marle

My daughter received a summons from a supposed law firm stating that she owed Capital One credit card a sum of money. Now she did owe the money but she has been trying to contact them (to no avail, leaving voice messages that are never returned and calling numbers that give her a busy signal and then hang up on her). So when she received the summons, she called the firm listed and agreed to a settlement with them, which they told her must be paid by March 18 to avoid any court. This was on March 9th. She told them that she would send them the money when she received their settlement letter, signed of course. They told her it would be mailed out that day. Come March 12, no letter. She called and was told that it was sent out on the 10th. Come March 13, still no letter. She called and they got nasty, told her the mail takes longer than 3 days. Come March 16, still no letter. Another call and they agreed to fax the settlement offer. The fax came, letter not signed and at the bottom it said This is from a debt collector. Hmmm thought that they were lawyers. So she sent out a moneygram within a half hour of getting the letter. Come March 19th, guess what? She receives her letter. The letter is dated March 10th, but the postmark on the envelope says March 17th. So she calls today to see if the money has been credited to her account and guess what, it has not been. They refer her to accounting and they tell her they found it but it must have been a computer glitch. So guess what the daughter did. She called the State Attorney General's office and filed a complaint against the agency. Good for her. I truly believe they were hoping that she would never answer the summons and complaint and they would be able to get a default judgement against her for the entire amount plus a generous add on for lawyers fees. Then when she did answer the complaint and called them for a settlement, they were trying their hardest to make sure that she could not get the money to them by the 18th. But she did and she followed up on it or it would have been lost in their system. Now the Attorney General can mediate for her and the lady on the phone said that she definitely will. There is a law that says consumers can sue a collection's firm that misrepresents themselves and the consumer can collect up to $1000. Maybe that will be my daughter's next step. But either way, she stood up for herself against the mighty credit card company and I am proud of her. Hugs, Marle

Freedom1990

Good for her!

Ann

I love that story, Marle, and bravo for her.

Collection Agencies often misrepresent themselves, and bully making threats that they legally cannot see through.

Although laws vary from state to state (and country to country), anyone who is harrassed like that should find out where to complain and do it.

Hugs

Impurrfect

Way to go Megan!!!

I had a problem with Capital One, years ago. It was one of numerous credit cards I had. I went to consumer credit counseling, every single card I had, agreed to stop the late fees, interest, etc. except them. They were rude and nasty, and CCC advised me to file bankruptcy. The last contact I had with them, I told them "I tried to work out an arrangement with you..you continued to charge me more in fees than I was paying to all my other creditors combined. As a result, I'm filing bankruptcy and you receive nothing. Thank you, have a nice day" and hung up the phone.

I never knew that you could call the state attorney general's office and file a complaint against a collection agency, until you mentioned it. It's just AMAZING the things I learn on SR It's also something I will keep in the back of my mind, as I'm still dealing with quite a few past debts of my own.

Hugs and prayers!!

Amy

greeteachday

(((Marle)))) ((((Megan))))
You both shine!!!

winnie12

Sounds like your daughter is one smart cookie and becomming a full fledged adult!!! whohooo

helpus

I'm glad she stood up for herself. My RAD also had a prob w Capital One. She was behind & getting collection calls. They talked her into giving her checking acct info so they would take the $$ out right then & she could avoid some late charges. Well they took out double the amount they had permission to take. It totally nuts up her account. It took her 4 months in all to get things straightned out.

hope213

she is growing so big.... i am proud of her. hugs,