Can Lowes do this?

[frmrdwn]

Okay, so I have a Lowes Capital One Visa that's entering its 32nd day past due. There is a balance of a little over $1000. Collections has been calling every 35 minutes to keep me updated as to that account's status, thank you very much.

I accessed my on-line account and it's all in red ink! There is a laundry list of choices that I may choose from by putting an x in the appropriate box. Some choices include pay the balance off in full, pay most of the balance off, pay some of the balance, pay $100, call and make payment arrangements, do I plan to pay at all, do I have funds to pay. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT. That was in louder red.

Then, at the very bottom of the page it says that they (Lowes) will turn my account into an automatic debit if I don't take action by the due date, today.

Really? I erased my banking account from their website. Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't store the information in their data bases. But, can they really automatically debit my account without permisssion? Doesn't that require a judgement to be filed?

Maybe there are new credit card rules these days?

[hereforinfo]

I guess it depends on what you signed when you opened the account. There may have been a statement in there that allows them to do this, and if so you agreed to it when you signed the application or perhaps when you entered your checking account information online. If I were you I'd close the checking account asap.

[klandsb]

just a fyi... I had a Lowes consumer creit card that got turned over to Mann Bracken for collections... Those people are a nightmare.... Right now they are trying to sue /put judgement on me... Hopefully, w/retaining a lawyer it will be put on hold until I can get my Chapter 13 filed....

[Bell30656]

Short answer for the OP... Yep. Now the question comes about to whether it is legal or not. They won't care about that once they have your money. If they know your bank information it is time to change it.

[frmrdwn]

lowe's saga part 2

Cancel your debit card with your bank first thing tomorrow, if there is a pending authorization on your account your might be screwed already. The bank generally won't stop the pending authorization and those funds are frozen until the authorization is either completed or about 10 days later it drops off if they never completed it. Hopefully you don't have enough money in your account for the debit to authorize, but I don't know if they will try to take all or just a payment.

So, about the only way to stop this if they did make the authorization and before they can take the money is to file a claim with the bank of ID theft, otherwise any other claim is treated as if you authorized it and are disputing it. The ID theft is the only was to stop it before the funds leave your account.

If the funds are on hold due to the authorization it is really tough to get that lifted. Even going to the bank and claiming it was an unauthorized transaction still does not mean you can get your money back. Typically they (your bank) will allow the transaction to occur and go about trying to do a charge back and that rarely works.

But if you claim ID theft...that is a whole other story. You can the get the bank to hold the funds while this gets straightened out.

Have you looked at your bank account to see if it shows a pending transaction? If so the ID theft may be your only option to freeze any transactions and then just tell the bank that somehow you Lowes account got compromised..

If you have been lucky enough that the transaction has not hit your account yet, pull all your money from the account while you close that debit card. Eventually you want to close that bank account and open another.

And yes they keep a record of any account in any form you ever paid them with. So long as they have your account info they are free to make any charges at any time.

Of course, there's more to this today. I had to take a cash advance from this same bank account to pay for gas and food until my next pay day in two weeks. No choice. I have $75 until payday, no gas in the gas tank for a long commute and my child needs cold lunches. My plan is to pay them back with my next deposit on September 20, as that puts me in under the six month mark when I file April 1. It may or may not look like preferential treatment, but there it is. I don't want it to look like fraud. So, I can't close my account until around Sept. 20. If Lowe's attempts to pull from the account, won't US bank pay themselves first? I assume so, but invite feedback. There is $1 in there right now. There is no pending transaction from Lowes.

I finally took a call from Lowes today and after very little negotiation, they are willing to put me on a payment plan @ $10 a month for 6 months. Barclay's (Juniper) negotiated quickly down from asking for the full balance due ($3k) to $12/month for six months. I said yes to the payment plans because I really think Lowes was moving the lawsuit route and I need to keep them at bay. Not so sure about Barclays. Are these payment plans going to bite me in the butt when I file in April? Garnishment or worse, wiping out my bank balances, would be disastrous.

Has anyone heard of ccs moving an account to collections or selling it after a payment plan has been worked out over the phone? What are the negatives to this idea? I'm not certain where to look or even what to look for in Oregon Statutes concerning this.

Another thought, while I have race brain. My 2nd mortgage is automatically debited from US Bank. Does anyone have knowledge if they will allow me close my account and pay in cash or check from a different institution? Closing US Bank is going to be a major pain, and hopefully it can be done.

[Bell30656]

Yes, companies frequently accept payment plans then still file a lawsuit particularly when the payment amount is very small. In addition, each state is different, but the statute of limitations in some states runs from date of last activity meaning that any payment restarts the SOL clock.

[frmrdwn]

I kind of figured that it would restart the SOL clock. I think that's the only way it can get reset in OR. I am not too worried about that since I plan to file anyway. I am trying to buy time. If this puts them off from sending me the garnishment way for a couple of months, it helps.

Don't know if it will help or not. Perhaps, I should save that $22? Has anyone had any luck with these 6 mo. tiny payment plans, at least in terms of buying time before filing?

[catleg]

I think you'll basically be fine by paying the $22 and not having to worry about it further.

[frmrdwn]

Thanks, catleg. I was hoping you'd chime in. And with good news too!

More good news. I've completely lost my appetite. What a way to stick with a diet program.

[Bell30656]

If you are only a few months from filing why are you worried about lawsuits? Keep in mind these things don't go through our overloaded court systems in any hurry. Before I filed I had three suits filed against me. I was served on the first in November 2007, the second in February 2008 and the third in November 2008. When I filed in December 2008 none of the three had made it to a courtroom yet.

[catleg]

BB et al, remember this is a person who has a previous chapter 7 and may not be able to get back into BK until sometime middle of next year. Also these are small debts, 1000 and 3000. Finally, if just agreeing to pay them on your schedule saves you a single $35 NSF charge from the bank it's worth it. I would, however, work on getting a new bank account started somewhere else and moving direct deposit over to it. At some point this bank account will blow up with overdrafts and you want to be able to walk away from it.

[Bell30656]

Catleg has given you excellent advice. However, you could go to Walmart purchase a pre-paid Visa and use that to make your payments. This would prevent the company from having your real bank information and destroying your account.

While the overdraft fees and such may be discharged in the CH7, you would still be in the Chex System for the next five years which would make it difficult to get a bank account.

You may even want to pay by Money Order.

[catleg]

BB, no need to explain your frustration, I feel it too, we're all just serfs to the banking nobles who do what they wish with us. I still wonder if we're going to end up having a pitchforks and torches moment sometime down the road.

[frmrdwn]

Here just think about this for one minute....why are they accepting a $22 a month payment? Why not take $10 or $5? What would cause them to accept this? What ever they do it is not in your best interest.

I will say it one more time....CLOSE THE ACCOUNT... There is no reason to agree to a repayment plan if your going to be filing BK. If they are going to sue it won't matter if your paying a whole $22 or whatever a month is not going to stop them, but what you will give them is your account number. If they whack your account and start running up OD fees then what? Do you have the $35 each time they attempt to do an ACH withdrawal and you have no funds in the account? Some banks will reject a debit transaction if you don't have sufficient funds others like to process them and extend credit. So if your bank does that how do you plan to pay for that? How would someone who has to take a $75 advance to buy food plan to pay a $35 NSF charge plus (oh hell make up a number) for the payment if your bank is so nice they paid it for you? If it is a debit transaction it would probably be declined, but if its an ACH debit you will get whacked an NSF fee. So what is the one way to resolve this so you don't have to worry about it? Ya, close the account.

But do as you please, and just keep asking till you get the answer you want to hear.

I am a realist, not much of a magical thinker... I am trying to buy time with the creditors. This is my second bk, as I didn't "get it" the first time around. I can't file a ch. 7 until April 1, and a ch. 13 wouldn't be much help in my case. That's why I asked if it is worth it to send the ccs 10 or 12 bucks at a time to keep them at bay for awhile. I am willing to say I will mail them the moon if they will "sit" and "stay" for awhile. Won't use a bank check to pay them either. Will use cash to pay for a money order. Lowes and Barclays already have my US account in their systems, so don't know if it matters much anyway.

My queston is: Am I throwing good money after bad- that is, do you think Lowes (balance est. $1,000) and Barclays (balance est. $2500) will start lawsuits at the 90 day mark whether I send small payments or not? They called it a 6 month payment plan (extension or something like that). All calls have stopped since agreeing to send a few dollars. I refused to agree to an auto withdrawal over the phone. Maybe instead of sending a money order, I keep promising to try to pay, and string them along as long as possible. My thought is that they smell a bk in the works and might take whatever they can get without having to litigate. On the other hand, litigation isn't that difficult or expensive in OR. Objective feedback welcomed.

I have agreed all along that the US bank account must be closed. Stated as such in another post. I must wait for a check to clear and then I will do so. My fear is that US Bank won't let me close it. My 2nd mortgage is automatically pulled from there.

In the meantime, I have already opened two other accounts. One at Wells Fargo where I am having only one automatic deposit made in the middle of September. I need cash fast as my daughter and I have $75 to live on for the next 15 or 16 days. Don't think the creditors will get wind of that account immediately. I didn't know WF tends to freeze accounts until after my payroll dept. had set it up for direct deposit. I will close it immediately after pulling all funds from the deposit.

The Lowes cc account that I am concerned about will be around 53 days past due when the direct deposit occurs. Don't think they will try to automatically debit until the 90 day mark, but who knows. If they do so, it will be with US Bank, I think. Hopefully, US pays themselves the 2nd mortgage first. Does anyone know the exact extent of my potential screwdom?

So, I have an account at another smaller bank too. My plan is to use it if I need to. I will get paper checks beginning in October (paper checks get mailed on pay day, so it takes longer to receive funds. It's my work's attempt to make them unattractive so people use direct deposit instead.) Thought I would cash them from the bank they are drawn on.

Another question. How do I "hide" from creditors while remaining transparent with the Trustee? Must leave a paper trail for the trustee, but not let creditors into my too numerous accounts. (My plan is to have one only one open account at a small bank by the end of Sept.)

I feel like I am on the run...

[catleg]

I think if you stop paying now you can almost certainly make it to April without lawsuits and certainly without judgments or garnishment. I was mostly thinking in terms of taking the time to get your banking straightened out. If you need that money for food, by all means keep it.

As far as transparency you just have to end the automatic debits. Get a clean bank account, get a debit card, and then don't pay any cards from it and don't use the debit card for internet purchases, or let's just say be extremely prudent, because if your card number is compromised you'll really be in a world of hurt.