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Posts Tagged ‘collection debt old’

Your credit score, and your criminal record. Both depend on your past actions, both can make you or break you, and both follow you around for a really long time. But, only you, and maybe your lawyer, know your criminal record. Your credit score is a whole other story. It can be pulled when you apply for a new credit card, go for that new job, try to get a new car, or even try to move in to a new place.

The majority of people do not think anything of it when they hand over a debit card to purchase something, but not those that have been burned by debit cards, debit cards that can be used like credit cards. Last summer, a native of San Jose, California utilized his debit card to book a rental car that he aimed to drive from Memphis Tennessee to Saint Louis while he took a vacation.

The car supposedly would have cost him about two hundred and forty dollars. When he went to buy something in Memphis, he found out that his bank account had been frozen. What had happened was that the rental car agency had put a five hundred dollar hold on his account, an amount that was high enough to trigger a fraud alert at his bank. The man got his account reactivated immediately, but the five hundred dollar hold remained. Not even until he turned in the car, but for two days afterward.

Although an oldie, apparently still a goodie. Enjoying a boost in popularity recently, the fake bill collector scheme still fools unwitting victims.

First, you will get a phone call from a number that will not be recognizable. Sometimes, it will seem legitimate, but ultimately, not familiar. When you get the call, the person calling will let you know that they are a debt collector with so and so debt collection agency, and that this is an attempt to collect debt. At times, the phonies have been known to claim that they are working in addition to a local lawyer to get your delinquent account settled. The conman will tell you that you have accumulated a large amount of debt from a previous account. Typically, the crooks will tell you that you potentially owe them thousands, but if you are willing to settle, they will “settle: for, oh say, five hundred dollars. And could you wire the money via Western Union?

From 1999 to 2009, premium costs for family insurance have risen by one hundred and thirty one percent. That’s easily over three times the rate at which working wages rose during this time. In this period of economic hardship, millions of jobs have been lost, putting workers who have just lost their jobs at risk of living without health insurance also. For those who remain employed, employers are pushing more of the costs of health insurance onto their employees as they struggle with economic uncertainty. Then there are blue collar and retail workers, waitresses and the like who are paid less, work harder and are not offered health insurance plans at their jobs. No wonder that Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills.

When does a collections agent over the phone cross over the line into harassment? Collection agencies are restricted from utilizing obscene language or threats of violence. However, they are allowed to insult your integrity and make you feel bad about the person you are.

Anecdotal stories about collectors asserting that a debt cannot be negotiated, settled or paid off more slowly have been circulated. Collectors have been known to rudely ask when a debtor is going to pay, and then reject a debtors offer as not enough. This is not true or acceptable, as a consumer you always have the ability to negotiate.

It is true that Americans with overdue debts will typically be subject to a number of retributions. Collection letters, phone calls, unfavorable credit scores and a chance to wind up in court are examples of punishments for non-compliance.

However, a new trend that is growing is debtors suing debt collectors first. Any violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can be valid reason alone to take a collector to court. It might be true that in a declining economy suing a debt collection agency instead of paying off what you owe may be your only choice. There were 8,347 consumer lawsuits filed against collection companies in 2009. That’s a 55 percent increase over 2009 and double that number filed in 2007.