PLEASE HELP!! Need advice! Am I being sued?

[debtfreedom]

My husband and I can't file chapter 7 bk until July 1st because we have lost one of our incomes and we are waiting for it to fall off before we file so that we will be under the median income.

We are moving next month because our home is going to go into foreclosure. My husband is our only income source right now and I am scared about making it until July 1st w/o having our bank account raided, etc. We are saving up to for a rental deposit, 1st/last month rent that we will be moving into end of February. We stopped paying our c.c. debt in October because I work in sales and had very little in commissions. In December, I got one last large commission payment, hence waiting until July 1st to file.

Anyway, yesterday I got the mail and I had this letter in my mailbox. I did not have to sign for it, so I am very confused if it is stating we are going to be sued? It is from a law firm and states:

This office has been retained to collect the above-referenced claim against you.
Unless within thirty days after receipt of this notice, you dispute the validity of the debt of any portion thereof, we will assume the debt to be valid.
If within thirty days of your receipt of this notice, you notify us in writing that the debt or any portion thereof is disputed, we will obtain a verification of the debt or, if the debt is founded upon a judgment, a copy of the judgment, and we will mail to you a copy of such verification or judgment.
You are put on notice that we are attempting to collect a debt and any further information obtained will be used for that purpose.
Please direct full payment to our office. Very truly yours, Collection Department of Law Firm

Is this a collection agengy or are we being sued? I just don't want to try and rent a place and have our bank account cleaned out. We can make it if it gets to the point of wage garnishment for a few months before we can file, although my husband will be mortified that people at work know. Another factor: this debt is only in my name and my husband is not on the credit card and is our only income. We live in WA state.

Please someone help, I was so stressed last night I couldn't sleep. I have an appointment with an attorney next Thursday but I am going to be a basket case until then.

[Trixie007]

You are not being sued at this time from what I read. That is the standard wording that they are required to use. I've only received one of these letters and waited until just before the 30 days were up and then requested a validation of debt (you can search this forum for tons of info on that). Doing this has made it so I have actually not had this CA calling me! Breathe.

[BigJohn]

It is just another bill ollector trying to scare you.

[treehugger1]

The fact they gave you the "30 day" debt miranda indicates they are a debt collector. Send a debt verification letter. You can also send a cease and desist telephone communications letter, but they have to stop all collection activities until they provide you with DV.

[debtfreedom]

Thank you so much for the feedback, I truely appreciate your help.
Since they are a debt collector, we may be able to buy time until July 1st for filing??
I am just worried about wage garnishment and if our checking account would be taken and how we would then pay rent if they took money from our account. I will be so glad when July 1st is here and we can file and move forward and get this nightmare behind us.

[albacore44]

Was this for a Credit card ?? Who was the original creditor/bank, and how much was the original debt ??

[debtfreedom]

It was for a credit card to US Bank. The original amount was $18k, but with all of the fees and upping the interest rate since we couldn't pay starting in Oct, on the letter it states $23k is due.

[albacore44]

It was for a credit card to US Bank. The original amount was $18k, but with all of the fees and upping the interest rate since we couldn't pay starting in Oct, on the letter it states $23k is due.

wow, they seem to jump right on it and play hardball. Glad i don't have any cards with them

[BigJohn]

It was for a credit card to US Bank. The original amount was $18k, but with all of the fees and upping the interest rate since we couldn't pay starting in Oct, on the letter it states $23k is due.

You want to file in July? You might be able to wing this one.

[treehugger1]

I'll assume your US Bank account is in your local area. I believe US bank will attempt to deal with collections internally for a while. However, depending on the amount, it could be the case that the local branches have authority to pursue small claims. This happened to me with American General Finance. They are a moderately big financial company, but the local branch (75 miles away) wasted no time in taking my case to small claims after 150 days. Mediation did not work out with them, and they received a judgment and garnished my wages for $1700.00. Not all so bad as this was one more creditor paid off that I didn't have to worry about.

Keep in mind that I live in a very rural area, and I doubt that US Bank would authorize the local branch manager here to spend time filing small case claims. This could be different for US Bank offices in larger metropolitan areas. Hard to say for sure. I do know that US Bank acts quickly on unpaid checking overdrafts. Many of their checking accounts have $1000 - $2500 overdraft amounts and carry big overdraft fees. They don't tell folks they have this when the account is applied for. When folks run up the overdrafts, and don't pay the overdraft within 45 - 60 days, they send the account to some office in the Midwest for collections. I've heard they will work with you, but you do have to pay some minimum monthly amount. Their credit card accounts may be handled in a different manner.

It is also hard to know how a particular bank will pursue debt on a CC. Would they do so through collections at some national or regional office, or would they attempt colelctions through your local office? I wish I had an answer for you.

You will get advance notice for any legal action, so you will have time to revamp your plans, if necessary.

[treehugger1]

Back to the original post... I forgot that this appears to be already in the hands of a CA. Send a DV and C&D request and you probably have several months before action can be expected. However, there are no guarantees.

[Trixie007]

Some thing we need to know first, how delinquent were you before it was sent to collections? More often than not they are just handling the internal collection of 90+ day accounts. If you DV them, it will go most likely go back to US Bank and then sent over to another collection agency.

Hey, this is really interesting! I think this happened to me. Our WAMU cc assigned our account to a collection agency, Van Ru, when it was 109 days past due -at that time they shut off our online access and stopped sending us monthly statements. Van Ru called me a few times, I asked for validation of debt over the phone. I received a few more phone calls before I received their letter, the last guy apologized when I told him he was breaking the law and said he would update their system to not call me.

So, then I received the validation letter dated Dec 11th, giving me 30 days to dispute. No more calls, I figured the calls would start again after the 30 days were up. Now, I just got a monthly statement from WAMU, and Van Ru has not called! It'll be interesting to watch and see if I get a call from a different CA now!

[treehugger1]

My expereince with WAMU a couple of years ago was similar. I used my $1000 overdraft to attempt to soothe another creditor. My income went in the toilet and I couldn't cover the OD. At the same time, I was just learning that my financial situation was in deep trouble. I didn't pay them, and for 60 days or so, they would call 1-2 times per week. I asked them if they would take $50 - $75 per month and write a simple contract for the defaulted amount. The answer was NO. They were not set up to do things that way. They sent the account to a collection firm. The firm was not registered to collect in my state (a requirement here,) so I completed an online complaint with the state and also sent a DV. I didn't hear anything for a couple of months and then a dunning letter appears from a CA 3000 miles away. Same thing this time; not registered and I sent a DV request. About 15 days ago (months and months after the second CA), I get a dunning letter from a JDB who clearly has purchased the debt. They want to give me a deal at 70 cents on the dollar. Well, it turns out they are also not registered in the state, and I'll send them a DV in a few days. We are now at 18-20 months since default. I am very curious as to what will happen next. Maybe there is some "forever" situation such as BB pointed out. The sad part is that at $50 - $75 per month, WAMU could have had nearly all their cash repaid to them. Instead, they probably sold the debt to the new JDB for 20 - 30 cents on the dollar. Their business model obviously plays the numbers, but I have to wonder if they would at least consider a new model in the "times that are changing." Their first step should be to STOP allowing overdrafts on cash withdrawals. Again, lunatics are still at the helm.