Got A Call From B of A Today

[epiphany]

Straight to voicemail.

Hi, I am so and so and I know you are filing BK (I had told them) but we couldn't get a hold of your lawyer and we really want to work something out with you because it would be better for you in the long run..yada..yada..yada...please call us back..thank you so much.

What, do I have schmuck written across the forehead I used to bang against the wall when they wouldn't work it out with me?

Too little, too late.



EP

[tallberry]

Yea, I am sure we all can sympathize! I remember back about 6 months ago when we were still desperately trying to pay everyone. We were never late (not one minute) and called a CC to see if they would lower the minimum payment for 6 months...they actually laughed. They said when you get behind a month or two, give us a call, until then forget it! Okay, so now they get ZILCH in our BK...serves them right!! I hope B of A isn't getting a red cent from you!

[qwertysue]

Not only a little too late, they violated your rights by calling. Morons.

.

[rilbrianne]

Not only a little too late, they violated your rights by calling. Morons.

.

Not if they haven't filed yet. But I think we've all been here before, wondering "why the h*ll are you calling now instead of back when I ASKED to work it out." Their loss.

[qwertysue]

Not if they haven't filed yet. But I think we've all been here before, wondering "why the h*ll are you calling now instead of back when I ASKED to work it out." Their loss.

Doh! That'll teach me to post before my morning coffee! Oh well, they're morons any how

[Lindsay]

I had a nasty collection agency call yesterday to try to work things out. I told the very aggressive collector that we had retained a lawyer to file bankruptcy and would be filing in a few weeks. I started to give him the lawyers name and he refused to take it. He offered me settlement of 60 cents on the dollar. It was an actual collection agency who bought the debt from the original creditor (last payment in July 07).

I said, "Here I'll give you the lawyers name and phone number."
He said, "I don't want to deal with a lawyer, just you."
I said, "Well, let me give you the information on our lawyer."
He said, "I will not mark the lawyers information on the account; I wish to talk to only you."

The conversation got more and more ridiculous. I said, "I'll call the lawyer tomorrow to ask about this offer you are making." He said, "No, No! Don't call the lawyer; he'll tell you to continue to file the bankruptcy because he needs business too."

Are they allowed to refuse to take the lawyer information? I thought that according to FDCA, once you hired a lawyer to represent the debt, they had to go through the lawyer? I guess I will be sending a C & D letter.

I agree with Epiphany. Too little too late. This particuliar company (our largest creditor) was one of the only ones who refused to work out any deal or smaller payment with us when we tried to avoid bankruptcy. Now its too late.

[Dirk Squarejaw]

BoA calls me 6-7 times per day. I just put their number in my cell and turned it to 'silent' for their calls. I'm 2 months behind and they are ruthless. Called me 9 times (almost hourly) on Sunday from 9:30am until 7:48pm. They don't want to work with me yet and I'm sure they'll pull the same stuff when I start referring them to my lawyer. I've read lots of contradictory feedback on BoA from they don't bother calling people to they are one of the worst. In my case, its been the latter. I haven't heard a peep out of either Chase card, Kohls, and only 1 call each from Discover and Cap One.

[magyar123]

When the guy told you that he only wants to deal with you and not a lawyer, you should have told him to F... Off, and hung up on him.

[Penny Less]

Not if they haven't filed yet. But I think we've all been here before, wondering "why the h*ll are you calling now instead of back when I ASKED to work it out." Their loss.

Yeah its like what do they expect when they do that to us?

I just stopped paying my BoA visa - when I called to ask for a lower apr / more reasonable payments / anything etc because I couldn't make the payments I was told I needed to make a large payment towards the principle before they would consider it. LOL

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Ep, you're right. According to the FDCPA, once a creditor knows you have an attorney representing you in regard to that particular debt, they MUST work with the attorney. In my opinion, that whole "We can't get a hold of him," is a crock. Reasonable period of time is not hours, and they would have to prove when they called the attorney. It was an attempt to get around point 6 of the below section of the FDCPA.

Also, Lindsay, the refusal of a creditor to take the name and number of the attorney is obviously an effort to circumvent the requirements of the FDCPA, but an ignorant one: once you said "I have an attorney," it was over, and that he refused to take the name and contact info doesn't mean diddly-squat, it was still "readily ascertainable". Check out what the law actually says (it's the last line of the section):

Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall --
(1) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer;
(2) not state that such consumer owes any debt;
(3) not communicate with any such person more than once unless requested to do so by such person or unless the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and that such person now has correct or complete location information;
(4) not communicate by post card;
(5) not use any language or symbol on any envelope or in the contents of any communication effected by the mails or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business or that the communication relates to the collection of a debt; and
(6) after the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with regard to the subject debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney's name and address, not communicate with any person other than that attorney, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to the communication from the debt collector.

I hate collectors. Pfft. My only regret about bk is that I didn't cost a particular one that was harassing me and my family a great deal more than I did. Isn't that terrible? Good luck!!!

[epiphany]

You know Flad, you have a good point. Well, all your points are truly brilliant but it's been like two weeks since I told them about the BK and they couldn't get a hold of my lawyer?????

Yeah right.

EP

[FreshLikeADaisy]

You are so sweet, Ep. Sweeter than I am brilliant, I think...

You might want to throw that FDCPA violation in when you send your cease and desist... it can only help. (Jerks.)

Good luck!!!

[I want out]

The thing is, the people calling you are just working slobs like the rest of us, and their actions are governed by the rules set forth by whoever owns the debt.

To some degree, you've got to feel sorry for the schmucks. Can you imagine having THAT conversation 40-50 times or more each day? What kind of attitude, what kind of worldview would you have to have in order to keep doing that job every day?

The better your payment history, the fewer options you have [read: NONE]. I think this is based on the idea that if you've been responsible in the past, you'll skin yourself alive to maintain your credit score. Unfortunately, these techniques, and this approach, work often enough that they're going to continue to use them.

We live in a screwed-up world where the system often doesn't reward those of us who really would prefer to keep everything afloat and eventually get everybody paid.