BofA says "you stole from us"

[2Bshinyandnew]

I read about a similar incident happening to another poster. Since retaining an attorney, my soon to be ex has been carrying his attorney's card in his pocket at work, ready for when a CA/creditor calls.

Figures that today, he left the card on his nightstand

So, BofA calls him today, and my ex explains that he has retained an attorney to handle his financial matters, if the caller would please leave his # and extension he would call back with the information, and apologized for not having the info handy.

The caller started in with saying "you stole that money from us, and if you are filing for BK we WILL contest it. What you did is stealing" Blah Blah Blah.

My ex says he was pretty proud of the way he handled it, he just kept asking for the guy's # and extension so he could get the info to them. He's usually such a hothead, so this was a big for him.

Then he called me and asked if BofA could really dispute his debt, as they claimed they could.

I assured him that based on what he told me, and it is been 6+ months since he's used ANY card, he's fine.

I just wish he had gotten BofA on tape accusing him of stealing and claiming that they are going to contest any BK action.

[Flamingo]

It may not be as easy as you state in your second to the last paragraph above. If a trustee suspects fraud, they can go back and review for more than a year. If he did some stupid stuff like excessive cash withdrawals or fancy purchases, he could have some things to worry about.

[magyar123]

It may not be as easy as you state in your second to the last paragraph above. If a trustee suspects fraud, they can go back and review for more than a year. If he did some stupid stuff like excessive cash withdrawals or fancy purchases, he could have some things to worry about.

Yeah, but B of A would have to bring up the subject first, either at the 341 hearing - if they show up, or file a protest within the allowed 60 days after the 341.

[2Bshinyandnew]

It may not be as easy as you state in your second to the last paragraph above. If a trustee suspects fraud, they can go back and review for more than a year. If he did some stupid stuff like excessive cash withdrawals or fancy purchases, he could have some things to worry about.

Maybe so, Flamingo, and I appreciate your warning, but calling him at work with these accusations and threats is not the time or the place to address that, and is a classic violation of the FDCPA. It was a scare tactic, pure and simple as far as I could see, even IF he did/does have "excessive cash withdrawals or fancy purchases". That is why I posted in the Collections Forum.

The point of my post, was to report an experience my ex had with a collection call that contained accusations and threats, similar to another posters a few weeks ago. The CA is NOT an attorney, and is NOT qualified to assert that they WILL take any legal action, unless the CA knows 100% for sure that they intend to, and even THEN, doing so on the phone is a violation. As I said in my OP, I told my ex, "based on what you told me you should be fine". I do appreciate any and all responses, information and experience, I just wanted to clarify the point of my post, so others who are getting similar calls can come here and read real life experiences people have had.

[BigJohn]

Bank of America is an original creditor. Original creditors can do just about anything they want to do and the FDCPA does not apply to them.

As for me, I don't engage in conversations with creditors or collection agencies. I stay as low as I can from the big bad wolves.

If I woud speak out after being accused of stealing, I would say something like "Why did you file a police report? Now I won't be able to pay because I have to go to jail. How many years are you going to send me to jail for?"

[magyar123]

And I would say something like this: You robbed me first with your predatory loanshark level high interest rates and fees.

[Flamingo]

Maybe so, Flamingo, and I appreciate your warning, but calling him at work with these accusations and threats is not the time or the place to address that, and is a classic violation of the FDCPA. It was a scare tactic, pure and simple as far as I could see, even IF he did/does have "excessive cash withdrawals or fancy purchases". That is why I posted in the Collections Forum.

The point of my post, was to report an experience my ex had with a collection call that contained accusations and threats, similar to another posters a few weeks ago. The CA is NOT an attorney, and is NOT qualified to assert that they WILL take any legal action, unless the CA knows 100% for sure that they intend to, and even THEN, doing so on the phone is a violation. As I said in my OP, I told my ex, "based on what you told me you should be fine". I do appreciate any and all responses, information and experience, I just wanted to clarify the point of my post, so others who are getting similar calls can come here and read real life experiences people have had.

I responded to your paragraph in your posting about you advising him that he didn't have anything to worry about as to his credit card use (6 mos) (and a different point than the rest of your posting) and it is obvious he is in the process of filing BK even though you posted in the Collections forum. If B of A wants to make a stink, they will when they get his filing paperwork and it's obvious they will and it probably has to do with what he purchased or did prior to filing. My comment was issued to your comment that he should be OK but I stated that he may have something to worry about there which he might; I didn't mean for that to upset you, it's a fact and reality...I did not address the phone call. I am sorry he had to go through a call like that at work but when these calls come through as we know they will cause we have all had them, if they are abusive one should try to get the name of the caller, the incoming number, and hang up. It's awful what some collection people will say or do and with this economy their departments are under heavy pressure to collect.

[BigJohn]

And I would say something like this: You robbed me first with your predatory loanshark level high interest rates and fees.

I would also include that the fine print of the loan was so small I did not even see it. Please tell me what it says?

What I like is when you borrow the money, they send you a notice of the new terms with a disclosure if you don't like the new terms, just pay up.

[treehugger1]

While it is true that the FDCPA has been violated by calling after you have given your attorney's name and number, it is not necessarily the case that your attorney will pursue this. The FDCPA allows for $1000 per violation, and I would guess that most attorneys want to see several violations get racked up before they take action.

[danaf]

I'm so glad I filed when I did. BOA was by far my largest creditor (30k+). I talked with them on the phone once and the woman was extremely cordial to me....and I hadn't even filed at that point. A few lawyers that I had spoken to told me that BOA never makes a stink. You can imagine that at that time, them being my largest debt - I was very worried.

But I think now given everything that has happened over the last few months - BOA is becoming more aggressive where traditionally they have been lax. They gave me an unimagable amount of credit given my salary which was wrong and definitely predatory on their part. Of course I take responsibility for my screw ups too.

My recommendation to you & your husband is to not answer any more calls. Kudos to your dh for handling their call calmly but why put yourselves through the extra anxiety? This call was a scare tactic. This is something new for BOA and this is the first time I'm hearing this (on any bk board) but not surprised given the current economics going on.

I haven't read any of your posts but if you didn't do anything wrong then I wouldn't worry about them. Eff'em - you will be fine. Pretty soon, this will be all over for you.

The best of luck to you.

[epiphany]

I'm so glad I filed when I did. BOA was by far my largest creditor (30k+). I talked with them on the phone once and the woman was extremely cordial to me....and I hadn't even filed at that point. A few lawyers that I had spoken to told me that BOA never makes a stink. You can imagine that at that time, them being my largest debt - I was very worried.

But I think now given everything that has happened over the last few months - BOA is becoming more aggressive where traditionally they have been lax. They gave me an unimagable amount of credit given my salary which was wrong and definitely predatory on their part. Of course I take responsibility for my screw ups too.

My recommendation to you & your husband is to not answer any more calls. Kudos to your dh for handling their call calmly but why put yourselves through the extra anxiety? This call was a scare tactic. This is something new for BOA and this is the first time I'm hearing this (on any bk board) but not surprised given the current economics going on.

I haven't read any of your posts but if you didn't do anything wrong then I wouldn't worry about them. Eff'em - you will be fine. Pretty soon, this will be all over for you.

The best of luck to you.

Dana, I had the same experience as you with BOA. And I owed them 40K+, almost half my total debt.

I too was told by my attorney that they would not be a problem and they were they only one I had asked him about because of the amount. HSBC sued me for around 3K but BOA was nice as pie. And they never should have lent me the money either.

There is no rhyme or reason as to which creditors are going to get their panties in a bunch about which debtor. It can't be predicted. Even an educated guess can't be made.

What a wonderfully twisted world we are faced with right now. Glad I was able to (and that you were too) get on the right road before the pavement got entirely too hot for my poor, bare feet.

ep

[2Bshinyandnew]

Thanks All for your responses!

Unfortunately, when he answers the phone at work he is supposed to say something like "Thanks for calling XYZ, this is <his name>, how can I help you?" I suggested he use a different name when he answers, but he really can't because his customers know him and his voice and if he answers with a different name, it would be weird. Once, Discover called his work # and another employee answered and they (Discover) got him on the phone by being vague about their identity and the other employee thought Discover was a customer! The other employee interrupted my ex when he was assisting a customer in the place of business to take the call! It was pretty embarrassing.

Another time B of A called my ex at work when he was out to lunch. The office manager who answered the call claims that after she said he was not in, she asked to take a message and when the caller gave his name and said it was regarding an urgent personal matter, she advised the caller (it was B of A) that employees were not allowed to receive non-emergency personal phone calls, or conduct personal business at work, and they told her that the work # was the only # they had, it was an urgent matter and they had every right to call him at work and would continue to do so! My ex says he has already been contacted by his creditors at least once at work and told them to please not call at work. He did not know the request had to be in writing.

That was pretty much the last straw, and my ex finally retained an attorney last week.

My ex and I owe B of A $23K in joint debt, and he owes another $10K in his name only. The joint debt is an account that was opened in 1998, and has not been used in more than a year. Even though he had agreed to be responsible for the joint debt in our pending divorce, we all know that does not matter to the creditors and once my ex files, I will be responsible for the joint debt after his (hopeful) discharge. There is just too much debt, and not enough income to ever pay it. It does amaze me that B of A lent my ex a total of $33,000 on his salary, especially when he already owed another $30K total to Discover/Chase/Capital One. I don't know the details of the $10K B of A my ex opened on his own, or the other sole owner accounts he has, only what he tells me.

Thanks again for your responses!

[BKOnce]

Most collectors now work with a fictitious, american name... and also an INDIAN accent ... who earns 8 bucks a day. (debts outsourced)

[GoingDown]

What B of A did was just a classic scare tactic trying to mess with the debtor's mind. Most of the power of a collection agent is psychological in nature. A debtor's imagination and fear sometimes take over, making them do things that are not in their best interest such as giving the debt collector information to use against them or the worst thing of all-- forking over money to the debt collector.

Since they are the original creditor, the best thing to do is simply hang up on them when they call, especially if you don't have your attorney's phone number and information to give them. If you have that information, give them the attorney's information quickly and then hang up the phone on them without responding to their accusations or threats. They are trying to draw him into a conversation. But don't let them do that.

And yes, I have heard of B of A saying this to lots of people and threatening to contest the bankruptcy, but so far, as far as I can tell, it is just an empty threat. They don't follow through with that threat in most cases because they have little to gain and it would end up costing them more money to fight the bankruptcy. So don't worry about it.

[BigJohn]

Most collectors now work with a fictitious, american name... and also an INDIAN accent ... who earns 8 bucks a day. (debts outsourced)

Indian accent like from India.

I had one called a few days ago and the caller-id showed a local call. It wasn't. The number didn't exist. The caller changed their caller id phone number to a local number. So I guess they can do just about anything they want to do/