Dealing with an aggressive collection agent?

Question

The last two years of my life have been extreamly difficult financially. I have worked my butt off sometimes 4 jobs 80+hours a week to avoid bankruptcy and pay back all my previous bills/debts. I had a perfect credit score and numerous credit accounts that were always paid off but becuase of job loss things got a little sticky. Up until this point I have been able to negotiate "deals" with most if not all the credit companies and things are slowly getting back on track. Thats until I came on contact with this most recent collector. I spoke with someone from his office a month and a half ago and agreed on a payment. Since then I have made 3 payments, 1 of which was more then the agreed amount. Now this guy is claiming to be the manager, saying payments are not an option, lump sum only and if not wage garnishments are the only solution as they will know they have "secured" the payment. Im doing everything I can. If I had the money then I wouldnt be in this situations. Suggestions

Answer 1

tell them to stand in line if they want to sue. however, as long as you pay them something ($1 a week), they cannot do anything. your aggressive collector is making a big deal into trying to press you into payment. keep in mind, there is a job for everyone in the world, and they are just doing theirs.

Answer 2

they can call you till its paid in full. if your balance is 5000.00 and your making 1000.00 a week, they can still call and demand the balance in full.

Sounds liek they are not accepting your monthly payments.

Answer 3

If there's no question that you owe the debt, I'd continue making your payments as agreed and KEEP RECORDS... You'll be in a much better position should they decide to somehow find grounds to take you to court. Although, they can't really as you're paying.

Of course it would be better if you have something in writing stating your payment arrangement. That's usually the best thing to do... if you've made a deal over the phone, try to secure confirmation in writing by mail. Otherwise, they're probably shady. Hindsight now, I know and unfortunately this won't help your credit report, as you owe them...shady or not.

It is likely this is just a scare tactic. Collection agencies are only brought in because the creditor couldn't collect the debt. They bought the acct from your creditor to try their darndest to get it out of you. My belief is that they're taking advantage of your willingness to pay and your desire to better your credit. These collectors are trained and paid to intimidate well beyond their actual ability to collect. They will say ANYTHING to you. They will not garnish wages if you are paying as agreed. No judge will go along with that.

So my advice is to do as you're doing. If you can pay more, great.

Answer 4

by law if you ask them to stop harrasing you and calling you they are obligated to comply.  If he calls again ask him for the company name the number and the business license or broker number then inform him that you are going to report him for harrasment.

They will be angry but they will leave you alone.

Answer 5

tell them this "paying you will do nothing for my credit, therefore I sware on my life I will never ever pay you"

Answer 6

email us at [e-mail]  Maybe we can help.

Answer 7

I suggest that you file for bankruptcy and be done with it.  You won't be able to borrow any more money after that.  But why would you want to become a debt-slave again?

Get rid of your debts.  And don't ever borrow anything again.

Answer 8

Did you get anything in writing about the payment plan? Talk to a lawyer. He can't just change his mind. You are doing the best that you can do and he will just have to settle for that. If he tries to garnish your check, you will have to go to court and at that time you can defend yourself and explain your side of the story and most likely the judge will rule in your favor.

Answer 9

It  illegal for a collection person to call after you have told him / her not to call any more.  Take down their business name and report them

Answer 10

1st   NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER,......ever pay a collector ,if you owe money pay only the person/company you borrowed it from.paying a collector will only hurt your credit the company you borrowed from only gets a percentage  of what  is collected. have you signed an agreement to pay this collector or is it a verbal agreement.if no contract has been signed then don't pay him anymore money send your payments to the original lender ,and have no contact with the collector,they are full of it,they will threaten,promise ,beg,threaten again,but in the end it's too much trouble,don't hear it ignore it it's a fly buzzing around your head ,it bothers you but probably won't/can't bite........tom

Answer 11

In Calif  if you do not have any contact with them for 4 years the account is written off. Tell them to stop calling and they have to.

Answer 12

We had a friend who was raising two kids on his own and working so much that he just couldn't do it....I along with other friends told him to file for bankrupsy....that was two yrs ago....He has a new home and good credit....it's okay to file when you have done all you can and all these creditors have nothing better to do but sit on a phone...get fat and harrass you!!...Just do it!!!    Good Luck!!

Answer 13

Ha ha ha...don't you just love when these people try to bully you??  You have met your obligation by making the payments you agreed to.  He can't do squat!!  He would have to take you to court, which he will not do, in order to garnish your wages.  He's blowing tough man smoke.  When he calls, just put the phone down and walk away...he'll eventually hang up and may even eventually stop calling.  Don't let it get to you.  He probably got beat up in high school and this is how he tries to feel tough.

Answer 14

I applaud you for working so diligently in trying to get things back on course....you're really one of the few who do.

This so-calle manager is just talking smack to try to hurry up the process. Just keep sending your payments. As long as they keep accepting them, then the payment agreement still stands. If he's really serious he'll send the payments back (so not gonna happen). If he's gonna garnish your pay he has to take your to court first....that's a lengthy process and he needs a judgement against you first. Just keep up the good work and you'll soon be home free!

Answer 15

Get caller ID and never answer their phone calls.  It sounds like you are trying, never give up.  I'd recommend you get "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey.  He also has a great talk show on the AM station.

Send them a letter stating that you will pay them a certain amount of money every month until it's paid for.  

Dave Ramsey says "Cash is king, and debt is dumb".

Answer 16

Continue making on-time payments.  Most companies will accept payment as long as they are periodic and on time.    Have you checked into consolidation assistance.  I hear them advertised often and would think they would be of great assistance in your case.

Good Luck to you.  It's a rough situation to be in - I have been forced to relocate to find steady/permanent employment.  It seems as though the temporary services are killing our opportunity for full time employment with benefits.  It's too bad our government cant see this.

Again good luck!!

Answer 17

I used to work for a large collection company, I was up in the executive level so I didn't really get a chance to be part of the madness on the collection level, but I do know this:  If you even HINT that you have money, they will try to get it from you.  Try calling in yourself and before giving any information, ask for a manager (usually doesn't work).  Tell them you would like to set up a payment plan.  DO THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH.  Most collectors have monthly goals that they need to achieve.  If you call in at the beginning of the month, you are more likely to get "friendly" people.  If you talk to someone on the 31st and they are $1,000 off their goal, they are going to fight tooth and nail to try to hit it.

Email me the name of the agency that called you if you want more specific advice (I know people at many of the large agencies and how they operate).

One more thing to consider, if this is a 3rd party that OWNS the account they have a lot more options available than if they are an AGENCY that are collecting on behalf of the owner.

Ask them if the account has been referred to legal yet.  If not, then tell them that they are in violation of the FDCPA (fair debt collections practices act) by threatening garnishment when it has not yet even been determined to be legally possible.  Do yourself a favor and find a copy of the FDCPA and see if any violations have been made.  If you start throwing around quotes from it, they may be a bit more accepting of a lower payment plan.

The system is flawed for people in your situation who are honestly trying to get back on track.  It sucks and I know it, but if you keep a cool head (don't yell at them), and rationalize with them, you just might get a good deal.  Hopefully you can use some of this info.