We are offered $750 to Settle Unfair Debt Collections

[LostNFound]

We were harassed by a debt collection company (USB) on behalf of Chase. Keeping this brief, they yelled at me, hung up on me, called my sister in law, my father in law and threatened our 14 year old daughter. 3 days after these things took place, we received a letter stating that they have made several attempts to contact us and we had 30 days to respond to the letter or dispute the debt.

I have an attorney that I contacted who immediately sent them a letter and confronted them about the unfair collections practices they used on us.

Today, they submitted an offer to settle for $750 out of court. We have a $24,000 credit card that they were trying to collect on.

Do I agree to settle for this simple amount? Or push the envelope? What would you do?

[MSbklawyer]

and threatened our 14 year old daughter. Today, they submitted an offer to settle for $750 out of court. Do I agree to settle for this simple amount?

Oh, HELL no! They threatened your daughter? Your 14 year old female child? What did they say to her? I'm mad as hell about it and she's not even my kid! Depending on how severe it was, I could see a judge awarding low five figures for something like this. Plus attorney's fees. The going rate here is $1500 plus attorney fees for a simple letter that violates the stay. But to threaten a child? A little girl? If I was the judge, those %#!&%^$ers would need another bailout.

If one of these skum sucking sharks said something out of the way to any daughter that I had, I would want a minimum of 10K for her, a similar amount for me, and a very public apology. Otherwise we're going to have to get into scenes with toenails and pliers and hot needles and eyeballs and such.

Seriously, I would threaten to go to the media with something like this.

[LostNFound]

ha ha ha....ok, well, I was trying to keep it short and sweet. But to get a fair understanding...I'll tell you what happened .

My husband and I left to go to my 16 yr olds football game out of town. It was a cold, dark, rainy night (typical football game). We opted to have our 2 younger daughters stay home. Our 14 yr old babysits and agreed to stay back due to the weather and watch the youngest. Shortly after leaving, USB called our home (using our phone number to show up on our caller id). My daughter doesn't answer the phone when we are gone UNLESS it is us. Well, having her home number show up on the ID confused her so she answered it.
Long story short, the woman accused of her lying when she said we were gone. She proceeded to tell her that we were just here and where did we go. She tried to answer her questions, but the lady got more persistent. She wanted to know another number to get in touch with us and my dd wouldn't give it to her. Then she got angry and said that her parents have been running for a long time and we better get a lawyer because we are in big trouble and they are about to catch us.

My daughter freaked out and was crying. She had no idea where this woman was when she called and naturally thought her safety was in question. I was furious.

[MSbklawyer]

ha ha ha....ok, well, I was trying to keep it short and sweet. But to get a fair understanding...I'll tell you what happened .

My husband and I left to go to my 16 yr olds football game out of town. It was a cold, dark, rainy night (typical football game). We opted to have our 2 younger daughters stay home. Our 14 yr old babysits and agreed to stay back due to the weather and watch the youngest. Shortly after leaving, USB called our home (using our phone number to show up on our caller id). My daughter doesn't answer the phone when we are gone UNLESS it is us. Well, having her home number show up on the ID confused her so she answered it.
Long story short, the woman accused of her lying when she said we were gone. She proceeded to tell her that we were just here and where did we go. She tried to answer her questions, but the lady got more persistent. She wanted to know another number to get in touch with us and my dd wouldn't give it to her. Then she got angry and said that her parents have been running for a long time and we better get a lawyer because we are in big trouble and they are about to catch us.

My daughter freaked out and was crying. She had no idea where this woman was when she called and naturally thought her safety was in question. I was furious.

Frankly, I'd be ready to kill somebody.

I wish I knew a good plaintiff's lawyer in Iowa to refer you to but I don't. But don't let this go for a mere $750. Not only sue Chase and USB, but find out who that sadistic witch is and sue her in her personal capacity. That's just beyond the pail of human decency to do that to a child.

I would LOVE to put a sympathetic 14 year old girl on the stand and have her tell that story to a jury.

[NoMoreCards]

Frankly, I'd be ready to kill somebody.

I wish I knew a good plaintiff's lawyer in Iowa to refer you to but I don't. But don't let this go for a mere $750. Not only sue Chase and USB, but find out who that sadistic witch is and sue her in her personal capacity. That's just beyond the pail of human decency to do that to a child.

I would LOVE to put a sympathetic 14 year old girl on the stand and have her tell that story to a jury.

You make me want to move to MS!! Lol!!
But I have to tell you, I am furious as well. I would be looking to roll a few heads if my daughter had gone through that.

OP, I wish you the best. But I wouldn't settle for a lousy 750 bucks either. Your DD deserves more than that for undue emotional stress. It is hard enough to be a teen, without these kinds of people freaking them out.

[DeadManCrawling]

There are collectors who have been sanctioned into the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for similar actions. I am not saying this will be the case here, but you DO have a case.

You have the upper hand. Find an attorney who considers this as serious as we do, and they may work on a percentage. If they do, run this into the ground.

You are in command now. Make them pay.

You will be doing ALL of us debtors a favor.

Best,

-dmc

[Snickers]

MSbklawyer - please don't hold back...tell us how you really feel.

[jwmc1]

file suit against the bank and the agency...GO AFTER THE BANK!!!!

[LostNFound]

See, that's my fear here. I don't WANT to put my child through anymore then she already has had to go through. We've tried very hard to shelter our kids from the financial stress that we are under. I don't think kids need to worry about finances and this is difficult to explain to them.

Now, we have to decide if we push this or leave it alone.

[MSbklawyer]

MSbklawyer - please don't hold back...tell us how you really feel.

LOL.

I just thought I hated debt collectors until I read that post.

But seriously, this is why I believe that debt collectors are the lowest form of worm excrement that there is. Scenes like this play out every day. I've known them to prey on the elderly, the mentally infirm, the depressed &c. But a child? Bringing a child to tears because her parents are on financial hard times? That's a new low. But I bet it happens 1000 times a day. This is just the case we heard about.

[MSbklawyer]

See, that's my fear here. I don't WANT to put my child through anymore then she already has had to go through. We've tried very hard to shelter our kids from the financial stress that we are under. I don't think kids need to worry about finances and this is difficult to explain to them.

Now, we have to decide if we push this or leave it alone.

You need to let my boys come live with you and answer the phone. They would have laughed at her, farted into the telephone receiver and then hung up on her.

[jwmc1]

you won't need to do anything, those clowns will fold like a lawn chair

[LostNFound]

I agree with ALL your points. But if I bring my daughter into this and she is forced to take the stand....will I be any better then them?? Will I be putting her through MORE stress?? Seriously, the idea of looking at the inside of a courtroom is hard enough for ME to think about, much less expecting my child to get on the stand and testify.

I also agree that what they did was wrong and we DO have a case. But isn't this going to come down to "he said-she said" type of thing? And in the case of a 14 year old girl, will those big attorney's just gobble her up and spit her out? I keep thinking about that show, Boston Legal, and I think that I can't put her through that.

Now, that being said, if it was me...and I could shelter my daughter from this, I would do it!! Is there any way to push this issue to the point of "almost" going to court? Would that be possible?? Or do I counter them with some sort of offer?

My attorney has advised me to speak with another attorney in my state. He is suggesting that I have a strong case and I will meet with this attorney tomorrow at 2pm (over the phone). I just want them to wipe away my debt that is $25K and call it good. Would they do that much? ha ha....

See, my reality is that I'm about to file bankruptcy anyway. We meet with an attorney next week for that discussion. So, any money that I may potentially make will be taken from me. At that point, I have to question if it's really worth putting my child through any of this. It's hard to know what the decent and right answers are to all my questions.....I wish I was a lawyer. I would just sue the crap out of people and take names later. ha!

[Snickers]

Ya'know, I re-read your first post and something doesn't make sense.

Right out of the gate they offered you a $750 settlement on a $24k debt? Something ain't right here.

If the time line is:
They contacted you (yelled, hung up), then
called your SIL and FIL, then
called and talked to your daughter.
Three days later you get the dunning letter.

They are then confronted by your Attorney (this was probably a surprise to them)

Today you are offered $750 on $24k (someone else can do the math, lol) to settle out of court...but they never mentioned court before?

I think either USB knows they screwed up and will probably get sued and/or they have no way to validate the debt and/or the debt is out of SOL.

Something just ain't right.

How old is this debt? I believe USB knows they screwed up

[MSbklawyer]

I agree with ALL your points. But if I bring my daughter into this and she is forced to take the stand....will I be any better then them?? Will I be putting her through MORE stress??

Sure, it will be stressful for her, but not as nearly as stressful as it would be for them. She'll get over it.

But isn't this going to come down to "he said-she said" type of thing?

Probably not, because these places record their conversations verbatim. But you'd need to move quickly. They only keep this stuff so long. Your attorney would request the recordings as soon as he filed suit.

And in the case of a 14 year old girl, will those big attorney's just gobble her up and spit her out?

No, they'd be gentle as lambs is my guess. The very last thing you want to do as a defense lawyer is to beat up on a kid and make her cry in front of a jury. That can cost big money.

Now, that being said, if it was me...and I could shelter my daughter from this, I would do it!! Is there any way to push this issue to the point of "almost" going to court? Would that be possible?? Or do I counter them with some sort of offer?

The best settlements are always made in the shadow of the courthouse. But you'd have to be prepared to go to court.

See, my reality is that I'm about to file bankruptcy anyway. We meet with an attorney next week for that discussion. So, any money that I may potentially make will be taken from me.

But your daughter has her own claim. Completely independent of yours.

And nobody would fault you if you didn't do this. It won't make you nor her rich. But there is the principle. Why don't you let her decide.