I think you have to go through a court thing first. Sounds like they're just trying to rattle you so that you get scared enough to send them lots of money.
I don't have an AMEX, so I'm not sure what their scare tactics are. I'd say that one good resource for you would be the book by Jerrold Mundis, "How To Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously." In it, he details how best to work with creditors that are trying to run you through a wringer..
I know there are others on the board who have gone through this kind of thing. Hopefully they will post! In the meantime, it's all going to be OK-although right now, I know it sure doesn't seem like it.
AMEX is absolutely awful. My husband's account went to collections before we were married. they tried to get me to send them post-dated checks, which of course, they would have cashed. Our wages were never garnished, and it never went to court or anything like that, but we ended up paying them about $300/month until it was paid in full. whenever they tried to bully me too mcuh, i just wouldn't send them anything. they didn't bother dh too much...they knew i was writing the checks, so they tried to bother me. And i hung up on them more than once. I would tell them to bother dh...my name wasn't even on the account. They were simultaneously trying to get me to send post-dated checks on dh's behalf and their other division was trying to get me to open an account because my credit was pristine. I think they are just using scare tactics, and as long as you are paying them something every month, or even every two weeks, i seriously wouldn't cave. Good luck...
A past due account will most likely go to collections which may result in the collection agency doubling their collection calls and/or letters.
But in order to garnish wages, they will need to obtain a judgment. And before an judgment can be obtained the collection agency is required to at least try and contact you to inform you of legal action.
If the debt collector does not have a judgment for garnishment, the only reason for a call to your employer is to inquire on your whereabouts, address, current phone number.
If the collection agency is going to pursue legal action and they call you to tell you that they are going to pursue legal action, then they must.
Violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collections Practices include
*Reageing accounts to attempt to force settlement on 'time barred' accounts.
*Misreporting the legal status of the account
*Misreporting the 'open date' and 'date of last activity'
*You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop.
*A debt collector may only contact the debtor, an attorney representing the debtor or may only contact a 3rd party to inquire on the whereabouts of the debtor. They can not divuldge any personal information to the 3rd party.
A debt collector may not: *use threats of violence or harm *publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts *use obscene or profane language *repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone *use false or misleading statements when collecting a debt
Debt collectors may not:
*falsely imply that they are attorneys or government *falsely imply you have committed a crime *falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau *misrepresent the amount of your debt *indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms or *indicate that the papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are *state that they will seize,garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and it is legal to do so. *threaten actions such as lawsuit will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken or they do not intend to. *depost a post dated check *use deception to make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams *contact you by postcard If you feel that a debt collector has violated your rights, report the violation to your state Attorny General's office and the Federal Trade Commission.
I don't know what the law is, but we are not allowed to give out any personal information about an employee, including verifying employment/salary, unless we have written permission from the employee. Its a privacy issue -- if you have one check your employee manual or ask human resources. (We do not even give out references. Apparently, you can sue a company if you lose a job offer due to a bad reference.) Next time Amex calls you at work or asks for the address for your employer, ask them why they are trying to contact you at work when they obviously know where you live and are not having any trouble contacting you. Does your company have a policy about personal phone calls on company time? If so, let Amex know - in writting- and add that further attempts to contact you at work will be taken as an attempt to jeapordize your employment. It could constitute harrasment, especially if you get fired. Good luck! Sandra
I used to be a bill collector, it was horrible I felt soooo bad for people...and I was not mean to people at all but I know a ton of my coworkers were. I had to stop doing it because it was so stressful.
I just wanted you to know. That the laws are different in every provice/state. Im in Alberta, and here if someone tells you not to call at work(but they must give you a time to contact you elsewhere as well as a correct ph#), then the collector CAN NOT call you anymore at work. But if you dont answer your phone when you say you will remember that they then have the right to call you at work again.
They must obtain a judgement for AMEX to garnishee...but it doesnt take much, they just have to provide where you work, and prove that you arent making an effort to pay. My best advice is to send post dated cheques, even if for lets say $75 a month then if you can afford more send more...but at least they are getting that ammount. Most collectors will then leave you alone(also provide a little financial statement to show you arent just trying to rip them off but that you are honestly having a difficult time). Here they cant cash the cheques until the date the cheques are made out for. Some will still phone you though because they want more money. Remember that bill collectors make big $$$...but its not just commission. I was paid a huge salary plus commission. But to me the money wasnt worth it, its really hard to hear how a stay at home mom with 4 kids is having a hard time because her husband is sick in the hospital!! Or the many many many other stories I would hear. Another thing to remember, is that bill collectors are lied to ALL the time, so most think that you are lying. If you work with them, they will usually work with you. But about 1/3 would swear at you as soon as you would say why you were calling, 1/3 were ligitly having a hard time and just either had a bad circumstance occur or did something stupid they now regret, and the other 1/3 just dont care.
One more note...with some debts they DO NOT need to obtain a judgement!!!!!!! I worked for health care, and all they needed was either your place of work and how much you made to garnishee...or to find out if you owned your house(a simple $15 title check did the job) and we could put a lien on your house. So really really try to work with those guys!
Also, when someone goes bankrupt trustees always tell the bankrupt person that they will contact all these places, but you know what once it goes to collections do you really think the bank forwarded your papers...nope! That was the worst, someone would go bankrupt but we had to keep calling because we would need to know the estate #, date, and trustee info. But people would swear at us and hang up, but we had no choice but to keep calling until we got that info or you basically lose your job - and we have bills to pay too.
all in all, most people want to pay their bills and I hated doing that job...I will NEVER EVER do collections again, it was way too sad!! I would do pretty much anything not to have to do that again. I am having a hard time now because I make about 1/5th of what I made doing collections, but I can live with this. I couldnt live with having to call an old lady whos husband disappeared and she couldnt get his pension because they didnt know what happened to the guy, meanwhile the poor little woman could barely afford to eat. Its really hard to live with. The collectors who do this for life honestly must not have a heart, or no conscience.
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I think you have to go through a court thing first. Sounds like they're just trying to rattle you so that you get scared enough to send them lots of money.
I don't have an AMEX, so I'm not sure what their scare tactics are. I'd say that one good resource for you would be the book by Jerrold Mundis, "How To Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously." In it, he details how best to work with creditors that are trying to run you through a wringer..
I know there are others on the board who have gone through this kind of thing. Hopefully they will post! In the meantime, it's all going to be OK-although right now, I know it sure doesn't seem like it.
hang in there-help is here!
Lisa
Don't hang up on them. It is my understanding that if you say
"In accordance with Federal law, I request that you do not
call me at my place of employment again"
Ask them to send a letter. I am not sure if they can still call
you at home, if you ask them not to.
Explain that you are willing to pay, and you are sending what you can.
Let them know YOU are in charge. You can tell them: I am sending as
much as I can. If you want to keep harrassing me, that's fine, I'll
pay less.
A past due account will most likely go to collections which may result in the collection agency doubling their collection calls and/or letters.
But in order to garnish wages, they will need to obtain a judgment. And before an judgment can be obtained the collection agency is required to at least try and contact you to inform you of legal action.
If the debt collector does not have a judgment for garnishment, the only reason for a call to your employer is to inquire on your whereabouts, address, current phone number.
If the collection agency is going to pursue legal action and they call you to tell you that they are going to pursue legal action, then they must.
Violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collections Practices include
*Reageing accounts to attempt to force settlement on 'time barred' accounts.
*Misreporting the legal status of the account
*Misreporting the 'open date' and 'date of last activity'
*You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop.
*A debt collector may only contact the debtor, an attorney representing the debtor or may only contact a 3rd party to inquire on the whereabouts of the debtor. They can not divuldge any personal information to the 3rd party.
A debt collector may not:
*use threats of violence or harm
*publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts
*use obscene or profane language
*repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone
*use false or misleading statements when collecting a debt
Debt collectors may not:
*falsely imply that they are attorneys or government
*falsely imply you have committed a crime
*falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau
*misrepresent the amount of your debt
*indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms or
*indicate that the papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are
*state that they will seize,garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and it is legal to do so.
*threaten actions such as lawsuit will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken or they do not intend to.
*depost a post dated check
*use deception to make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams
*contact you by postcard
If you feel that a debt collector has violated your rights, report the violation to your state Attorny General's office and the Federal Trade Commission.
I don't know what the law is, but we are not allowed to give out any personal information about an employee, including verifying employment/salary, unless we have written permission from the employee. Its a privacy issue -- if you have one check your employee manual or ask human resources. (We do not even give out references. Apparently, you can sue a company if you lose a job offer due to a bad reference.)
Next time Amex calls you at work or asks for the address for your employer, ask them why they are trying to contact you at work when they obviously know where you live and are not having any trouble contacting you. Does your company have a policy about personal phone calls on company time? If so, let Amex know - in writting- and add that further attempts to contact you at work will be taken as an attempt to jeapordize your employment. It could constitute harrasment, especially if you get fired.
Good luck!
Sandra
I agree that you should tell them not to call you at your workplace again, but merely telling them by phone is not enough.
Hi :)
I used to be a bill collector, it was horrible I felt soooo bad for people...and I was not mean to people at all but I know a ton of my coworkers were. I had to stop doing it because it was so stressful.
I just wanted you to know. That the laws are different in every provice/state. Im in Alberta, and here if someone tells you not to call at work(but they must give you a time to contact you elsewhere as well as a correct ph#), then the collector CAN NOT call you anymore at work. But if you dont answer your phone when you say you will remember that they then have the right to call you at work again.
They must obtain a judgement for AMEX to garnishee...but it doesnt take much, they just have to provide where you work, and prove that you arent making an effort to pay. My best advice is to send post dated cheques, even if for lets say $75 a month then if you can afford more send more...but at least they are getting that ammount. Most collectors will then leave you alone(also provide a little financial statement to show you arent just trying to rip them off but that you are honestly having a difficult time). Here they cant cash the cheques until the date the cheques are made out for. Some will still phone you though because they want more money. Remember that bill collectors make big $$$...but its not just commission. I was paid a huge salary plus commission. But to me the money wasnt worth it, its really hard to hear how a stay at home mom with 4 kids is having a hard time because her husband is sick in the hospital!! Or the many many many other stories I would hear. Another thing to remember, is that bill collectors are lied to ALL the time, so most think that you are lying. If you work with them, they will usually work with you. But about 1/3 would swear at you as soon as you would say why you were calling, 1/3 were ligitly having a hard time and just either had a bad circumstance occur or did something stupid they now regret, and the other 1/3 just dont care.
One more note...with some debts they DO NOT need to obtain a judgement!!!!!!! I worked for health care, and all they needed was either your place of work and how much you made to garnishee...or to find out if you owned your house(a simple $15 title check did the job) and we could put a lien on your house. So really really try to work with those guys!
Also, when someone goes bankrupt trustees always tell the bankrupt person that they will contact all these places, but you know what once it goes to collections do you really think the bank forwarded your papers...nope! That was the worst, someone would go bankrupt but we had to keep calling because we would need to know the estate #, date, and trustee info. But people would swear at us and hang up, but we had no choice but to keep calling until we got that info or you basically lose your job - and we have bills to pay too.
all in all, most people want to pay their bills and I hated doing that job...I will NEVER EVER do collections again, it was way too sad!! I would do pretty much anything not to have to do that again. I am having a hard time now because I make about 1/5th of what I made doing collections, but I can live with this. I couldnt live with having to call an old lady whos husband disappeared and she couldnt get his pension because they didnt know what happened to the guy, meanwhile the poor little woman could barely afford to eat. Its really hard to live with. The collectors who do this for life honestly must not have a heart, or no conscience.
good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)
>>My best advice is to send post dated cheques, even if for lets say $75 a month then if you can afford more send more...<<
It was great to hear things from a former collector's perspective, and most of the advice was truthful and great.
Regarding post-dated checks:
The laws are different in Canada and the U.S. here.
All my best,
Danni
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