topic Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing in Rebuilding Your Credit

Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Ready2Rebuild — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:11:08 GMT

$2099.03 Broken apt lease...

Anyone every delt with them before, how do I start this is a big $$$ amount that I want to lower or delete from my CR!

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

rickt411 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:53:18 GMT

They are tough to deal with.

As a condition of my new lease, I had to pay off the amount I owed to FCO. I know that the cardinal rule is not to pay without a promise of deletion, but it needed to be done in this case. I got them to settle at about 50%, but after a bunch of goodwill letters it is becoming obvious that they will NEVER delete the paid tradeline; they always insist that to do so is not their standard policy and will only update as a paid collection, which as we all knows hurts FICO just as bad as an unpaid collection.

I started with a really low number ($1000 on $3700) and managed to get them down to approximately $1800 on my settlement. Once again, I am not advising you negotiate anything similar, and most people here will tell you not to pay a dime unless you can get a PFD in writing, which is absolutely correct. Just thought I would share my experience.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Ready2Rebuild — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:23:57 GMT

Hey Rickt411,

I thank you for sharing, that is exactly what I am looking for different experiences so I know how to proceed with them.

Anyone else care to share???

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

IOBA — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:28:54 GMT

I have never dealt with the company.

What is more important to you - settling for a lesser amount or having it deleted from your credit bureau?

1. Settling? Negotiate. Offer 30%, tell them how you will get the money, and when you can pay it. (For example, your mom will loan you the money if you can provide a letter from the collection agency saying it will be considered paid and no further action will be taken.)

2. Deleted? Ask for a letter saying that they will delete when paid, then set up a payment plan. You can probably negotiate no interest. Make payments every two weeks, or when you get paid. They will be more receptive to receiving money several times a month versus once a month.

Good luck!

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Ready2Rebuild — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:33:47 GMT

IOBA,

That sounds like a really good plan. I will process option 2. I am sure deletion is better than settling any day, right?

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

wildstang — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:58:51 GMT

Oh man i have dealt with them, trust me do everything you can so they dont take you to court. I was taken to court when i was on deployment and now im still fighting them after 4 years to vacate the judment. Its illegal to take a person to court and enter a default judment on them if they cannot physically show up or even know they are being summoned especially if they are on military orders.

Anyways good luck, Im fed up with these guys i am about to get an attorney.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

msloryn — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:34:15 GMT

I owed $300 for "not thoroughly cleaning my apt" before I left in Feb of '03. I DV'd them in June and it was deleted. I guess I got lucky because it was passed SOL.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

guiness56 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:27:10 GMT

wildstang wrote:
Oh man i have dealt with them, trust me do everything you can so they dont take you to court. I was taken to court when i was on deployment and now im still fighting them after 4 years to vacate the judment. Its illegal to take a person to court and enter a default judment on them if they cannot physically show up or even know they are being summoned especially if they are on military orders.

Anyways good luck, Im fed up with these guys i am about to get an attorney.

What makes your situation illegal is the fact that you are in the military. They should have filed an affidavit affirming you are not in the military. If they can not do that they can not file suit against you. You need to see your JAG.

People file suits all the time and get default judgments. It is not illegal.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Underh20 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:50:12 GMT

guiness56 wrote:
wildstang wrote:
Oh man i have dealt with them, trust me do everything you can so they dont take you to court. I was taken to court when i was on deployment and now im still fighting them after 4 years to vacate the judment. Its illegal to take a person to court and enter a default judment on them if they cannot physically show up or even know they are being summoned especially if they are on military orders.

Anyways good luck, Im fed up with these guys i am about to get an attorney.
What makes your situation illegal is the fact that you are in the military. They should have filed an affidavit affirming you are not in the military. If they can not do that they can not file suit against you. You need to see your JAG.

People file suits all the time and get default judgments. It is not illegal.

The SSCRA, contrary to popular belief, does not mean you cannot be sued and have a judgment entered against you.

Once you are served, the servicemember needs to a) bring to the attention to the court that they are unavailable because of military duty and b) have their commanding officer or unit SJA (JAG) write a letter to the court stating that they are unavailable. Simply because one is on active duty and, if applicable, deployed does not mean you are unavailable. Your command must state a military necessity and not simply that you have no leave time coming to you or choose not to take leave. If you get the court's attention, the SSCRA mandates up to a three month delay of any process against you.

Your creditor does not have to prove you are on active duty. They simply file an affidavit stating that to the best of their belief, you are not an active duty military member. That they should have known makes no difference. Technically, you must prove that they knew and chose to mislead the court.

Courts have wide latiitude in how to handle this issue and some may go the extra mile in recognition of your military service. But they do not have to. It is always worth trying to get the judgment vacated even though you were personally served and failed to raise the SSCRA and / or have no proof that the creditor knew you were subject to protection of the SSCRA. Sometimes judges are suckers for a guy in uniform.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

guiness56 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:18:56 GMT

I do believe you are incorrect on this.

Section 200(1)

(50 U.S.C. App. § 520)

In any action or proceeding commenced in any court, if there shall be a default of any appearance by the defendant, the plaintiff, before judgment shall file in the court an affidavit setting forth facts showing that the defendant is not in military service. If unable to file such affidavit plaintiff shall in lieu thereof file an affidavit setting forth either that the defendant is in the military service or that plaintiff is not able to determine whether or not defendant is in such service. If an affidavit is not filed showing that the defendant is not in the military service, no judgment shall be entered without first securing an order of court directing such entry, and no such order shall be made if the defendant is in such service until after the court shall have appointed an attorney to represent defendant and protect his interest, and the court shall on application make such appointment. Unless it appears that the defendant is not in such service, the court may require, as a condition before judgment is entered, that the plaintiff file a bond approved by the court conditioned to indemnify the defendant, if in military service, against any loss or damage that he may suffer by reason of any judgment should the judgment be thereafter set aside in whole or in part. And the court may make such other and further order or enter such judgment as in its opinion may be necessary to protect the rights of the defendant under this Act. Whenever, under the laws applicable with respect to any court, facts may be evidenced, established, or proved by an unsworn statement, declaration, verification, or certificate, in writing, subscribed and certified or declared to be true under penalty of perjury, the filing of such an unsworn statement, declaration, verification, or certificate shall satisfy the requirement of this subsection that facts be established by affidavit.

I would say that if you are deployed you are unavailable to show up in court. And if you are depolyed how are you going to know a judgment has been entered against you. More than likely you will not.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Underh20 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:00:51 GMT

guiness56 wrote:
I do believe you are incorrect on this.

Section 200(1)
(50 U.S.C. App. § 520)
In any action or proceeding commenced in any court, if there shall be a default of any appearance by the defendant, the plaintiff, before judgment shall file in the court an affidavit setting forth facts showing that the defendant is not in military service. If unable to file such affidavit plaintiff shall in lieu thereof file an affidavit setting forth either that the defendant is in the military service or that plaintiff is not able to determine whether or not defendant is in such service. If an affidavit is not filed showing that the defendant is not in the military service, no judgment shall be entered without first securing an order of court directing such entry, and no such order shall be made if the defendant is in such service until after the court shall have appointed an attorney to represent defendant and protect his interest, and the court shall on application make such appointment. Unless it appears that the defendant is not in such service, the court may require, as a condition before judgment is entered, that the plaintiff file a bond approved by the court conditioned to indemnify the defendant, if in military service, against any loss or damage that he may suffer by reason of any judgment should the judgment be thereafter set aside in whole or in part. And the court may make such other and further order or enter such judgment as in its opinion may be necessary to protect the rights of the defendant under this Act. Whenever, under the laws applicable with respect to any court, facts may be evidenced, established, or proved by an unsworn statement, declaration, verification, or certificate, in writing, subscribed and certified or declared to be true under penalty of perjury, the filing of such an unsworn statement, declaration, verification, or certificate shall satisfy the requirement of this subsection that facts be established by affidavit.

I would say that if you are deployed you are unavailable to show up in court. And if you are depolyed how are you going to know a judgment has been entered against you. More than likely you will not.

Not likely to be incorrect as I have been in SJA (JAG) now for over 25 years.

All the creditor has to do is state in their affidavit that they believe you are not on active military duty. If the creditor is mistaken, it is up to the servicemember to notify the court -- best with written confirmation from the individual's commanding officer -- that the servicemember is not available to appear because of military necessity. If the letter is written by SJA, it is best that the military attorney specify that he does not represent the servicemember so that the letter is not considered appearance by counsel.

Being deployed does not automatically mean you are unavailable. If military personnel have certain non-criminal judicial proceeding pending, and their military duty "materially" affects their ability to appear at the proceeding, the SSCRA now requires the courts to grant an automatic 90-day stay when requested by the service member. In short, there must be a military necessity and being stationed outside of the US does not automatically mean you are entitled to a 90-day stay.

If you request a second stay and the court denies that stay, the court must then appoint an attorney to defend your interests in the proceeding. This, however, is not always to the servicemember's advantage.

Courts have a lot of discretion in how they handle SSCRA cases and the above represents what is minimally required.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

guiness56 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:09:29 GMT

It states clearly that if the defendant defaults in appearance, the plaintiff must file an affidavit showing the defendant is not in the military.

If the service member is deployed I find it hard to believe that they will even know a judgment has been entered much less to be able to act on it.

But, this is a discussion for elsewhere, not on this forum.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Underh20 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:34:42 GMT

guiness56 wrote:
It states clearly that if the defendant defaults in appearance, the plaintiff must file an affidavit showing the defendant is not in the military.

If the service member is deployed I find it hard to believe that they will even know a judgment has been entered much less to be able to act on it.

But, this is a discussion for elsewhere, not on this forum.

That's a common misunderstanding of many people who only know about the law what they get off a website.

The SSCRA and a multitude of court rulings indicate a creditor must only state in their affidavit that they believe the debtor is not on active duty. Under no circumstances do they have to show or prove one is not. Even if you aren't familiar with the intricacies of the law, common sense should dictate that in all default judgments the judgment creditor can not be obligated to establish every judgment debtor is not in military service. They simply state in their affidavit that to the best of their knowledge and belief the respondant is not in military service -- ESP is not a factor. That creditors often lie should not be surprising, should it?

If you are legally served you should know that there are legal proceedings against you whether or not you are in the service and / or stationed overseas. There has to be personal service under the vast majority of scenarios. Again, if you had the legal experience you'd realize that the law requires there to be a military necessity / that your military duty "materially" affects your ability to appear. The simple fact that you are out of the country and / or unwilling to take vacation (annual leave) is not an excuse for a serviceman or, in fact, for any respondant in a civil action.

There should be a copy of the ABA judicial guideline on how judges should comply with the SSCRA somewhere online. If anybody would like a copy and cannot find one, send me a PM.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

wildstang — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:33:05 GMT

Hello again, I contacted my lawyer and he said it was illegal and now the public record is gone and vacated. Im happy with that. waiting for my score to update next week. Any ideas how many points i will gain? It was my only PR

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

IOBA — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:32:21 GMT

Congratulations!

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

monaarts — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:10:31 GMT

Has anyone ever gotten anywhere with this company before? Please PM me any info. Thank you!!!

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

2NE1 — Wed, 30 May 2012 23:50:31 GMT

monaarts wrote:
Has anyone ever gotten anywhere with this company before? Please PM me any info. Thank you!!!

PM sent, check your inbox and good luck! :smileyhappy:

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

Lasardo — Thu, 31 May 2012 08:05:05 GMT

Dealing with them now.. Have gotten the judgment off two reports but still waiting on exquifax, any contact info please PM me.

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

2NE1 — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:47:42 GMT

PM sent! :smileyhappy:

Re: Fair Collections & Outsourcing

XoMeLLyoX — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:10:30 GMT

I am currently dealing with this company for a broken lease and things they wanted to charge me that were frivolous. Can someone give me some help on these guys??