how much you can pay per month. Tell them that this is your best offer, and that there is no way you can pay the entire $1300 or $100 a month. If the person you talk to won't do this, get a manager on the phone and try to work with them. If this still doesn't work, you may need to get an attorney.

Answer 3

How much are you offering to pay them? Is it a reasonable amount? Frankly $100 per month is a reasonable amount for that $1300 debt. They are allowing you to string out payment for a year. If you are only offering $10, that won't even cover the interest that is still accruing.

Since you defaulted on the terms of your agreement, they can demand full payment. The fact that the debt has been sold to a collection agency doesn't mean you don't still owe the money.

It used to be that collectors wouldn't go to court for such a small amount. However, collectors are now going to court for this size debt. If they sue you, they will get a judgment against you. They can then attach your bank account, lein your property, or garnish your wages -- 25% max.

Whatever you do, do NOT allow them access to your bank account. Try to negotiate a settlement. If you can come up with a lump sum, you could probably get them to settle for 50% to 75% of the debt. Get any settlement or payment plan arrangement in writing.

Answer 4

I suggest you contact a Credit Counselling service. They can help you to deal with this creditor. If the collection agency decides to take this debt to court in order to have your wages garnished, there isn't anything you can do about it. A Credit Counsellor would have more information for you. The fact that they won't tell you where to send payments means you are being prevented from paying what you can. Talk to a professional.

Also, a debt being 'charged off' simply means that the company that held your debt has reported it as a loss and sold the account to a collection agency. The agency buys the account for a fraction of the debt amount and then they try to collect the full amount. That is how they make their money. A 'charged off' or 'written off' account can still be collected upon.

Answer 5

They are not going to garnish your wages for $1300, and if they do that does not mean it will be for $100 a month, you can argue that in court. Next time they send you something in the mail, if they call tell them only mail correspondence, dispute it, if they do not go through the motions and expense to prove it withing 30 days, it can be removed from your record. Depends on the state you are in but after approximately 4 years the statute of limitations runs out. Most of these companies that buy written off debt at penny's for the dollar are more bark than bite. Keep a log of everything times, date, what was said etc. If they cross the lines (will have to look up the rules for your state as far as collections are concerned) you can in fact have their license to collect revoked. Next time they call tel them you think this is a scam and demand everything in writing through the mail.

Answer 6

First of all, your debt is pretty small as credit card debts go. The credit card company wrote off your balance as a bad debt and then sold the rights to your account to the collection company. It is likely that the collection company paid about $200 to get that right to collect from you. They won't tell you that or admit it, but their business is buying slow accounts cheap and them collecting what they can to make a profit.

They will take a limited amount of action to collect from you. In fact, the company that owns your debt now might just call you a few times or send you a couple of letters before selling your account to someone else for even less than they paid for it.

Keep in mind that you owe the money and at any time, they can file a small claims court action against you. Once you get that notice that they have filed a claim, you have to make sure that you respond immediately or risk a default judgement. If you let them get the default judgement, they will be able to go after your paycheck or assets.

If you get a small claims notice, respond promptly and go to the court hearings. At that point, you will be able to plead your case and hope that the small claims court will take your side and force the creditor to take payments or settle for a smaller amount.

Keep trying to pay them to show that you are making an effort.

Answer 7

i work at a collection office
They can't garnish your wages unless a court orders it.
There are NOT any status of limitions on collectiong this debt, but status on how long after the face they can SUE you in court.
I would ask for a manager, demand a address for you to send in payments. Tell them 100 is all you can do.
Keep in mind that this coming year, your gonna get ALOT of calls. They can call everyday.
See if anyone can help you, see if you can get a settlement, normally the company i work for, would go to 650 settlement, but that will go on your credit report as a settlement, not paid in full. Paying in full is the best you can do.
Next time they call, ask for a manager tell the manager you can only do the payments you can do and you understand that they want all the money but you can only do 100. (they are demanding because thy get paid by commison....)

Answer 8

To garnish, they first have to sue and win. I am not sure if a person's refusal to agree to automated payments is grounds to sue if the person is willing to send payments by mail. If you win in court with that defense, they cannot garnish. Otherwise, since you owe the money and are not paying the minimum, they will probably win, but this will take some time. If they do win and you still do not pay the amount that the court orders, then they can garnish.

Answer 9

There is nothing you can say to stop them from garnishing your wages if they are going to. However, they probably aren't going to garnish your wages. If you credit card is considered charged off by Visa or Master Card (or whoever your carrier was), they won't garnish. It will simply stay on your credit report as a charge off, which is bad for your credit. But, once you get well and are back on your feet, contact the credit card company to pay it off and get the charge off removed from your credit report. The credit card company will require the full amount, so start a savings plan for it when you can.

Answer 10

Your first mistake was to admitting to the debt. You should never do that. Once you do, they can legally claim they spoke with you and can go further with collections. You do have rights about harrassment. You need to research your right with the Fair Lending and Credit Act. Google it. Also they can't garnish wages unless a judge has ordered that. You would have to have received a summons to appear in court.
Know your rights.