collectors ceasing and desisting

[All Cash]

I haven't had a single lawsuit. That means no judgment is in place. How could they research any property in my name, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, or cars?

Very easily. Own a home? Any person can access your counties Recorder of Deeds records. If they have judgment against you. They can place a lien against that property. The next step is to research your account for payment history. If you paid the account at any time by check they have your information from that check. They forward a bank levy with a copy of the judgment to your local bank that the check was drawn on. If the account is active with funds. Guess who gets your funds?

Best thing is to have a checking account that you pay your bills with that you have not defaulted on. Or, get MO for all your bills and plan to live your life like that until the statute of limitations is up.

[IOIOIO]

My Chapter 7 case is no assets, which means I don't own a home. After getting levied from a small claims case years ago, I use my checking account in a very limited way, mostly only writing a rent check to my landlord. So the best estimation so far is that collectors were able to determine I don't own any real property based on filed deeds, and that I don't have a work phone number, and that's enough to make me low priority to be sued. I'm surprised: you'd think they'd routinely sue and once they have the judgment, they could easily garnish wages. They'd be entitled to 20% of my wages, and even though my wages are meager that 20%, year in and year out, would still be more than worth it to them since they could get it very easily, and then automatically get 20% of any increase in pay. Or do they reject all that and simply go after the big score of people with real property?

Even more surprisingly, of 31 collection agencies only 1 was local, which means almost all of them probably wouldn't sue me in any case. Why do non-local collectors buy out of state junk debts?

[GoingDown]

My Chapter 7 case is no assets, which means I don't own a home. After getting levied from a small claims case years ago, I use my checking account in a very limited way, mostly only writing a rent check to my landlord. So the best estimation so far is that collectors were able to determine I don't own any real property based on filed deeds, and that I don't have a work phone number, and that's enough to make me low priority to be sued. I'm surprised: you'd think they'd routinely sue and once they have the judgment, they could easily garnish wages. They'd be entitled to 20% of my wages, and even though my wages are meager that 20%, year in and year out, would still be more than worth it to them since they could get it very easily, and then automatically get 20% of any increase in pay. Or do they reject all that and simply go after the big score of people with real property?

Even more surprisingly, of 31 collection agencies only 1 was local, which means almost all of them probably wouldn't sue me in any case. Why do non-local collectors buy out of state junk debts?

It doesn't matter whether the collection agency is local or not. If they decide to sue, they merely hire a local attorney in your area to sue you. One of my relatives thought she was safe from a lawsuit because she lived in Arizona, and the collection agency that was after her was located in New York. She owned real estate and she had a steady job and they knew about it because they called her at work. They hired the law offices of Hammerman (a local Phoenix attorney) to sue her.

But here's the thing... most of the time they simply do not sue people. Only a small percentage ever get sued. If they don't think they will have an easy time collecting the judgment, they probably won't sue.

There are exceptions to this of course. Unifund is known to buy junk debt and sue everyone and then try to collect the ones that are easy to collect after the judgment, and the rest of the judgments are just sold off to other debt collectors.

[GoingDown]

A good thread to revive now and then. I have CD'd several CA's and never received another phone call. I have received additional written comunications from a local CA. I think when the CD is received by a large out-of-state CA, your acount goes to the bottom of the priority pile. It probably should as many accounts an dfolks simply panic and roll over for the CAs.

I still don't trust a non-certified return receipt, so I will continue to submit DV and CD via return receipt. However, it sounds as if this may not actually be necessary. I've heard that solid "home" records of what you sent and when you sent it have validity. Still...

Yes, I think once they get a Cease and Desist letter in the mail they know that their primary way of getting paid-- calling you on the phone and scaring you into paying-- is not going to work, so they put you on low priority status playing a bit of a waiting game to see if your credit reports starts showing a sign of improved financial condition like buying a new car or applying for a mortgage, etc. or they simply sell the debt off to a new junk debt buyer. Once they get the letter they know that you know your rights and won't be an easy target for them, and that in fact, you might end up costing them money. The debt collection industry calls people like us "toxic debtors" because their normal methods of collection by telephone don't work and we might end up suing them if they continue to violate the FDCPA.

I go a step further and tell them in my C & D letter that I am judgment proof and I describe exactly why I am judgment proof letting them know that even if they do file a lawsuit it will be uncollectable. So far, out of all my many, many charged off creditors, only one has bothered to sue me, and that was way back when I had a steady job and they called me on the phone at work. So, I think telling you are judgment proof, if you really are judgment proof, works well. They don't want to waste their money and time on you if there is very little chance of ever getting paid back. Court costs and attorney fees are not cheap. Thank God for temporary jobs! They are nearly impossible to garnish.

I only use certified mail if a third party collection agency keeps calling me after I sent them a C & D by regular mail. In all my vast experience with collection agencies, regular mail almost always works. And it is so much cheaper. And I don't have to bother going down to the post office. I just pop it in mail box and usually in about a week or so, the collection agency stops calling.

[treehugger1]

This is an informative thread. I just reread every post here, and was stunned by my post back in July of 2007, when I was only 60 days late. LOL Now, I have CO's and a couple fo small claims judgments, but other than that, no summons for large debt. I know its coming, but the amount of time taken to get there is more than I would ever have imagined.