Comments on: A Classic Debt Collection Story

By: NewPerspective

NewPerspective — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:29:20 +0000

It is my fault that I took at measured risk in loaning money (all lenders do regardless of the borrower). In that sense, I’ve accepted my loss and have still probably done better than the average investor in the current economy!

It is not “my fault” that the borrower more or less stole that money from me after a contract was in place between us to repay it.

This is really a tangent though and has nothing to do with the point I was making.

By: Hardon

Hardon — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:58:25 +0000

Well thats your fault for loaning your money out to strangers online

By: Tami

Tami — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:23:49 +0000

So what about a company that auto dials your home even after you have called them to tell them you don’t know the person they are looking for. I have had First Assurance calling my home looking for someone with the same last name as myself, but I do not know the person they are looking for. They left a voicemail. I returned the call, sat on hold for about 10-15 minutes, told them I didn’t know anyone with that name, and asked them to remove my number from my list. I have continued to get messages from them almost daily, thank God for caller ID, because even when I do pick up their isn’t a person there. So, what are my options?

By: codename47

codename47 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:49:21 +0000

“But they have proof of service. If I don’t have any evidence to support my side, order of cancellation, etc, then I doubt I can convince a judge to go along with me.

I agree with you that it should entirely be on them to prove the debit, but without anything to invalidate their ‘proof’ I don’t think I could get very far.”

But judges aren’t going to care if you paid or not. The FDCPA regulates debt collector behavior, not consumers. The validity of the debt is immaterial.

By: daemondust

daemondust — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:45:11 +0000

It’s depressing that many people don’t only not know their rights, they’ll actually believe the lies the abusive debit collectors tell them.

By: daemondust

daemondust — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:41:41 +0000

I wish more people understood how dangerous a check is. The ONLY bits of information someone needs to issue a debit against your account is the routing and account number. They don’t need a physical check. They don’t need your name. They don’t need your address. They don’t even need a check number. USAA even lets you take a picture of a check and it gets deposited in your account https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=deposit_at_mobile_main

By: daemondust

daemondust — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:38:14 +0000

Yes, that is definitely how they got the routing and account numbers. I do like your suggestion of using an instrument that isn’t tied directly to your account. I wonder if they would be dumb enough to try that trick with a cashiers check too.

By: daemondust

daemondust — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:36:24 +0000

I want to believe you. I truly do. But they have proof of service. If I don’t have any evidence to support my side, order of cancellation, etc, then I doubt I can convince a judge to go along with me.

I agree with you that it should entirely be on them to prove the debit, but without anything to invalidate their ‘proof’ I don’t think I could get very far.

By: NewPerspective

NewPerspective — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:17:26 +0000

Kenyantykoon,

Just some food for thought. If someone had thousands of dollars of your money and suddenly stopped paying you, wouldn’t you do everything possible to recover it?

By: NewPerspective

NewPerspective — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:14:09 +0000

LOL… Well, that’s one way to look at it. They’re still only collecting the money due to them anyway, regardless of whether they’re getting it through the credit card company itself or the collection agency. And in my experience, they usually DON’T get the money… or at least not all that is owed to them by the borrower.

If you put yourself in the lender’s shoes, it’s not hard to see who’s really getting ripped off here. I used to loan money on a peer-lending web site. Despite careful scrutiny on my part and screening every loan, almost 1/4 of them declared bankruptcy or defaulted when the economy went south. I view that as money STOLEN from me that I will never recoup. At best I get a modest tax write-off which for me works out to about 5% of my total loss.

By: econobiker

econobiker — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:34:39 +0000

Let me guess, Palisades Collections or similar? That place is well known for filing false reports to the credit agencies that you still owe money on an old phone account or even if you never had an account.

By: econobiker

econobiker — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:32:08 +0000

Problem is that some credit card companies own the collection agencies so they make the money both ways…

By: econobiker

econobiker — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:30:41 +0000

Jane is correct. As soon as they got the check they had the account and routing number.

By: econobiker

econobiker — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:29:50 +0000

Most agencies will hit your bank accounts for the money as soon as they get your account number and information. The first rule of paying off debts is to use cashier’s checks or money orders for any payments.

The second rule being get everything in writing, make copies of everything sent, and send everything via certified mail with return receipt…etc

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:53 +0000

I’m guessing from the bottom of the check he sent them it has the bank routing # his account # and I’d guess they had all of his personal info. from the debt. (SS#, DOB)