anyone have any legal knowledge?

[crappieseeker]

I was wondering about something and thought I would ask on here. I had a debt that I owed to Ford Credit due to a divorce. The debt was in my name so therefore I was liable. I explained to Ford Credit several times why I felt like I shouldnt have to pay the debt. I also explained at the time why I couldnt pay the debt. After a year of them harrassing me, I never heard anything else about it after I talked to a woman from the Ford Credit office and explained my situation. She said she would try to take care of it. I heard nothing else for over 2 years. I finally received a good job and got remarried. I bought a new home and automobile. The debt showed up on my credit report as a late payment but a zero balance when I tried to get my home and auto loans. It looked like to the creditors that the debt had been payed. I was successfully able to finance a new home and nice auto. About a month ago I get a call from a collection agency trying to collect the debt that Ford Credit sold them that I never paid. They said they were gonna put a lean against my home if I didnt start making payments on the debt. I asked them how they knew I had a home. They knew everything I had and where my new address was because they pulled up my credit report. Was that a violation of their legal rights to pull my credit report without my permission? I know public records can be viewed by anyone, but pulling someones credit without permission I think would be illegal. Does anyone know anything about this?

[crap-king]

I was wondering about something and thought I would ask on here. I had a debt that I owed to Ford Credit due to a divorce. The debt was in my name so therefore I was liable. I explained to Ford Credit several times why I felt like I shouldnt have to pay the debt. I also explained at the time why I couldnt pay the debt. After a year of them harrassing me, I never heard anything else about it after I talked to a woman from the Ford Credit office and explained my situation. She said she would try to take care of it. I heard nothing else for over 2 years. I finally received a good job and got remarried. I bought a new home and automobile. The debt showed up on my credit report as a late payment but a zero balance when I tried to get my home and auto loans. It looked like to the creditors that the debt had been payed. I was successfully able to finance a new home and nice auto. About a month ago I get a call from a collection agency trying to collect the debt that Ford Credit sold them that I never paid. They said they were gonna put a lean against my home if I didnt start making payments on the debt. I asked them how they knew I had a home. They knew everything I had and where my new address was because they pulled up my credit report. Was that a violation of their legal rights to pull my credit report without my permission? I know public records can be viewed by anyone, but pulling someones credit without permission I think would be illegal. Does anyone know anything about this?

It all depends on the contract you signed with Ford Credit - more than likely it had a clause they could sell your loan and or turn unpaid loans over to a collection agency and they can pull your credit as they need or want to -
if they have put this on your credit report you can contest it in writing and if the agency reporting this to the credit bureaus do not respond in writing within 30 days they must take it off your credit report - you may still want to have a lawyer to write a letter to the credit bureaus and this collection agency - but they cannot put a lien on any property without some type of court action - the amount of the loan is going to be factor also - if it is less than $2500 in most states it will go to small claims and more than likely they will not bother with the cost of this action but will continue to harass you by phone and send you threatening letters - I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV - I have experience in the civil court system as Deputy Sheriff serving civil processes - if it were me I would seek advice from a reputble attorney(not easy to find - LOL) I have lots of friends that are attorneys - I tell them the same thing

[SkyChimp]

I agree with Crap-King. Any lien would be a result of obtaining a judgement against you. Without a judgement, it's just talk.

I'm an insurance adjuster, and have managed litigation and directed attorneys in the defense of claims. Additionally, many years ago, I was a collector myself.

[Mrs. Crappie Stalker]

The next time you get a call from these folks, tell them you want to something in writing and get the person's name. The burden of proof for the debt lies upon them. The threat of a lien is nothing but a scare tactic. (I'm not a lawyer either but I've done title searches and loan closings for 8 years now, plus I'm a fan of the Dave Ramsey show and he talks about this kind of thing a lot.) Good Luck

[crappieseeker]

Thanks for the information everyone, as soon as I get a chance I will check into it a little more. I will give more details to the exact situation as soon as I get time. I will keep you posted and let you know how it turns out. Thanks

[MoSam]

if you have seen a copy of your credit report and it showed "late payment" with a zero balance, how can they come back to you for a zero balance? Just curious myself about how someone could try to collect when a credit report shows zero balance on the loan!! Just my 2 cents.

Shaun

[Shellback]

if you have seen a copy of your credit report and it showed "late payment" with a zero balance, how can they come back to you for a zero balance? Just curious myself about how someone could try to collect when a credit report shows zero balance on the loan!! Just my 2 cents.

Shaun

If Ford sold off the loan, they might show a zero balance, but that doesn't resolve the debt to the company that bought the bad loan. Many business's sell off their bad loans, they aren't in the collection business. When he bought his home, he might have been lucky and the credit reports were done before the collection agency had filed claims. It might pay him to go back to Ford and try and settle the debt, because those collection agencies show no mercy! We once had a collection agency contact us about a past due debt to Sears. The original charge was less than $20.00 but with 6 month's of late fees and such it was almost $200.00! What had happened is we had moved about 18 months before and my wife never changed the address on her Sears card. About 12 months after we moved she used the card for the first time and then forgot about the charge. Well the post office only forwards mail for a year, and the bill never came to us. After several months of Sears sending out past due bills, they turned it over to the collection agency. Rather than dealing with the collection agency, I contacted Sears about it myself and explained the situation. When they examined our credit history with Sears they said just send them a check for the original amount and everthing would be resolved. About a week later the collection agency called again, and I told them the debt was resolved with Sears. The woman didn't believe me and pressed for payment, but I told her to check with Sears. A couple days later she called again and said I was correct and wondered how I got the problem resolved so easily. I think if I owed Ford credit the money, I'd contact them and try to set up a payment schedule, sure could save your credit rating and avoid higher percentage ratings on future loans.

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

FYI I used to be a high level colletion agent. This is the skinny, based on what you have revealed about your present situation, concerning the "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act":

A collection company can pull your credit report in all states but AZ & HI. Those 2 states have different laws. In addition to these 2, TX also shares an exclusion specifically concerning garnishment of wages, and bank account fund seizures too. Can't do that there. This is what brought about the "All My Ex's Live In Texas" song.

A collection company will not sue you for amounts less than $1200, and very rarely below $2,000. This action may be threatened, as many others, but will not be carried out for such little amounts. Garnishment may still be possible in your state without a trial though if your social security number exists on the loan doccuments.

The zero balance on your credit report is called a "Charged Off Account". This means the original creditor has sold the debt, and has written the amount off on their insurance. This does not mean, however, that the debt had been cancelled. It still is collectable through other agencies.

Most debts which have not received a payment for more than 2 years are commonly offered up to a 50% settlement amount. If you agree to this, you will have to provide the amount in a relatively short period of time.

Your best action at the present (provided it has still been within the first 30 days of being contacted by this collection agency) is to send the agency a "formal Dispute" in writing ASAP. In this, you will want to request original documentation. This buys you tons of time, and often will be the straw which will send the collector packing.

If a collector calls you at work, you can demand that he stops doing that. He must follow that request, or he breaks the law. A collection agent cannot contact you concerning "personal" debts(unless you have agreed for them to do so) more than 1 time a day. Also, they must not call upon you before the hours of 8am, or after 8pm. To do so is a sueable violation. Situations concerning "Business" debts with a personal guaranture have a completetely different set of laws though. They can call as much as they want.

I hope this all helps you. Best of luck to you.

<,"}/>{ Rippa

[crappieseeker]

Tim, it sounds like you know your stuff pretty well, but I have a few questions and then if everyone will bear with me, I will explain the situation and surprise you in the end with a twist. First of all, why does a collection agency have the right to pull your credit report at will? Every time your credit report is ran, this lowers your beacon score. Also, how is it possible for them to garnish your pay without an order from a court? How can a creditor sell off a debt and then claim it on insurance? Do they claim the remainder of the amount that the collection agency didn't pay for the debt? This is what happened. " I traded an automobile in on a brand new car. I had alot of negative equity on the car I traded, so therefore it was rolled over to the new loan along with the fact of the depreciative value of a new car as soon as you sign your name to the loan, it's considered used and therefore loses another couple thousand dollars in negative equity. I only had the car for a few months when my wife at the time files for divorce. The car is in my name only, yet the court awards her possession of the vehicle and orders her to pay for it. I tried to get Ford Credit to switch the loan over to her but they would not do it. Needless to say, I have to purchase me a new vehicle to have transportation. If anyone is familiar with the court system, then you know sometimes final divorce hearings can be delayed almost 2 years. In the temporary hearing she was awarded the car and ordered to pay for it. She didn't make payments on the vehicle so therefore it was repossessed. They sold it at auction sale for what little they could get out of it. It left an unpaid balance after auction sale of right at $8,000 dollars. I thought they were legally responsible to contact me and offer to let me set up payment arrangements or get it back before they sell it. I was never given an option to get it. Since my name was on the note, of course Ford Credit came after me for the remainder of the unpaid balance. The final divorce hearing was almost a year and a half later. The same court system that awarded her the car and ordered her to pay for it, then told her she wasn't responsible for the unpaid balance. They told me I had to pay it all. As if things were not bad enough. I got permanantly laid off from my job and was only bringing home $160 dollars a week in unemployment. I had a car payment of $300 a month and then child support of $150. That left me only $190 dollars a month to live on. Of course I had no way to pay the debt. The court should have never been able to do what they did. Ford credit harrassed me for the debt for well over a year. I tried explaining to them several times that I was unable to make payments since I was unemployed. I also explained that I didn't feel like I should have to pay since the court did what they did and Ford Credit wouldnt let the loan be switched into her name. They offered me a 50% settlement, but $4,000 dollars is alot of money when you have no job. Heck it's alot when you do have a job. I finally talked to a Lady from Ford Credit that said she would try to take care of it if she could. I never heard anything else about it for probably two more years. I finally after almost 2 years of being unemployed, got a great job the week that my unemployment ran out. Every time I tried to get a loan, the creditors said it showed on my credit report the $8,000 was late, but it showed a zero balance. I assumed the lady had taken care of it, considering I hadnt been contacted in over 2 years. Me and my wife were young and didnt have much money at all. We had one child and with all the struggles that a marriage can bring on a young family, we just couldnt make things work at the time. We had a very bitter divorce, and things got a little nasty between us. We both done things and said things we shouldnt have said and we didnt really mean them, we were just mad and young at the time. We went our seperate ways for a little over 4 years. She even remarried. I still held out hope that she would change and we would mature and grow up a little bit and maybe one day get back together if something happened between them. She done me pretty dirty in the divorce, but thats usually how most divorces go, they are not usually nice LOL. We both grew up a little and both got good jobs. Her marriage did not work out, she realized she made a mistake. She sucked up her pride because she still loved me and because we had a child together. She called me one day and asked if I would go to a movie with her and our daughter. I had nothing to lose and thought I'd see what happened. We both went our seperate ways after the movie and a couple days later I got a letter in the mail from her. She apoligized for everything she done and said if I still loved her as she did me, why dont we try to start over and see how things go. Well, I wasn't perfect either, so i apolligized for my wrongdoings. We started dating again and eventually remarried. I never really considered that old debt because I still think it was handled improperly by the court and Ford Credit, and also I thought it had been taken care of since I never heard anymore about it. We bought us a new house and a new vehicle. We have maxed out what we can afford to pay, we havent gone overboard, but we dont have much money left to spare. I get a call a little more than a year after we bought our house and several years after I last heard anything from Ford Credit. It was a collection agency trying to collect the debt. They said if I could afford a new home and a new car, then I could afford to pay the debt. I told them I was maxed out right now. They said if you dont make an effort to pay or make a settlement, then we will put a lien against your house. The guy offered me a fifty percent settlement to pay 20% down and then almost $400 a month. I told him I couldn't manage that. He then asked me what I could handle. We made an agreement that I would pay no money down and $150 dollars a month on an amount a little over 50% of the debt. I asked the man that once I made the payments on the settlement up to the agreed upon amount, would they then still try to collect the rest. He said if you agree to this and give me your banking information, we will settle for this amount only and when we collect it, you will no longer owe anything and we will write off the remainder. I confirmed the information twice with him and gave him my banking information so they could draft the payments from my checking account. I asked him for an agreement letter and he assured me he would mail me one. After my account was drafted for the first payment, I received a payment statement in the mail. It showed the balance to be the original amount minus the first payment, and not the agreed upon amount. I called and asked why and they told me that I must have been confused because no agreement had been reached. They didn't come out and call me a liar, but they pretty much did in other words and ways. Then I asked to talk to the guy that I made the agreement with and they told me he wasn't working that day that he was off work that day. She said they wouldnt accept a settlement of a little over 50% and allow it to be spread out over that many payments. I am no liar, and I wasn't a bit confused, I know what me and the guy agreed upon. I was atleast gonna try and pay more than I could really afford, just to settle and try to take care of it. I hate to be done wrong and then get called a liar when I'm trying to make things right. They should have been honest with me. This made me mad, so I told them not to deduct $150 dollars from my account anymore. I told them to reduce it to $75 dollars a month. Anyway, me and my wife are doing great. Our daughter is very happy that we are back together. It is a million times better this time around. We have forgiven each other of everything, and life together is wonderful for us. I will do my best to take care of this situation, but I still think Ford Credit, the court system, and the collection agency handled this unprofessionally. Thanks for all the info everyone.

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

Crappie Seeker. You have fell victim to some shady collection practices. This wasn't ethical, or legal, but I assure you that it happens all of the time and it is nearly immpossible to prove. It may be well too late now, but you have to get your aggreements and/or settlement offers documented in writing BEFORE you make any payments.

It is unfortunate that you have already made a recent payment on this past account. This demostrates ownership of the debt to the courts, which renews the statute of limitations concerning your debt. Filing any type of amount dispute now, is no longer a viable option for you.

One less than favorable alternative you have, depending on your mindset concerning this situation, is to cancel your accounts they have information on, and to also change your phone numbers. This will only prolong your pain though. On the other hand, if you make arrangements; you should be able to successfully negotiate a 50-75% settlement payment plan. I'd be very surprised if they will allow your aggrement duration to surpass 15 months of equal installments though. The bigger the discount you get, the quicker you will have to pay the balance off. The big catch... one miss, or one late payment instantly cancels all arrangements and aggreements, making the balance due in full immediately.

Concerning you credit app info. You waved your right to privacy at the time which you applied for your loan. Be very careful what you attach your social security number to! This "waiver" includes any and all agencies utilized to service, or collect any part of the owed balance till it is satisfied in full.

The way Creditors right off their negative balances falls under the "bad debt" clause contained in our Federal Tax guide lines. An individual is also eligable to take advantage of this tax credit as well, but there are ceilings to the amounts one could write off.

Sorry to hear of your problems Seeker. Look to the man upstairs for guidence. Prayer works, and you are never alone. That is the best advise I can give you. Peace be with you my friend!

<,"}/>{ Rippa