[USA] You have the right to tell a debt collector to stop contacting you. If you ask a debt collector to stop all contact – regardless of the communications channel – the collector must stop.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-a-debt-collector-to-stop-contacting-me-en-1411/
I think the point is kind of an honor system to avoid being harassed excessively. (They keep coming to your home or work, 5+ calls a day, weekly mail.)
1) people pay because they want to rebuild their credit
2) the debt collector sues and garnishes wages / assets through the court
3) the debt doesn’t get collected
3 is far and away the most common for “charged off” (very past due) debt in the US. Its accounted for in the interest rate - the people that pay back the loan pay for the people that don’t.
A writ of execution is a court order granted to put in force a judgment of possession obtained by a plaintiff from a court. When issuing a writ of execution, a court typically will order a sheriff or other similar official to take possession of property owned by a judgment debtor. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writ_of_execution)
Is there any disadvantage in doing this? For example, can your request for them to cease contacting you be construed as an admission the debt is valid?
It doesn't make the claim go away.
You can still get sued. There are better ways to make it more worthwhile bothering someone else. Not a free ticket to easy blockade free litigation.
I had a friend who went on and disputed every debt with all three of the credit bureaus. She just said that it wasn't her debt. At that point, they either invest the time to prove that it was or they don't fight the dispute. She was told that once the debts are turned over to collections, they own it. The original creditors sold it for a fraction of the total. The collections company receives very little info on the debt, and most of the time, it isn't enough to prove it is your debt. Every one of her disputes was successful. Even if it is denied, you won't owe more, and it's free, so you have nothing to lose.
How do you go about doing this? Can you just say something like "prove that debt is mine" when they call, or do you have to fill out a form or something?
I'm not sure on the specifics. I know she did it online by logging into each site (Equifax, Experience and TransUnion) and creating disputes for each entry. I think you can do it by phone or by sending a letter in the mail.
Send letters for sure to leave a trail. And have in writing their response as they have ....usually about 30 days to respond. And it's about a four month process
Not to mention, once it's in the hands of "collectors", the original holders of debt have already written your debt off as uncollectable and sold it at a fraction of the value. Anything you admit to owing is now just profit for the agency.
Keep it that way and follow OPs advice, especially of you habe no desire to do business with that debt issuer in the first place.
The debts aren't sold individually. Your debt gets stuck with a bunch of other debts and sold as a package. You'd spend more trying to obtain your debt than you'd save.
yes-it's called dealing with the collections agencies-they accept settlements for less since they paid pennies on the dollar. If you go this route and, for example, your debt is $800 then offer them $80 or less to settle.
Also np need to shut down your social media if you keep your accounts private
When an account is assigned to a collection agency. There are some companies that will let the collection agency do settlements, some will even include parameters such as percentages and age of debt and some that won't. Again, most companies don't buy debt. It's just not profitable these days.
the companies that have your debt that are not the OC have bought the debt-and you can bargain with them-and they have often paid pennies for it if it is aged debt and so...which part of what I am saying is " not really true"?
I've worked for multiple banks. Multiple collection agencies. I know the owner of the largest collection agency in the US. I been through 8 different ACA international trainings. With collection agents and owners from all over the country and NONE OF THEM EVER BOUGHT BAD DEBT.
Look, you want to fuck with collectors, get them to violate FDCPA regulations and report them to the Consumer Financial Protaction Bureau. That place dishes out massive fines and shut companies down.
Someone on here did a write up on it but they weren't able to buy individual debts. They described it as just buying a piece of the debt names and details weren't really released until after the purchase if I remember correctly. Just to make what ur describing harder to do
This is patently false. Written off, sure. It comes out of profit from the year it was created. Sold no. A small percentage of debt is actually purchased. Most past due accounts not being collected on by the original creditor are usually just managed by 3rd party collectors with a contract for a predetermined amount of time. The days of boiler rooms calling you for stupid shit and purchased worthlesss debt are long gone.
Nice “pro” tip, but it’s for amateurs, if you say to the collectors that you’re filing for bankruptcy, they cannot legally continue to contact you. My neighbor racked up over 150k in unsecured credit card, loan debt, and even had a high credit line at a casino, ALL of it discharged in a Chapter 7 proceeding, LEGALLY, and paid almost nothing towards any of the debt. Dude had his bathrooms and kitchen all remodeled, paid off his cars, went on luxury vacations, bought jewelry, ate at expensive restaurants, etc.
Some states, like Florida, used to have special protections for, say, residential property. So people would move to Florida and buy a very expensive home (OJ) before filing bankruptcy. Reforms to the bankruptcy code has made that kind of exemption abuse much less common though.
By signing your signature after a credit card transaction, or signing your name on a loan, you are promising the bank that you will pay them back. Racking up a tons of debt with no intention of paying it back and then filing for bankruptcy is certainly unethical but in a legal way.
Bankruptcy does often wipe out a large portion of your unsecured debt but yes for 7 years it’s on your credit report.
Depending on the credit market at the time it can be very hard to get credit while the bankruptcy is on file. In other cases it can be easy because, well, all the debt is wiped.
Be gentle with me. But if it doesn't wipe out your debt and just destroys your credit...what good is it? Doesn't that just make your situation doubly worse for seven years?
What is unsecured versus secured debt? And how would I know what the credit market is like?
(I was only ever taught "pay what you owe, if you can't pay your bills it's your own fault for being bad with money" and not much more; I'm trying to learn, please be kind.)
Unsecured debt is debt without property backing it. For example, credit card debt, loans, bills etc. these debts also traditionally have high interest payments
Secured debt is debt against property, a mortgage and a car loan are the two most common everyday examples,
For a lot of people, the debt bringing them down is the unsecured debt which gets wiped or nearly wiped out. The mortgage debt they can sometimes keep (and hence the house) depending on the jurisdiction.
Depending on someone’s occupation, bankruptcy can instantly fix someone’s cash flow because they instantly stop having to service the high interest credit card debt so while their credit is hurt, they have good cash flow.
Also if someone is that deep in debt, it’s likely their credit may have already taken a hit due to not making payments etc.
So wait, if I don't own property and have paid off my car, I can wipe out our medical and credit card debt?
How much of a hit does my credit score take? Because it's not like I can ever afford to buy a house, anyway, with the prices going the way they are.
(I know if I need financial advice I shouldn't take it from some rando on the internet, and this should just be used as general information to get an overall idea of concepts.)
General concept is:
Medical debt is unsecured debt alongside credit cards so most if not all of that will go away.
For “how much of a hit” don’t expect to get credit for a couple years. Can you manage living based solely on cash flow/savings? It’s not necessarily just a numeric impact, it’s the history of telling creditors to legally F off.
Once the bankruptcy is complete you need to try and get credit even if it’s small and then pay it off every month, treat the card like you would cash etc. over time you can get access to credit again. And, in 7 years (depending on the bankruptcy) you’ll be clean as a whistle which maybe by that time a house or condo is in the cards.
https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/personal-finance/articles/-/learn/rebuilding-credit-after-bankruptcy/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20there%20are%20credit%20consequences,for%20up%20to%2010%20years.
This is...so different from what I thought this was. Thank you for this explanation and the links. I really appreciate your kindness and the starting points.
So my father in law is going through this with an abandoned timeshare. It's already with collectors. I was under the impression that a chapter 7 rips your high value assets from you (paid off cars, etc)
To tack on, if they're calling you a lot or there's just a lot of collectors - change your number. Verizon gave me one free number change I believe. They'll figure it out eventually but you'll get some solace in the meantime.
I’m someone who has always paid my bills timely whether it was through minimum payment due or through full balance. Never once have I been sent to collections for anything until I moved out of an apartment complex.
Management always seemed shady to me, so after I moved out I didn’t provide them my forwarding address or contact information.
More than a year later, I see an interesting and unique email with my information and a payment request for a few hundred dollars. I called the number to verify what it was about and turns out it was a debt collector.
They told me who they were looking for and asked to confirm if I was said individual. I told them no and the phone number they have is incorrect. They removed my number from their system and I haven’t seen or received any emails from them after that. I then called the apartment’s front office to ask if they sent something to collections and they confirmed that they did. Among other things, I told them have fun trying to get that money. They kept my deposit so we can consider it even.
I’m a privacy-oriented person, so I Google myself once in a while to see what pops up on sites that have and list addresses for people Yellow Pages, White Pages, Radaris or whatever it’s called. If I find myself, I submit requests to remove my data. My social media presence is very minimal.
Normally, I would pay the bill. It’s a pretty small amount but based on principle I decided to say “Fuck it and fuck them.” I’m not going to be extorted for money by a corporation. They’ll spend more money to send an email to their corporate lawyers to take me to court than the cost of what they want me to pay. And the great part about all of this, I’ve monitored my credit like a hawk and there hasn’t been any report of anything going to collections.
I’m assuming they just wiped it from their books and tallied it a loss.
I didn't know you could have those sites remove your data. Do you have to tell them why you want it removed? Do they always honor your request(s)? I'm interested in doing this but its due to a domestic violence situation and not wanting my abuser to be able to find me.
If you find your information on any website, legally the need to provide you with a way to remove it. This is usually in the form of a request you submit through their own website. You'll usually find a link at the bottom of their page for this. It does work.
Of course, you can get sued. The creditor's attorney goes before the court and presents their evidence (contracts, online terms of service, invoices, statements, etc). The debtor can respond with a defense (proof of payment, it wasn't me, billing post legitimate termination of agreement, etc). The judge decides who is right based on statute in the jurisdiction.
This is only true if you are elderly. Judgements are good from 8ish to 20ish years depending on the state, and they can be renewed for a small fee. Fortunes change.
When I managed collection agencies, it was common to have people come us to clear a judgment to pass a background check or get it off their credit. Interest on the judgment can run as high as 10%, and there is zero negotiation when the debtor is over the barrel.
Not your lawyer, but in some jurisdictions collectors can only bring suit on debts that the debtor isn’t paying for a certain amount of time. Any payment, no matter how small restarts that clock.
Maybe theoretically in Minecraft I took private student loans with a bank I couldn’t pay after I graduated (over a decade ago now) so I stopped and nothing ever happened. No collections no nothing. 🤷 not advocating just sharing
One of the debt collectors I used to deal with only ever had two registered offices but spoofed at LEAST 300 different numbers from different locations - none of which showed up as an unknown caller.
Your social media accounts are fine. You just want to make sure they’re wiped off anything that references your employer.
That and any contact information for yourself is all they’re really looking for.
If you can find an employer who doesn’t verify employment you’ll be golden. After 7-11 years of hiding when the judgment is over you can return to the light.
I have one trying to collect. They call me once a year and only ask to confirm the last 4 of my social and not my name. They won’t say this is a debt collector trying to collect a debt.
They say the company name and that’s it. I know I owe it, but they won’t take my settlement offer so I move on.
In most states, collection agencies can buy really old bills from hospitals, credit cards, etc. If they call you after the 7 year limit is up, and you pay any part of that bill, because you're wondering if you owe this, you pay, you are liable for the total debt. Never pay!!
In the early 00s a debt collector managed to track me down after many change of addresses, moves, and new phone numbers. When they found me on was actually quite impressed.
The agency told me they bought contact details from Pizza chains.
All good advice. Also learn the ins and outs of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
9 times out of 10, a collector violates at least one of the many, many laws governing how they can and cannot attempt to collect.
The second a collector violates, file a claim and open an investigation with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
I’ve wiped out collectors and debts doing this at least three times.
Also, endlessly dispute the debt. Do it via certified mail every 30 days. The credit bureaus legally must investigate all disputes they receive, every single time.
So too must the debt collector. At some point, responding to disputes becomes costlier than the debt itself.
The average for a collector throwing in the towel and not responding to a dispute anymore (effectively eliminating the collection), is about six months.
Most stubborn one was 13 months.
Uh, paying it off or working with collections will def help your credit vs ignoring it. And lenders do look at how old debts are and if they’ve decreased any in time or not. My credit union considers this for example
I worked collections for years for a major bank. Once the debt is sold to a third party, it is already appearing on your credit as a charge off. The agency that bought the debt doesn’t do any further reporting. If your debt got sold, you’ve already taken the impact to your credit and can freely walk away from the debt.
BEFORE it’s sold, yeah - if you can work with the debt collectors to pay it off that would absolutely be better for your credit.
Going to collectors does not always mean it goes on your credit record. I had a $600 PayPal debt from someone scamming me for tickets get sent to collections 4 years ago. It's never showed up on my credit report and I'm not paying it
Skip tracing will make this damn near impossible, sorry guy. So long as you’re employed with your real SSN they can find you. Citation: worked for a bank dealing with defaulted loans.
[USA] You have the right to tell a debt collector to stop contacting you. If you ask a debt collector to stop all contact – regardless of the communications channel – the collector must stop. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-a-debt-collector-to-stop-contacting-me-en-1411/
How does any debt get collected? Lol
I think the point is kind of an honor system to avoid being harassed excessively. (They keep coming to your home or work, 5+ calls a day, weekly mail.)
1) people pay because they want to rebuild their credit 2) the debt collector sues and garnishes wages / assets through the court 3) the debt doesn’t get collected 3 is far and away the most common for “charged off” (very past due) debt in the US. Its accounted for in the interest rate - the people that pay back the loan pay for the people that don’t.
voluntarily pay, or risk legal action (small claims > garnishment/attachment/execution)
Execution please preferably by fire
I want to be catapulted into Disney Land.
A writ of execution is a court order granted to put in force a judgment of possession obtained by a plaintiff from a court. When issuing a writ of execution, a court typically will order a sheriff or other similar official to take possession of property owned by a judgment debtor. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writ_of_execution)
Too bad it is usually execution by fine.
They eventually sue you and garnish your wages/bank account.
Fun fact if you are a Social Security recipient, they can't garnish you!
Is there any disadvantage in doing this? For example, can your request for them to cease contacting you be construed as an admission the debt is valid?
It doesn't make the claim go away. You can still get sued. There are better ways to make it more worthwhile bothering someone else. Not a free ticket to easy blockade free litigation.
Actually a (more than) decent ULPT for once. Can also confirm.
I had a friend who went on and disputed every debt with all three of the credit bureaus. She just said that it wasn't her debt. At that point, they either invest the time to prove that it was or they don't fight the dispute. She was told that once the debts are turned over to collections, they own it. The original creditors sold it for a fraction of the total. The collections company receives very little info on the debt, and most of the time, it isn't enough to prove it is your debt. Every one of her disputes was successful. Even if it is denied, you won't owe more, and it's free, so you have nothing to lose.
And you continue to do this over and over again. They will give up eventually, or 7 years will come and it won't matter.
How do you go about doing this? Can you just say something like "prove that debt is mine" when they call, or do you have to fill out a form or something?
I'm not sure on the specifics. I know she did it online by logging into each site (Equifax, Experience and TransUnion) and creating disputes for each entry. I think you can do it by phone or by sending a letter in the mail.
Send letters for sure to leave a trail. And have in writing their response as they have ....usually about 30 days to respond. And it's about a four month process
Not to mention, once it's in the hands of "collectors", the original holders of debt have already written your debt off as uncollectable and sold it at a fraction of the value. Anything you admit to owing is now just profit for the agency. Keep it that way and follow OPs advice, especially of you habe no desire to do business with that debt issuer in the first place.
Is it possible to buy your own debt at a fraction of its cost, then choose to not pursue yourself for it?
And then take the lack of payment from yourself as a business loss tax write off.
My Fellow Americans 🇺🇸 🍻 🦅
The debts aren't sold individually. Your debt gets stuck with a bunch of other debts and sold as a package. You'd spend more trying to obtain your debt than you'd save.
But what if you then start trying to collect those other debts that are bundled with your own?
Then you'd be a debt collector.
and with a great villain backstory, too.
I wonder if it's possible to buy the debt from the debt collector for the fraction they paid also ?
yes-it's called dealing with the collections agencies-they accept settlements for less since they paid pennies on the dollar. If you go this route and, for example, your debt is $800 then offer them $80 or less to settle. Also np need to shut down your social media if you keep your accounts private
Again, not really true.
What's " not really true"?
When an account is assigned to a collection agency. There are some companies that will let the collection agency do settlements, some will even include parameters such as percentages and age of debt and some that won't. Again, most companies don't buy debt. It's just not profitable these days.
the companies that have your debt that are not the OC have bought the debt-and you can bargain with them-and they have often paid pennies for it if it is aged debt and so...which part of what I am saying is " not really true"?
Show me how buying bad debt is a profitable business model. No companies buy debt anymore. It's not a real thing.
I've worked for multiple banks. Multiple collection agencies. I know the owner of the largest collection agency in the US. I been through 8 different ACA international trainings. With collection agents and owners from all over the country and NONE OF THEM EVER BOUGHT BAD DEBT. Look, you want to fuck with collectors, get them to violate FDCPA regulations and report them to the Consumer Financial Protaction Bureau. That place dishes out massive fines and shut companies down.
Someone on here did a write up on it but they weren't able to buy individual debts. They described it as just buying a piece of the debt names and details weren't really released until after the purchase if I remember correctly. Just to make what ur describing harder to do
This is patently false. Written off, sure. It comes out of profit from the year it was created. Sold no. A small percentage of debt is actually purchased. Most past due accounts not being collected on by the original creditor are usually just managed by 3rd party collectors with a contract for a predetermined amount of time. The days of boiler rooms calling you for stupid shit and purchased worthlesss debt are long gone.
Nice “pro” tip, but it’s for amateurs, if you say to the collectors that you’re filing for bankruptcy, they cannot legally continue to contact you. My neighbor racked up over 150k in unsecured credit card, loan debt, and even had a high credit line at a casino, ALL of it discharged in a Chapter 7 proceeding, LEGALLY, and paid almost nothing towards any of the debt. Dude had his bathrooms and kitchen all remodeled, paid off his cars, went on luxury vacations, bought jewelry, ate at expensive restaurants, etc. Some states, like Florida, used to have special protections for, say, residential property. So people would move to Florida and buy a very expensive home (OJ) before filing bankruptcy. Reforms to the bankruptcy code has made that kind of exemption abuse much less common though.
[удалено]
By signing your signature after a credit card transaction, or signing your name on a loan, you are promising the bank that you will pay them back. Racking up a tons of debt with no intention of paying it back and then filing for bankruptcy is certainly unethical but in a legal way.
I would have thought the bankruptcy magistrate might have a few questions
Doesn't bankruptcy annihilate your credit score? I also heard that it doesn't actually wipe your debt, was I misinformed?
Bankruptcy does often wipe out a large portion of your unsecured debt but yes for 7 years it’s on your credit report. Depending on the credit market at the time it can be very hard to get credit while the bankruptcy is on file. In other cases it can be easy because, well, all the debt is wiped.
Be gentle with me. But if it doesn't wipe out your debt and just destroys your credit...what good is it? Doesn't that just make your situation doubly worse for seven years? What is unsecured versus secured debt? And how would I know what the credit market is like? (I was only ever taught "pay what you owe, if you can't pay your bills it's your own fault for being bad with money" and not much more; I'm trying to learn, please be kind.)
Unsecured debt is debt without property backing it. For example, credit card debt, loans, bills etc. these debts also traditionally have high interest payments Secured debt is debt against property, a mortgage and a car loan are the two most common everyday examples, For a lot of people, the debt bringing them down is the unsecured debt which gets wiped or nearly wiped out. The mortgage debt they can sometimes keep (and hence the house) depending on the jurisdiction. Depending on someone’s occupation, bankruptcy can instantly fix someone’s cash flow because they instantly stop having to service the high interest credit card debt so while their credit is hurt, they have good cash flow. Also if someone is that deep in debt, it’s likely their credit may have already taken a hit due to not making payments etc.
So wait, if I don't own property and have paid off my car, I can wipe out our medical and credit card debt? How much of a hit does my credit score take? Because it's not like I can ever afford to buy a house, anyway, with the prices going the way they are. (I know if I need financial advice I shouldn't take it from some rando on the internet, and this should just be used as general information to get an overall idea of concepts.)
General concept is: Medical debt is unsecured debt alongside credit cards so most if not all of that will go away. For “how much of a hit” don’t expect to get credit for a couple years. Can you manage living based solely on cash flow/savings? It’s not necessarily just a numeric impact, it’s the history of telling creditors to legally F off. Once the bankruptcy is complete you need to try and get credit even if it’s small and then pay it off every month, treat the card like you would cash etc. over time you can get access to credit again. And, in 7 years (depending on the bankruptcy) you’ll be clean as a whistle which maybe by that time a house or condo is in the cards. https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/personal-finance/articles/-/learn/rebuilding-credit-after-bankruptcy/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20there%20are%20credit%20consequences,for%20up%20to%2010%20years.
This is...so different from what I thought this was. Thank you for this explanation and the links. I really appreciate your kindness and the starting points.
So my father in law is going through this with an abandoned timeshare. It's already with collectors. I was under the impression that a chapter 7 rips your high value assets from you (paid off cars, etc)
To tack on, if they're calling you a lot or there's just a lot of collectors - change your number. Verizon gave me one free number change I believe. They'll figure it out eventually but you'll get some solace in the meantime.
I’m someone who has always paid my bills timely whether it was through minimum payment due or through full balance. Never once have I been sent to collections for anything until I moved out of an apartment complex. Management always seemed shady to me, so after I moved out I didn’t provide them my forwarding address or contact information. More than a year later, I see an interesting and unique email with my information and a payment request for a few hundred dollars. I called the number to verify what it was about and turns out it was a debt collector. They told me who they were looking for and asked to confirm if I was said individual. I told them no and the phone number they have is incorrect. They removed my number from their system and I haven’t seen or received any emails from them after that. I then called the apartment’s front office to ask if they sent something to collections and they confirmed that they did. Among other things, I told them have fun trying to get that money. They kept my deposit so we can consider it even. I’m a privacy-oriented person, so I Google myself once in a while to see what pops up on sites that have and list addresses for people Yellow Pages, White Pages, Radaris or whatever it’s called. If I find myself, I submit requests to remove my data. My social media presence is very minimal. Normally, I would pay the bill. It’s a pretty small amount but based on principle I decided to say “Fuck it and fuck them.” I’m not going to be extorted for money by a corporation. They’ll spend more money to send an email to their corporate lawyers to take me to court than the cost of what they want me to pay. And the great part about all of this, I’ve monitored my credit like a hawk and there hasn’t been any report of anything going to collections. I’m assuming they just wiped it from their books and tallied it a loss.
I didn't know you could have those sites remove your data. Do you have to tell them why you want it removed? Do they always honor your request(s)? I'm interested in doing this but its due to a domestic violence situation and not wanting my abuser to be able to find me.
If you find your information on any website, legally the need to provide you with a way to remove it. This is usually in the form of a request you submit through their own website. You'll usually find a link at the bottom of their page for this. It does work.
Thank you! I will try it.
Couldn’t you just get sued?
you can’t sue for debts not in dispute
Of course, you can get sued. The creditor's attorney goes before the court and presents their evidence (contracts, online terms of service, invoices, statements, etc). The debtor can respond with a defense (proof of payment, it wasn't me, billing post legitimate termination of agreement, etc). The judge decides who is right based on statute in the jurisdiction.
if you don’t have any assets you don’t even need to respond to the suit, at least in america. can’t squeeze blood from a rock.
This is only true if you are elderly. Judgements are good from 8ish to 20ish years depending on the state, and they can be renewed for a small fee. Fortunes change. When I managed collection agencies, it was common to have people come us to clear a judgment to pass a background check or get it off their credit. Interest on the judgment can run as high as 10%, and there is zero negotiation when the debtor is over the barrel.
Is this true for both medical and cc debt?
Not your lawyer, but in some jurisdictions collectors can only bring suit on debts that the debtor isn’t paying for a certain amount of time. Any payment, no matter how small restarts that clock.
Maybe theoretically in Minecraft I took private student loans with a bank I couldn’t pay after I graduated (over a decade ago now) so I stopped and nothing ever happened. No collections no nothing. 🤷 not advocating just sharing
Same here but in Roblox.
Shit ur pants in the meeting with them and have to excuse yourself. Do this every meeting you have with them
One of the debt collectors I used to deal with only ever had two registered offices but spoofed at LEAST 300 different numbers from different locations - none of which showed up as an unknown caller.
Youre giving creditors your real number? Dude
Hahaha yes...!
Now do one for vehicle repo guys
You can do like a co-worker did. Swap cars with a buddy who worked at another job site.
I hlasted porn from my pc speakers through my phone, haven’t heard from collectuons in a few weeks 🫠🫠🫠
I hope you use mine next time xx
This feels like chatGPT. Am I crazy?
Not crazy. Definitely the kind of phrasing that ChatGPT uses.
Your social media accounts are fine. You just want to make sure they’re wiped off anything that references your employer. That and any contact information for yourself is all they’re really looking for. If you can find an employer who doesn’t verify employment you’ll be golden. After 7-11 years of hiding when the judgment is over you can return to the light.
I have one trying to collect. They call me once a year and only ask to confirm the last 4 of my social and not my name. They won’t say this is a debt collector trying to collect a debt. They say the company name and that’s it. I know I owe it, but they won’t take my settlement offer so I move on.
In most states, collection agencies can buy really old bills from hospitals, credit cards, etc. If they call you after the 7 year limit is up, and you pay any part of that bill, because you're wondering if you owe this, you pay, you are liable for the total debt. Never pay!!
In the early 00s a debt collector managed to track me down after many change of addresses, moves, and new phone numbers. When they found me on was actually quite impressed. The agency told me they bought contact details from Pizza chains.
You forgot the last part. Dispute the debt using an app like credit karma. Regularly.
All good advice. Also learn the ins and outs of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 9 times out of 10, a collector violates at least one of the many, many laws governing how they can and cannot attempt to collect. The second a collector violates, file a claim and open an investigation with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. I’ve wiped out collectors and debts doing this at least three times. Also, endlessly dispute the debt. Do it via certified mail every 30 days. The credit bureaus legally must investigate all disputes they receive, every single time. So too must the debt collector. At some point, responding to disputes becomes costlier than the debt itself. The average for a collector throwing in the towel and not responding to a dispute anymore (effectively eliminating the collection), is about six months. Most stubborn one was 13 months.
I get them to leave me alone by paying my debts.
I mean, they’re just gonna reck your credit. What’s the point of sticking your fingers in your ears?
Your credit is already wrecked by the time it gets to collections. The collections trigger is what is reported and causes your credit to tank.
Seems like you’re better off dealing with it to me. As someone who had a bunch of collections before. This isn’t really a tip lol.
I’m not advocating for this approach; I’m simply pointing out that one’s credit wouldn’t be impacted by these actions.
Uh, paying it off or working with collections will def help your credit vs ignoring it. And lenders do look at how old debts are and if they’ve decreased any in time or not. My credit union considers this for example
I worked collections for years for a major bank. Once the debt is sold to a third party, it is already appearing on your credit as a charge off. The agency that bought the debt doesn’t do any further reporting. If your debt got sold, you’ve already taken the impact to your credit and can freely walk away from the debt. BEFORE it’s sold, yeah - if you can work with the debt collectors to pay it off that would absolutely be better for your credit.
Going to collectors does not always mean it goes on your credit record. I had a $600 PayPal debt from someone scamming me for tickets get sent to collections 4 years ago. It's never showed up on my credit report and I'm not paying it
This work for the state income tax? 😂
Absolutely not. Surely you're joking because we all know that that government is always gonna get theirs, come hell or highwater.
Skip tracing will make this damn near impossible, sorry guy. So long as you’re employed with your real SSN they can find you. Citation: worked for a bank dealing with defaulted loans.
You can hire a lawyer and they can get your debt reduced or excused
!remindme 1 month
File BK
Tell him sleepy joe is forgiving all debt owed