Zombie debt collectors dig up your old mistakes

[bkfiler]

The amount that companies pay for bad debt depends on the type of account and its age. In general, McVity said:

Debts that have recently been charged off: 6 to 7 cents on the dollar.

Accounts that are slightly older and on which a collection agency or two has already taken a whack: 1.5 cents to 2 cents on the dollar.

Years-old, out-of-statute debts: A penny or less.



Bait-and-switch credit cards. Some credit card companies have offered borrowers low-rate credit cards and then tacked old, charged-off debts -- often purchased from other lenders -- onto the balance. The card issuers typically insist they disclosed that the old debts would come with the cards, Szwak said, but the borrowers say no such disclosure was made.(im waiting to actually see this but i do keep seeing it talked about.)Paying off can hurt your credit score

[bkfiler]

ugggg! can you believe i just now got an old debt mailed to me for payments by a collection agency. its freaking almost 20 years old and i even listed it on my petition as well haha.

guess im gonna send them i certitied letter tomorrow. but, why cant i sue them right now. its past SOL. their letter was send during the court stay and they were notified.

well except they bought it from the people that were notified. boy aint this a bunch of BS lol.

if was a $35 gas station bill now its $300 something. maybe i should send them $1 and promose to pay? what do you guys think of that? hehe


*leans back, looks toward sky - dreaming of $1000 lawsuit pocket cash*

[so-beyond-broke]

The zombies dug me out of the grave too!

Hi Bk,

I wish I read this 2 1/2 years ago before paying out. Back in 2003, a collection agency - Performance Capital Management started hounding me for a debt that I incurred when I first started college in 1990. I was young and in college and it was so simple to get a CC esp if you were a college student and even w/o a job! Needless to say I got a card for $500. I was paying on it and so was my mom at the time. Anyway I moved away from home and at my last recollection the bill was about $200. The bill was still coming to my mom's house and she never forwarded the bill to me and at one point she mentioned that she paid the bill for me. Never heard about the CC anymore because I wasn't using it and never got a new one - so I thought it was a dead issue. mom must have not been completely truthful about helping me out and paying the bill. After all I never had seen this card on my CR's over the years. So one day this company started mailing me bills for this CC which originally had a limit of $500 was now reading $2000. I couldn't imagine why was it so inflated, but I guess 12 years of interest would do that. I ignored the letters and they then got a hold of both my work and home numbers and started to harrass me about how if I didn't pay them it would ruin my credit. At that time I had fairly decent credit and was concerned about this so I fell for their crap. I ended up paying a $650 settlement on this account that was closed in 1991. After reading this post, I really feel like I have been had. Boy it didn't ever occur to me about the SOL. Had I knew about the SOL I would have told this company what to do with their offer!!

I am learning something new each day,

so-beyond-broke

The amount that companies pay for bad debt depends on the type of account and its age. In general, McVity said:

Debts that have recently been charged off: 6 to 7 cents on the dollar.

Accounts that are slightly older and on which a collection agency or two has already taken a whack: 1.5 cents to 2 cents on the dollar.

Years-old, out-of-statute debts: A penny or less.



Bait-and-switch credit cards. Some credit card companies have offered borrowers low-rate credit cards and then tacked old, charged-off debts -- often purchased from other lenders -- onto the balance. The card issuers typically insist they disclosed that the old debts would come with the cards, Szwak said, but the borrowers say no such disclosure was made.(im waiting to actually see this but i do keep seeing it talked about.)Paying off can hurt your credit score

[SinkingFast]

I bet this is what happened to my Mom.

Brother had taken over managing the finances on Mom's house for several years. A couple times she found out he didn't pay the taxes. Neighbors told her they'd seen her house advertised in the tax sale in the newspaper. She got those taken care of. He let the insurance go and didn't tell her. The last 4 or 5 years, she had no homeowners. Her house was being taken by an airport expansion plan. The airport people had been to her house, did the appraisal, and made the buy-out offer. Mom called the Assessor's Office to make sure she was current on all her taxes. Yep. No outstanding taxes due on her house.

Outa the blue, Mom got a letter in the mail from an attny. Said she owed some company in Florida for 3 years of old taxes, plus penalties, plus interest. Mom got all in a dither. Worried that she needed a clean title to sign over to the airport. Mom paid the whole amount because she was afraid the airport would kill the buy-out deal if she didn't pay up.

After they got payment, they sent her some sort of release paperwork. That company bought up Mom's old tax debt several years before they had that attny contact her. They were waiting for the right moment to strike hoping to get lucky. Who better to hit than an old woman about to sell her house at a premium to the Airport in a Court ordered Sound Remediation Settlement. I'd bet money, the County sold off those old taxes for pennies on the dollar just to get rid of them.

[lostsoul23]

I have to admit, I am SO ready for the phone to ring with a zombie collector. Knowing what I know now, I will have a field day. (Or maybe I'm just in the mood for a good fight.) :P

[quest42]

Which educational loans can survive bankruptcy?

As I understand it, my niece took out a tuition loan in the 1980's. She began some courses, but the school went out of business before the term ended. She got no credit for the incomplete courses. She did not pay on the loan.

She declared bankruptcy in California years later.

Recently, she's had dunning letters from a creditor. They say they purchased that old loan from the school. They claim that educational loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, survive statutes of limitations, and claim that she now owes over $10,000 in principal, interest, and late fees.

Is this legally true? What can she do? I can get more details, if it would help to find a solution.

Maybe this should have been posted here... http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...6177#post56177

[nc73]

As I understand it, my niece took out a tuition loan in the 1980's. She began some courses, but the school went out of business before the term ended. She got no credit for the incomplete courses. She did not pay on the loan.

She declared bankruptcy in California years later.

Recently, she's had dunning letters from a creditor. They say they purchased that old loan from the school. They claim that educational loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, survive statutes of limitations, and claim that she now owes over $10,000 in principal, interest, and late fees.

Is this legally true? What can she do? I can get more details, if it would help to find a solution.

Maybe this should have been posted here... http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...6177#post56177

Yup student loans has no statute of limitation. Most don't get discharged either.

[HeatherB]

Zombie debt collectors dig up your old mistakes

Bait-and-switch credit cards. Some credit card companies have offered borrowers low-rate credit cards and then tacked old, charged-off debts -- often purchased from other lenders -- onto the balance. The card issuers typically insist they disclosed that the old debts would come with the cards, Szwak said, but the borrowers say no such disclosure was made.(im waiting to actually see this but i do keep seeing it talked about.)

.

Got one for DH..... Well, the debt isn't out of Statue of Limitations but I'll give you a few exerpts from it....

"Resurgent Capital Services L.P. is expanding the obtions available to you to resolve your debt. LVNV Funding LLC now owns the debt you originally owed to Citibank (original account number XXXXX). As of the date of this letter, the balance you owe on your debt is $655.65. This debt remains seriously past due."

Blah Blah Blah....

"Resurgent is offering you and opportunity to resolve this debt. Arrangements have been made for you to obtain a Pre-Approved* Visa credit card issued through XXXXX Bank. You can pay your debt in full by balance transferring $590.00 of your debt to a new Visa credit card, and when your card is issued, the remaining $65.65 will be forgiven."

Then the terms are on the back. It says that if he gets the card, he will have to make $20 payments that will "free up" his credit line.

Ummm APR 19.%
Grace period (20 days)
annual fee ($35 - waived the first year)
Min Finance (.50)
Cash advance fee (3% but not less than $5)
Balance transfer fee (none)
Late Charge/overlimit fee (19.00)


Okay, initially I was a little excited because my DH's credit is POOR around 500 across the board. I'm just too afraid that somehow they will find something to charge us with. Then it has in bold letters "The terns of your Visa credit account, including any APR (or how calculated) are subject to change at any time".

Then another part says, "Debt Balance Disclosure: The owner of this debt may have the right to add interest to your debt while it remains unpaid.... "The interest rate that would be charged on the new card account may be higher than the interest rate the owner may be charging on your unpaid debt." - DUH!

That really scares the crap out of me.

Sorry, Resurgent, no love for you and a new CC!

Keep in mind, though that my DH has not filed Bk. It does state on their that if you are making payments already to them, already have this offer, are in bankruptcy or have discharged it in bankruptcy that this offer is not valid.

[truckerswife]

My attorney just told me that the statue for an old debt is 15 years. We had B-Real and Resergent Capital Services file on old debt from '97. I am in Ohio and we lived in Texas when we incurred the debt.

[lizbebe]

Beware: WAMU and charged-off loans

Well it appears that WAMU has already figured out this game, regardless of the age of the debt.

They signed a binding document with us last year during the short sale of our home, then they popped out from underneath a rock while we were going through the bankruptcy to harass us about our zero balance HELOC.

Their attitude now is "screw you" (a common WAMU philosophy): we are still going to try and collect on this debt.

As a result, I am making sure to include my old (paid off and charged off) WAMU mortgages on my BK so this company can't touch me. If I need to include more zero balance banking or credit cards, so be it. This eliminates surprises later on.



This is why I left this bank after many years -- they don't give a @$^& about their customers. They are forever crippled by their own stupidity.