I have been contacted by a lawyer representing a collection agency. I do not dispute that I owe this debt and intend to pay it. I just need to know what to do to protect myself from these bloodsuckers. I did not send a dv letter within the thirty days. Does this mean they no longer need to provide validation? They are suing me in small claims court and the hearing is next week. Will a judge enter a judgement against me with no proof that they are legally entitled to collect this debt? I called them on the phone, which I now know was stupid, and it was completely fruitless. The representative was hoping that I would want to get out of going to court and make a deal with her. Even though it will be completely mortifying, I'm thinking I need to appear at the hearing to ensure this can't come back to haunt me later. I have read horror stories from people who have paid a debt only to be harassed by another collection agency for the same debt. I want to pay the entire amount of this debt and I want to make sure once I do there aren't any future issues. What should I do?
Did the collection compnay call you before the attornry called you
Contact the collectionagency and see if they are ready to settle for less
Hi Guest,
You have made mistake by not disputing the debt. You should have sent a debt validation request within 30 days. Now, the debt has got automatically validated. I think, you can opt for an out-of-court settlement if the company is prepared to do that. See if you can convince them regarding paying the debt in full and mention it that way in your credit report. That will save both money and time. Remember to keep written proof of whatever deal you strike with the company so that they cannot harass you later. Otherwise appear in front of the court and present your case. Tell the court that you are ready to pay the full amount.
just wait till attorney to call you.
you have to talk to collection company and confirm.
Since you didn't have the debt validated it's not to much you can do now. You can either work out something with the collection agency either out of court or in court. But either way you will have to pay. But make sure in the agreement you get something in writing from them that says after you have paid they can not collect from you in the future.
Get a Financial Adendum for the hearing
Sounds like you’re going to go to court regardless. Usually too, the attorney calling works for the collection agency- although I’d need more 411 to validate such in this instance. If you want to pay back the debt at a reasonable rate try calling a non-profit debt consolidation agency like ours. We provide a free budget counseling session that outlines your debt to income ratio on a monthly basis and shows your valid disposable income to show what you can truly afford far as monthly payments for payback. You can take this financial addendum received from us to court and use it to your benefit for payment arrangements. This also shows the judge that not only are you willing to pay back the debt but that you’re taking the necessary steps to absolve the debt and have spoken to a certified credit counselor regarding such. We’ve seen this work quite often and usually save the consumer from a wage garnishment that is out of their means. Any other questions feel free to give me a call or email. Good luck!
I would go the route of settling this debt out of court. You could more than likely settle it for a lot less. I do not know for sure but I have never seen debt settlement take place in a court house. Usually once it reaches the judge you will more than likely have to pay the full amount. The only part that stinks about this is when the bad debt collectors refuse to validate the debt and you do not get the chance to settle it out of court..but hopefully since they do not validate it will go more in the other persons favor.
When I owed my school 750 dollars that I was unaware of, I had a hard time dealing with it. Going through that, I'm surprised you even got to speak with someone on the phone. I literally would get calls from their collection agency that would be a recording. I WANTED to pay them. I would call back the phone number that they left in the recording. Only to reach ANOTHER recording! I would call my school's financial department & they wouldnt talk to me.
Eventually, I did get it situated so that I could pay them the full 750; as they wouldn't take payments.
Hopefully everything will work out for you. You have been given some really great advice from others.