help with dealing with a collection agency..

[Raina Mist]

Hi,
I have a collection agency telling me I MUST go and get a loan to pay my credit card debt.. I have told them I can do 250.00 a month payment plan to clear a 5,300.00 debt..
The guy says he will not accept payments..
Is it not true that I if I do offer a payment plan they have to take it??
My bank will not look at me for a loan....

Any rules and rights I have please let me know..

 

[FortunateOne]

I don't know all the ins and outs, but make the payments that you can afford as you promise to do. This guys wants it cleared up before the account gets taken out of their hands -- which it usually is within a few months of non-payment. Figure out who you should be or can pay, like the agency or the CC company directly (call the CC company and find out), and make sure your payments are regular. If they really want their $$, they will offer you a deal, say paying 75% of the total owing ASAP or within a specific time period. If they aren't offering you a deal, talk to their supervisor and find out why not. (Could you pay more per month in order to accomodate a deal that would wrap up in say 6 months as long as it wasn't 5300 but maybe 4000?)

 

[trackstar]

Hi,
I have a collection agency telling me I MUST go and get a loan to pay my credit card debt.. I have told them I can do 250.00 a month payment plan to clear a 5,300.00 debt..
The guy says he will not accept payments..
Is it not true that I if I do offer a payment plan they have to take it??
My bank will not look at me for a loan....

Any rules and rights I have please let me know..

Tell the guy to go fuck himself. Tell him to accept YOUR plan or he gets NOTHING. What's he going to do, call you to death Funny thing is, if you blow them off for six months, then they start coming to you with offers, such as pay us 75% of what you owe and we will consider your debt paid in full. Collection agencies are a joke. Don't let him scare you.

 

[Inamorato]

Remember, collection agencies basically work on commission.
They want as much as possible, as fast as possible.

If you feel like you're being bullied, ask to speak to a manager, and explain to them that you're doing all you can. They will accept payments if you show that you are taking the debt seriously.

Getting a loan might not be a bad idea though, if you are going to need some time to pay it off, credit card interest is much more painful than the interest on a personal loan.

 

[Aeiyah]

If it's a collection agency who called you, it means that the original $5,300 you owe was written off as uncollectable by whomever you owed it to. The debt was "sold" to the collection agency at a fraction of the amount. Collection agencies are notorious for harassment and use scare tactics to collect unpaid debts. If you tell them to go away and stop calling, they generally have little recourse and must cease contacting you.

 

[bartendr]

tell em' to cease and desist and then they HAVE TO STOP harassing you.

 

[curious yellow]

if you offered they a payment and they refused it, then you don't owe them anything, just get a witness to your making the offer and them refusing it. in addition you can contact one of those debt assistant programs for help and info with dealing with collection agencies.

 

[timhorton]

As other posters have pointed out, collection agencies usually work on commission or they "buy" your debt outright at a discount.

If you don't pay, it just means that if you don't it will appear on your credit record as an unpaid debt for seven years. There will already be a pretty severe mark form the CC company if it's gone to collections, but there is very little they can do to force you to pay. There's nothing to repossess with CC bills.

Only a court order can garnishee your bank account.

I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think anyone can require you go into debt to pay off debt - even if you have an open line of credit or something. The agency is just saying that because they'd rather you owe someone else money than them.

 

[HB40]

Is this a loop hole?

I have never dealt with this situation so I have no idea. But from what I am reading...if you don't pay your credit card bill, in about 3 months they sell it to a collection agency that really has no legal right to force you to pay. So you can just not pay and have a credit flag for 7 years?
The way the economy is and the chances for anyone getting credit soon...what the fuck am I paying my bills for? Eventually they are just going to stop asking me for it right?

 

[timhorton]

I have never dealt with this situation so I have no idea. But from what I am reading...if you don't pay your credit card bill, in about 3 months they sell it to a collection agency that really has no legal right to force you to pay. So you can just not pay and have a credit flag for 7 years?
The way the economy is and the chances for anyone getting credit soon...what the fuck am I paying my bills for? Eventually they are just going to stop asking me for it right?

Unless you secure a loan with something equitable (house, car, etc.) only a court order can force you to pay it back (or they can seize and sell something - but that's a long process and it's got to be a substantial sum.) During the first round of court, the court just decides, "yes, you owe that money" or "no, you don't". The creditor actually getting the money is another matter.

So yes, you can just walk away from debt in many cases. Really, what is a collection agency going to do? They can't assault you, they can't steal anything from you, they can't access your bank account, they can't make you take a loan.

Most people, however, depend on credit and feel a moral obligation to pay what they owe, so they maintain some sort of favourable credit rating so they can continue using it.

If you are really hard up and can prove that you can't and won't be able to pay, bankruptcy is just the court-approved way of walking away from debt. Once you declare bankruptcy, creditors aren't even allowed to contact you. Bankruptcy allows you to keep $30,000 in equity and is a done deal.

 

[DQ Guy]

You have to pay them, In some way or another.
and They HAVE to allow you to do a plan if you offer.
In fact they should have offered you a payment plan.
I've delt with a couple in my past, No matter what the guy says on the phone, even if you can only pay $5 a month they have to take some sort of payment.

If you ignor them it will only get worse later in life.
so next time he calls offer him what you can and thats that

bankruptcy should be a Very last Resort. Good luck getting anything later if you declare now...
in some cases a bank advisor can help you pool your dept and set up payments as well

I'm just a little curious as to how long you have owed this card, and which one is it.
I personaly have a few and I have never had collections call me. I've had the
Bank call me, but never a 3rd party

 

[visiting]

Some of you need to stop watching TV for your facts.

You owe them money, you need to pay them, or they can take action. The fact they sell your debt to an outside agency does not forgive the debt.

I hire collection agencies to collect from people who don't pay me. The way they think is, if they are getting paid, they will let you drag it on, it's when you don't pay anything they start to get more aggressive.

It's normal for the first guy to try and put pressure on you to get the full amount, that's obliviously what they would like.


Here is the info you want to read on agencies..

http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/oca-bc.nsf/en/h_ca02149e.html


Also since your in Vancouver..
http://www.bpcpa.ca/index.php?optio...75#What Are Unreasonable Collection Practices

 

[bcneil]

Just let em know you CAN'T get a loan to pay them with.
They will have to allow you some sort of payment plan.

$5300 isn't that much really. A $250 a month payment sounds perfectly reasonable.

Sounds like the guy calling was just a prick, I think they get more commision if they can get you to pay right away?

 

[specialty69]

Go to www.nomoredebts.org. They will help you out.

 

[freebird]

You may want to talk to a bankruptcy trustee. They can point out several options such as a consumer proposal or orderly payment of debts. In a consumer proposal they will offer your creditor a percentage of the total debt (maybe 60 or 70 cents on the dollar) and then you make monthly payments to the trustee. Your creditors are not allowed to contact you. Your credit rating still gets a black mark for seven years, but it is not as severe as declaring bankruptcy. If you owe more than one creditor, include all this information when talking to the trustee and they will set up a plan with ALL of your creditors. I was once in the same boat as you are, and now I enjoy a perfect credit rating. Good luck to you!

 

[bcneil]

I dont really think someone should be thinking bankruptcy
when they owe only $5300

 

[LittleAsianGuy]

Ya not worth going bankruptcy for 5300.

I dont really think someone should be thinking bankruptcy
when they owe only $5300

 

[LittleAsianGuy]

Totally agree they cant do anything but accept your offer. I think 250.00 a month is a decent size payment.

Tell the guy to go fuck himself. Tell him to accept YOUR plan or he gets NOTHING. What's he going to do, call you to death

 

[InTheBum]

You need HELP!

You have collection agencies calling you for payment, and you spend your time on an escort review board!!!!????!!!!??? Surely, you have money issues and your priorities just seem a bit out of whack!!! LOL

 

[InTheBum]

I dont really think someone should be thinking bankruptcy
when they owe only $5300

$5300 is nothing these days, especially in a city like Vancouver.
Tell this lame ass Collector he has a shit job that pays 30k a year, and he can go blow himself!!!!