I’m sending a debt settlement offer to a collections agency and need to know if it should be hand written or typed. And i also read that i shouldnt sign it. Should i sign it or not?

Technorati Tags: collections agency, Debt Settlement

Well I owe this debt from an apartment lease broken back in 2005. It’s just now caught up with me so I called the company that owns the debt to settle and they agreed. Just being cautious and making sure that the company doesn’t sell the remainder debt to another company, I demanded a settlement letter stating my judgment, damages and attorney fees are settled with that apartment complex, the rep got an attitude and said he wouldn’t deal with me and could not do that. He had his manager call me back who rudely said I must pay by the deadline or the amount will go up then promptly hung up. I’ve called the court, the apartment complex and neither of them know who this collection agency is BUT the collections agency the apartment deals with did claim they sold the debt to this business that I’m dealing with. So anyway, I went to the apartment complex today and they sat with me as I called the collections agency. The same jerk answered and after I told him who I was and that I’m ready to make the payment at the apartment office and would like a faxed settlement letter, they immediately hung up. I called back and they hung up again. The third time I called back I got their after hours voice mail. I am at a loss at what to do. I want to rectify this situation but can’t seem to because the people I’m dealing with seems like a scam. BUT the apartment complex and court both state I need to pay the collections people because the account was sold. I do not trust them. What should I do?????????????????????

Technorati Tags: apartment office, attitude, attorney fees, collections agency, damages, jerk, judgment, remainder, third time, voice mail

I had a debt (that I was in dispute of) placed for collection in Aug 1998, which was over eight years ago. It was removed from my credit report in 2005, but I just received a phone call from a collections agency, Diversified Collections Services (DCS) asking to call back and settle. Is federal law seven years, ten years, or longer? Thanks.

Technorati Tags: collections agency, collections services, credit report, phone call, seven years

I recently settled with a collections agency for 60% of the amount owed on a debt. The next day the lady calls me back and says that they actually can’t settle for that amount and it has to be 80%. She says she wasn’t supposed to settle for 60% and she almost lost her job because of it. They’ve already billed me for the 60%. So my question is: Is this legal?

Technorati Tags: collections agency, job

Beginning two weeks ago I began receiving calls from an agency stating that I needed to call them back immediately. After two or three calls, I finally spoke with someone and realized that it was a collections agency. They were demanding payment for an outstanding balance of roughly 0 at a radiology clinic from February 2006. I was completely puzzled by this because A) so much time had passed and B) I was pretty sure I had paid that years ago. I asked them to send me a letter in writing that they were attempting to collect a debt. They denied my request and said that I should contact the clinic for details on the debt. I was traveling on business but made plans to contact the clinic as soon as I returned to my office. In the course of the next week, the collections agency called me at least two additional times, sometimes as late as 8:00PM at night. I kept telling them that I needed to talk to the right person at the clinic before I could commit to any type of payment arrangement on the 0 balance.

Finally I was able to speak to someone at the clinic this morning that handled their "delinquent accounts." I asked why I was being contacted all of the sudden about this account nearly 4 years after the fact and she explained that they had recently switched collections agencies from company A to company B. She was not very pleasant and insisted that this was an outstanding balance and she was sorry that company A did not make the proper attempts to contact me to resolve this debt but that I was still responsible for the payment and that the clinic, through company B, would be taking legal action to collect this balance. I asked for a history and she rudely rattled off a timeline of letters that were sent to an old address and some calls that were made around the time of February 2007.

I told her that it was absurd that I was being contacted out of the blue after so much time had passed and they were demanding immediate payment. I asked why it had not been covered by insurance and she said that the total balance had been somewhere around 00 and that insurance had covered roughly 0, leaving me with the 0 deductible. I told her that I was certain I had paid this and she rudely repeated the timeline and insisted that the balance was still outstanding.

Finally, after placing me on hold several times, I was transferred to someone else at the clinic who deals with delinquent accounts and the collections agencies. We went through all of the same stuff that I had discussed with the previous lady. She too insisted that this was an outstanding debt and that company B would likely be taking legal actions to collect. When I kept insisting on more details regarding the history, she finally put me on hold to contact company A. She came back several minutes later and her demeanor had changed completely. The debt had been settled in full several years ago with Company A and when they recently switched agencies they had mistakenly sent it as an outstanding debt to Company B.

Obviously, I’m glad to know that this is finally resolved and I do not in fact owe 0+ dollars. My question is, do I have any recourse against the clinic or the agencies for harassing me and attempting to collect this debt that essentially did not even exist?
But isn’t it a violation to not send a written notice within 5 days of initial contact?

Technorati Tags: attempts, collections agency, company b, delinquent accounts, immediate payment, out of the blue, payment arrangement, timeline

my husband was tricked into a monthly payment we can not afford by a collections agency. they recorded him agreeing to pay that amount automatically out of a bank account. could he still file bankruptcy and have them on it or would he be liable to pay them because of the just made recording? does the fact he was "scared" into agreeing matter? they told him they would sue him if he did not agree.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, collections agency

I recently closed a small business and left my home state of FL. Well, I finally got around to having my mail forwarded form my PO Box and received a letter from AT&T that I have a past due balance of .27. I called AT&T today (1/12/08) & tried to pay the bill but received a message that the debt has been sent to a collections agency (American Recovery Services) (The letter was dated 12/7/07). I don’t think I owe the money, (I thought the last bill was paid in full), but I’m willing to pay.

1. What is the best way to contact the collections agency to settle (by phone, mail)?

2. Is this debt already on my credit report as of today?

3. Should I get anything in writing before I pay, if I pay over the phone?

I’ve never had anything go into collections before, and I’m really worried about my credit score. Thanks

Technorati Tags: amp, collections agency, credit report, credit score, due balance, money, phone mail, small business

To sum it up I was forced to drop out of school about a year ago because my parents went bankrupt in the middle of my first semester. I had just transferred in to my dream school (an expensive private university) and had counted on my parents co-signing a loan with me. However, they had not told me that the business they had invested thousands of dollars in had gone under so when it came time to apply for a loan and pay the university for my first semester and register for the next semester’s classes I was told there was no way they could afford it. In shock and without financial or emotional support from them I left the school and moved in with my grandmother. I didn’t handle payments with the school immediately because I had no idea how to go about it and assumed they would arrange it.

After that semester I also returned to a junior college and completed requirements to transfer in to a more affordable, state school. This last fall I began a new semester at the new university feeling excited to be back in school. However, now that it is time to register for the upcoming semester’s classes I am being told that without the transcript from the first university I cannot come back to school in the Spring (the requirements for transfer students is to submit ALL transcripts from previously attended schools by the Spring) I contacted the previously attended school to discover I had been put in collections (notices had been sent to my parents home, warning of this, and my parents had never told me). They refuse to give me a transcript without paying the amount in full which is over 10,000 dollars. I have set up a payment plan with the collections agency but again, without paying it all at once, I will not get the transcript and therefore cannot finish school at the university I currently attend. I have tried applying for a loan but as a student I do not qualify for that amount without a cosigner, which I do not have. I don’t know what to do…I have tried contacting everyone imaginable, the president of the previous university, counselors, the head of admissions at my new school, and family members but no on offers me any help or alternatives. I feel so incredibly helpless and all I want to do is finish school.

Does any one know of a lender that approves student loans without a co-signer? Should I file for bankruptcy? Contact a talk show and see if they’ll give me money?? I’D DO ANYTHING TO FINISH SCHOOL! PLEASE HELP!!

Technorati Tags: collections agency, cosigner, dream school, emotional support, grandmother, parents, private university, shock, thousands of dollars, transcripts, transfer students

I owe Washington Mutual quite a bit of money, but they’ve sold the debt to a collections agency. I’d like to pay this debt back, but I was wondering (before I contact the collections agency) if they’d be willing to make a deal to remove the item from my ChexSystems, if I paid off the debt?

Anyone know if this could possibly work?

Technorati Tags: chexsystems, collections agency, money, washington mutual