Phone Communications

[DaisysMom]

Thank You so much for all the info on "Cease and Desist" letters. I am sure it will soon become very helpful.

I do have a question though about communication with the creditors that have been calling me. I have an answering machine that I screen all of their calls and occasionally answer. I tell them that nothing has changed, my husband is still on disability, I am self-emloyed and only working part-time and we are having trouble keeping the utilities on. I have no money that I can send them. Since they know we own our home, I truthfully also tell them that we are close to being underwater and are struggling to keep our mortgage paid. (It's a sneaky way to let them know we have very little equity so they won't try to get a lien on it.)

So far we haven't been sued and it's been about 3 years since I made any payments to them. We owe over 20K to Citi Financial and various other CC Companies.

The question is, if giving them what little information I have is really helpful so they know that we have nothing they can sue us for? I know not to fall for their settlement offers or even to send in any type of payment. And now they are even calling to tell me that there is nothing wrong with my accounts and they are lowering my interest rates...just please send us a small payment. (No Way!!)

I am hoping to skate through this without a BK...but I am getting prepared just in case. Just curious if talking to them is helping or hindering.

And BTW, I wouldn't be in this spot if it weren't for them. I had surgery a few years back and missed work and got behind. They ALL more than tripled my interest rates to the point that I just could not make the payments and continue to eat, pay utilities, etc. And when I called and begged them in desperation to lower the rates, they just said too bad, so sad, but pay up. So here we are and I don't care. I'm way beyond feeling bad...I'm finally free of them. Woot!!!

Thank You all for the help. This is an absolutely wonderful resource!!

DM

[Faust]

Just my opinion but if I were you, I would save myself the stress and just file bk. Especially if you can qualify for a 7.

[LadyInTheRed]

If what you have been doing has kept creidtors from suing you for 3 years, I'd keep doing it. But, Faust makes a good point about just filing Chap 7 if you qualify and being done with it.

[keepsmiling]

Your story is only unique in that you haven't been sued yet.
Many here feel that bk is always the immediate solution. Others here feel that if your future isn't looking any brighter at the moment, then it's not the right time.
I myself am taking a wait and see approach, since there isn't enough money for either health insurance or an attorney at the moment.

[keepsmiling]

Also, you might want to look into GV. (Google Voice) Saves your ears from all that ringing.

[CCM620]

From my perspective, it matters what your circumstances are and what your state laws are. If you are collection proof and live in one of the 4 states with no wage garnishment laws, there may be no need to file bankruptcy. $20,000 is a small amount in my opinion to file bankruptcy over, but that is unique to your circumstance. If you have nothing to lose and your situation is not changing anytime soon, I would think bankruptcy may not be the best option, and remember its available to you anytime in the future if you changed your mind.

[DaisysMom]

Thank you all again for the wonderful responses!! And a little comment about something funny (or not...depending on how you look at it lol). My credit score is now in the LOW 500's and yet I am still getting CC offers all the time. Wouldn't you think they would wise up and look at my history and not touch me with a "ten foot pole???" They have idiots running those companies. BTW...I would NEVER have anything but a "Pre-paid" card ever again...and that will be in the future when we will have to do some traveling due to hubs family. Learned my lesson, but good.

DM

[keepsmiling]

Yes, I am in the same place you are and I am being "wooed" by Cap One on a daily basis!
Have to be careful not to fall into that.... that's one of the "triggers' for a lawsuit. I almost feel like that's what they are trying to do!

[GoingDown]

Think about the information you have been voluntarily giving them over the phone-- your husband has disability income (yes, I know it is technically exempt from wage garnishment, but they still would like to get their grubby hands on it!), you are self-employed (OH MY GOD! Why would you let them know about this?!), your house is, and I quote you "close to being underwater" which tells them you do have some equity in your house, etc.

This is why I say that most people are better off not speaking to debt collectors on the phone.

The fact that you are 3 years out and hopefully have not been making any payments during that time, means that you might just be able to squeak by until the statute of limitations runs out on this. Some states have a 3 year SOL for credit card debt, if you didn't make any payments during that time. Making payments will reset the SOL clock in most cases.

Don't apply for any of those new credit card applications which are coming in the mail. Applying for new credit is a big "Collection Trigger" and will get them even more interested in you.

And yes, like one of the other posters said, get Google Voice and start screening your calls. They now let you port your current phone number to Google Voice.

[Bell30656]

I'm of a completely different school of thought. When I was going through this I took every call. I never dodged the calls and I gave them no information. When they would call me, I'd answer and confirm my identity. Then I would simply tell them that I do not discuss financial matters over the telephone, bid them farewell and hang up. No matter what they said, I stuck to my mantra. If I really wanted to be a jerk, I'd add in a statement that I record all telephone calls for compliance with federal and state laws right after answering.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER tell a collector that you are planning to file bankruptcy. The number one reason people have to wait to file bankruptcy is not having enough money to pay the attorney and fees. Imagine how much longer it will take you to save up that money if someone files a quick suit, gets a summary judgement and snags your bank account. Sure you funds might be exempt but you have to try to get them back after they are in the hands of a collector.

[GoingDown]

Bell30656, If everyone talked to debt collectors the way you did, and did not give them any information, then it wouldn't be a big deal. But as you can see from the original post, a lot of people voluntarily cough up huge amounts of personal information when they talk to debt collectors.

And maybe this is just me, but I hated having the phone ring over and over again from debt collectors. It made me cringe every time the phone rang.

I very much enjoyed the peace and quiet I got from sending them all cease and desist letters. Finally, every call that came in was from someone I wanted to talk to again. That's a nice feeling.

[Bell30656]

I guess I had more aggressive collectors than most. When I started out ditching their calls, they did things like call my neighbors in an attempt to locate me. I had one called my work leaving me messages at random extensions all over the building. Another called people with the same last name as myself in our town.

I was real good about telling them NOTHING. I had one that called me at the same time each morning. I told her we could talk about the Braves or the weather but not financial matters.

[DaisysMom]

I think all of your suggestions are good. Depending upon your individual circumstances you may want to handle the calls differently. What I have been doing is working good for me so far as they have not called my relatives or my neighbors, etc. I just figured if I was honest about my financial circumstances and let them know there is no pot of money they can get their hands on, that they may decide it's not worth it to go to the expense of suing me. So I put up with the constant calls, (using my answering machine of course) and answer the occasional one or two a week, giving them the same info as the last time I talked to them. Nothing has changed, my husband hasn't had a miraculous cure (he's still on disability), I'm still self-employed but only working part-time and there is barely enough money to keep the utilities on. I then end the call before they start whining about making a tiny good faith payment or some other financial arrangement that would reset the time limit on the debt.

And unlike others I've read about, all the calls received from the agencies have all been courteous and appropriate. I've never been threatened or talked down to. Maybe I've just been lucky.

DM

[Bell30656]

If the debt is getting close to SoL, you could find that information you have given them could lead to a lawsuit. Getting a judgement against you would keep that debt collectable for a lot more years when in the debt collector's mind your business may be a little more profitable or your husband may be get better. As the SoL approaches you really want to watch out for JDB's. They love to sue.

[GoingDown]

I guess I had more aggressive collectors than most. When I started out ditching their calls, they did things like call my neighbors in an attempt to locate me. I had one called my work leaving me messages at random extensions all over the building. Another called people with the same last name as myself in our town.

.

I forgot to respond to this part.

Yes, I also had aggressive collectors calling neighbors, relatives, former employers, and even my landlord about me. But the beauty of the cease and desist letter is that it demands that they stop all communication, which includes neighbors, relatives, friends, employers, landlords, etc., not just you.

After I sent them cease and desist letters, the phone calls stopped to everyone. Not just me.