Anyone have any useful game on "FINANCIAL RECOVERY SERVICES, INC.", a collection agency out of Minneapolis?? On the Net, there are the usual "complaints" about them, but nothing on the following issue. Recently got hardcopy collection letter from them behind what they claim is $5,500 I owe a long-abandoned BofA credit card. Admittedly, I DO owe said card $3,000, but I have not figured-in accrued interest, late fees, etc. QUESTION: Is it common practice for THIS particular agency to ACTUALLY SUE in court?? Although some have said that such a question cannot be answered, well, I still suspect that SOMEONE out there CAN answer it. Besides, there should be actual STATISTICS available as to the number of COURT actions said agency has commenced during whatever period of time. THANKS!
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Debt Purchasers
Since nobody seems to have responded to this thread, and since it has general trends, I would comment generally as follows:
If your BofA card is quite old since the last activity (that is, pmt by you or anybody acting on your behalf), the odds are that the debt has been sold off. The banks do not carry old balances as they are non-accruing and are written off the books as uncollectable. So outfits like "Financial Recovery" buy these debts, typically for mere pennies (yours was likely 6-8 cents on the dollar) but buy "in bulk," e.g. bid on 5,000 accounts in one basket. The trick for the FRA outfits of the world is then to try to collect what they can. So now they start to hound you.
Debt-purchasers canfile suit like any other creditor, but remember that defenses arise that do not exist in the context of the original lender that is collecting its own debts. Principal among these is the FDCPA, 16 USC 1692.
As a practical matter, suit is filed against those who, according to data-mining outfits like ChoicePoint, look like they actually might have the assets or the income to pay. But if you are going to file for bankruptcy anyway, then doing so makes the exercise valueless for them. If you are filing Ch. 13, then be sure to file the debt as "contested" so that the new outfit has to file a Proof of Claim before the bar date, and you can commence an adversary proceeding to challenge the debt, or at least the add-ons. The new outfit will have to provide documentation that they actually purchased your particular debt, and for how much, and attempt to unravel all the additional fees (if they included those in the proof of claim), and the legal costs of doing that will overshadow the potential recovery, so as a practical matter they will likely simply abandon the claim.
Claims of $40,000 and $50,000 have been abandoned, so your $3K is not going to attract much enthusiasm. Hope this analysis helps. -
For "JustFileSuit:
THANKS for that info.!!! After no responses, at all, to my original "thread" here, I had simply abandoned this forum. But, today, with yet another (redundant) collection letter from that same "Financial Recovery Services" agency, I thought that I should re-check my ancient "thread" on this matter, and, surprize, I saw there was ONE lonely reply.
Thats just the kind of info. I hoped I might get, from somebody out there!! And, I will take your advice and "contest" their claim, even if it's merely an academic exercize. THANKS again --- mkjrosen ([email protected])Comment
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