Major Bank visa cards

[DYLAN150]

I owe a major bank for two different Visa cards. ( large credit lines) Both are close to the same amount and both about 15 months past due. One account was turned over to a Collection agency and I asked them for debt validation and never heard back from them. The other account, I have never received anything about it. How can a person owe a major Bank $16K and 15 months go by and you never get one letter, one phone call or receive anything about it in reference to what I owe? Has anyone else experience this? I am not complaining but just find it a little weird.

This same bank was in the new's a few weeks back about selling it's debt and couldn't locate some of their records.

[JessMN]

Wouldn't it be nice if they lost your record??

[DYLAN150]

Jess: I am not that lucky!

[treehugger1]

I do believe that the DV requests can be your ally. Note that in the "mini-miranda" sent by CA's and JDB's these collectors always state that if you request verification within 30 days, that they will obtain and forward this information to you. Out of approximately, 23-25 defaulted accounts going back to 2006, I have had only 5-6 return simple verification information. Four of these led to suits. All of the other accounts simply sit rotting in JDB hell, or have been passed off to so many other CA's that I do believe they are "lost" or perhaps they are considered worthless.

If it has only been 15 months, you should expect to hear from future CA's regarding the debts. On the other hand, if one of these creditors/JDB's has reason to believe you are collection proof, you may never hear from anyone related to the debt. Large consumer debts can be a real pain-in-the-a to collect on, unless you live in some state that allows a continual wage garnishment that does not require renewal every 30 - 90 days.

I also have a very large debt with a financial institution that has not contacted me for at least three years. Perhaps they are just waiting for some particular amount of time to issue a 1099C. I noticed that a few of my creditors sent me 1099's this year. This was a first. It was also the case that the debts were rapidly approaching SOL.

In the end, who knows why creditors/CA's/JDB's act or fail to act?

[GoingDown]

The longer you go without hearing from them, the less likely you are to hear from them.

They are probably passively monitoring your credit reports for any sign of life. They merely subscribe to a service which does this for them, and will often just let your account sit there on the back burner until they notice some collection triggers.

Strangely enough, in my experience, the larger the debt, the less likely they were to sue me, or to come after me aggressively-- that is after the first year of course. That first year was horrible. For the first 6 months the original creditors and their collection agencies called me relentlessly. Then most of them sold off the debts to junk debt buyers, and for about 3 to 6 months after they bought the debts, they hounded me relentlessly.

Then one by one, they started getting tired. Fewer and fewer phone calls and letters. I would send them a cease and desist letter and a judgment proof paragraph each time they passed the debt to a new collection agency. And then they would drop dead and stop calling me. Some of them called former employers and relatives and even my landlord to ask about me, and I guess they didn't like the information they received.

They started to figure out that even if they did sue me, they weren't going to get anything. So, they eventually gave up and fell silent.

Just recently, one of my old SOL-expired debts was sold off to a new junk debt buyer. They called relatives looking for me. I sent them a modified form of my C & D letter, and have received 5 calls on my Google Voice number from them, and am now in the process of trying to get them to pay me for a FDCPA violation. I sent a demand for payment letter plus transcripts of the recordings by certified mail to their local registered agent in Arizona. It's nice to chase after them for money for a change. I have no fear of them suing me and winning because the debt has had no payments from me since 2005. It is way past even the new SOL for my state.

But for them to never come after you, even in the first year is odd. The account must have been lost in their records somehow.

Let sleeping dogs lie! Don't wake them up!