be wary

[magyar123]

The collection agencies are professionals at employing deceptive tricks and tactics to get you to "agree" to terms that you would not willingly agree to.
Just yesterday I recieved a bill asking for a payment on a past due account, it looked pretty straight forward on the face of it...... However, as I went to refold it I noticed some fine print on the reverse side, essentially saying that by sending them any amount, that I was also authorising them to make future automatic deductions from my bank account.
Under that condition, It will be a cold day in hell before they will receive any further payments from me.
Be wary, be very wary, whenever you have to deal with a collection agency, and if BK is a certainty, it is better to avoid any contact or conversation that they could easily manipulate to their own advantage.

You can pay them what you want - with a money order.

[Hillbilly]

I cash my checks, and deposit and maintain minimal amounts in my bank accounts, paying only the electric and gas bills out of them just to keep them active.
All other bills and purchases are paid either with cash or with money orders.
I'll pay this debtor $0, because the day I send them even a single cent, they will use that payment to re-age the account.
This was a HELOC home improvement loan used to put a new kitchen in my previous home (of 31 years) which was foreclosed on over a year ago, and that I no longer have any ownership interest in.
I have now moved to a different state, and have always kept all of my other debts current, only the old mortgage and HELOC payments were allowed to lapse.
Eventually I may need to file for bankruptcy, but not yet, as no court proceedings or judgements have been issued, _and may well not be_, as any investigation of my assets will reveal me as being judgment proof, with my allowable BK exemptions being about three times larger than the outstanding debt, they could get a judgement but would be unable to collect.
If they attempt to attach a lien to my present home, (which with 100% financing, I have a very neglible equity in), then I will have to file to avoid the lien.
I see no reason to send them a cent, as I will not ever be able to afford to pay them all of it, and as yet they have not even offered to settle for a reduced amount, and I see no advantage in even the accepting of any reduced amount.
It was credit that got us into this mess, and we already have all the credit that we want or ever intend to use.
Everyone's case and situation is slightly different, however one invariable exists for all of us at all levels, BE WARY! You cannot trust collection agencies, they DO NOT have your "best interests" at heart, and WILL lie, cheat, and decieve, and take advantage of any weakness that they can.

[CindyLou]

I wouldn't make a payment to ANY collection agency under a "deal" without a written offer for settlement and I would ONLY pay with a postal money order! Period.

[jp2861]

NEVER, EVER authorize even one phone payment. If you don't even want to pay recurring bills online anymore, go to your bank's website and delete the payee information, if you signed up for the bank's bill payment service
If you just want to make a one-time online payment, go to your creditor's website. It will give you options: One time payment only, or on the same day every month. Mark the "one time payment only" box.

Why in Gods name would you want to make a payment from a creditors website. That sounds insane to me. If I make a payment from the creditors website I have to give my account information for them to collect.

[monkatom]

Just an FYI I am two weeks behind on my B OF A account and they called today and asked for my wifes permission to debit our bank account as several months ago before even thinking BK I had given them authorization to deduct a past due payment. wife told the lady no she could not do it and they would need to contact me about it and the lady at B of A told her well we do not need you're permission and we will be initiating a withdraw. so called the bank and they said I could pay 30 bucks a creditor to wamu to not let this happen i suggested well I will just close my account and reopen with a new account number so thats what I have to do tomorrow I guess.

[treehugger1]

I think we can all expect some "strong-arm" tactics by many of the grander American financial institutions when they are writing off billions of dollars in debt they can't collect inhouse. Assume nothing when it comes to tactics, ragardless of what the "laws" state. Protect your income.

Personally, I found the entire electronic banking so convenient, I never bothered to think about the trail of electronic information I was leaving behind. I doubt that any of us gave this a second thought. At the times we engage in sharing our financial service info we are probably not thinking about financial crisis. With a bit of thought you can slowly reverse what creditors/CA's have access to. Plan your defenses accordingly to protect yourself, family, and friends.

[GoingDown]

a judgement creditor talked me into settling for a much reduced total and i agreed, he said to call in every month and authorize our agreed payment of 100 a month on a certain date. i agreed to the first monthly payment, and then during the month decided i couldnt do this and withdrew all my money from checking acct well when next payment was due they automatically sent in paper check and overdrew my account. the bank says that since i agreed to auto payment ONCE there was nothing they could do and i am liable for the payment. i called loss migation at the bank and they say when you give some one a authorization for payment they can legally do it again and again and the only this you can do is try small claims court and i was liable for the charge, and they wont even close my account until its paid. the bank says its basically my word against theirs that i didnt authorize a recurring auto widthdrawal.
i just wanted to warn anyone else who my be tempted to give bank info to a creditor.

This is a perfect example of why you only use money orders to pay for things. You can never trust creditors or collection agencies to play fair, so you have to protect your cash by not using a checking account and just paying for things with money orders.