Collection agency being a PITA!

shawnprince1989 · ‎04-27-2014

good evening everyone!
so i have paid 90% of my debt but i still owe money to 1 more collection agency.
i called them on wednesday last week and they told me i owed $875 [making $100 payments/month]
i went to go pay them in full $875 on friday [1 day late] and they tacked on $500 in legal fees. **bleep**ing ridiculous if you ask me.
we were screaming and yelling at each other for who knows how long. they said i owed $1375 and they aren't taking a penny less......... so i called up the original creditor and said, look, i have $875 to pay off my debt but they aren't taking it because i am 1 day late.... she said, "**bleep**, really??" i said yeah.... she told me she would call me back because she has a hookup over there......
i recieved a call back in 15 minutes and she said she worked out a deal with this man by the name of jeff. All i have to do is call him up and get everything squared away..... i try to call him but the collection agency's supervisor got on the phone and said, "jeff is not allowed to speak on the phone and whatever deal the original creditor worked out with jeff is not going to happen, it's $1375. Take it or leave it." i exploded on her and told her **bleep** you and every other bad thing my little mouth can say..... they then told me they are going to start the wage garnishment process......

so come tomorrow what are my options?
this is for a medical bill. im located in nevada.

can they garnish my wages?
can i pay the original creditor? [i have been told cash talks]
can the original creditor recall the debt?

i do not want to have any kind of communication with this rude collection agency ever again.

gdale6 · ‎04-27-2014

@shawnprince1989 wrote:
good evening everyone!
so i have paid 90% of my debt but i still owe money to 1 more collection agency.
i called them on wednesday last week and they told me i owed $875 [making $100 payments/month]
i went to go pay them in full $875 on friday [1 day late] and they tacked on $500 in legal fees. **bleep**ing ridiculous if you ask me.
we were screaming and yelling at each other for who knows how long. they said i owed $1375 and they aren't taking a penny less......... so i called up the original creditor and said, look, i have $875 to pay off my debt but they aren't taking it because i am 1 day late.... she said, "**bleep**, really??" i said yeah.... she told me she would call me back because she has a hookup over there......
i recieved a call back in 15 minutes and she said she worked out a deal with this man by the name of jeff. All i have to do is call him up and get everything squared away..... i try to call him but the collection agency's supervisor got on the phone and said, "jeff is not allowed to speak on the phone and whatever deal the original creditor worked out with jeff is not going to happen, it's $1375. Take it or leave it." i exploded on her and told her **bleep** you and every other bad thing my little mouth can say..... they then told me they are going to start the wage garnishment process......

so come tomorrow what are my options?
this is for a medical bill. im located in nevada.

can they garnish my wages?
can i pay the original creditor? [i have been told cash talks]
can the original creditor recall the debt?

i do not want to have any kind of communication with this rude collection agency ever again.

A great case for the HIPAA Process you can Google it, it cant be discussed on this board. They cant garnish until they get a judgment against you...

shawnprince1989 · ‎04-27-2014

can you fill me in by your meaning of judgement against me?

when i tried to make my first payment of $100, they made my sign a contract or else they wouldn't take payment.... so i was screwed unless i signed it.

shawnprince1989 · ‎04-27-2014

and i didn't have health insurance at the time of the incident.

RobertEG · ‎04-28-2014

I would recommend that you consult an attorney.

Tacking on "legal fees" when their has been no legal proceeding is something you most likely have no obligation for.

Under FDCPA 808(1), it is a violation for a debt collector to attempt to collect any amount, including interest, fees, etc., that are not specifically authorized in the agreement that created the debt or otherwise permitted by law.

I doubt your account agreement included authorizatin for legal fees outside of initiation of legal action.

Any authority to collect any amount not authorized in your original account agreement would require knowledge of what the laws of your state explcitly permit a debt collector to collect if they are not specified in your original account agreement.

You may find an absence of any such provisions under your state law, thus making their attempt to collect such amounts a violation of FDCPA 808(1).

They cannot garnish your wages without first having brought legal action and being awarded a judgment by a court.

Notice of any such legal action must be served on the defendant. If they dont have a judgment in their pocket, they cant garnish wages.

coterotie · ‎04-28-2014

To tack onto what Robert said, it is also against the law for them to threaten legal action unless they actually intend to bring that legal action. It is also agains the law for them to make a false claim. Such as "we'll garnish your wages", when in fact there has been no action taken to allow them to garnish your wages.

Here is what I would do:

Check your state laws about recording conversations. If it allows you to record conversations without notice then you have a little leeway here.

Call back and say you are sorry you lost your cool and would like to start over (either inform them you are recording or not depending on the law).
Say you have read the agreement and nowhere does it say they are allowed to tack on costs.
You have spoken with the original creditor and they are fine with the amount you originally agreed to pay
You are willing and able to pay that amount by certified funds sent to them as long as they agree to furnish in writing to you that this will satisfy the debt prior to you sending the funds. Do not give them any financial information about where you have money etc. Do not allow them access to any of your depository accounts under any circumstances.

If at any time they start screaming and threatening, do not lose your cool just continue recording and thank them for their time.

See a lawyer. Nail their ass.

@RobertEG wrote:
I would recommend that you consult an attorney.
Tacking on "legal fees" when their has been no legal proceeding is something you most likely have no obligation for.

Under FDCPA 808(1), it is a violation for a debt collector to attempt to collect any amount, including interest, fees, etc., that are not specifically authorized in the agreement that created the debt or otherwise permitted by law.
I doubt your account agreement included authorizatin for legal fees outside of initiation of legal action.
Any authority to collect any amount not authorized in your original account agreement would require knowledge of what the laws of your state explcitly permit a debt collector to collect if they are not specified in your original account agreement.
You may find an absence of any such provisions under your state law, thus making their attempt to collect such amounts a violation of FDCPA 808(1).

They cannot garnish your wages without first having brought legal action and being awarded a judgment by a court.
Notice of any such legal action must be served on the defendant. If they dont have a judgment in their pocket, they cant garnish wages.

CreditGuy03 · ‎04-28-2014

LOL this is a classic case to SUE.

Wage garnishments can ONLY happen for mortgages, irs or money owed to the GOVERNMENT(tax lien etc)

That supervisor was an idiot. If I were you I would immediately consult a lawyer in your state then after you speak with the lawyer file with the FTC, Attorney General and CFPB. You shouldnt have to pay a single dime at this point. Get a lawyer and sue for damages

Equifax - 628, Experian -627, Transunion- 654 In the garden until 01/01/2019

shawnprince1989 · ‎04-28-2014

On the first page of the 'contract' is where they **bleep** me.

"Defendant (my name) does hereby confess judgement in favor of the plaintiff for the principal sum of $975.34 plus interest thereon at the legal rate per annum from the date of last payment of the date said debt become due, plus attorney's fees in the sum of $400.00 and court costs in the amount of $74.00 and hereby authorizes judgement to be entered against the defendant for said amount"

^^^ that is what they added on for being 1 day late on a $100 payment

Oh and don't forget about a $50 document preparation fee.

Again, they MADE me sign this or else they would not accept a single dollar from me til I did.

i was not forced to sign it with a gun held to my head, but I was forced to sign it to take care of it and for it to stop hurting my credit.

i have already tried apologizing and they just laughed and we got into another argument

coterotie · ‎04-28-2014

Not that this will help you in particular but will hopefully help someone else.

They can refuse to accept PAYMENTS, they can not refuse to accept PAYMENT.

A confession judgement is some very old law and appears to have been held invalid because you weren't granted your day in court to answer the complaint. Lawyering up may be your best course of action but you could give it one last try. Again all on a recorded line.

You signed the note under duress and they took advantage of you by making threats to sue and not accept PAYMENT which is a violation of FDCPA.
You have done some preliminary legal consultation which appears to indicate that a confession judgement is not valid in your jurisdiction (you can do this pretty easily) and is a violation of your right to due process and as such is void for the purposes of enforcement. Their threat of wage garnishment without proper adjudication is a violation of FDCPA.
You have the willingness and capacity to pay the ~800 but not the inflated amount.
This might should be number 1 but go back to the original creditor and recount the abuse etc. and beg them to recall the debt. If they can't do this, then a letter with the details of the conversation (if they get verbally abusive again, include a recording, make sure you keep your cool) to the CEO of the healthcare provider would definitely be in order.
As far as hurting your credit you are at the maximum damage, there really isn't anything more they can do and by the looks of things, Goodwill, PFD etc. aren't going to work with these asshats, so having it age off is all you can do. Although I think the HIPAA defense might help, I just don't know enough about it to give any advice at all on the application of it.

Good luck

@shawnprince1989 wrote:
On the first page of the 'contract' is where they **bleep** me.

"Defendant (my name) does hereby confess judgement in favor of the plaintiff for the principal sum of $975.34 plus interest thereon at the legal rate per annum from the date of last payment of the date said debt become due, plus attorney's fees in the sum of $400.00 and court costs in the amount of $74.00 and hereby authorizes judgement to be entered against the defendant for said amount"

^^^ that is what they added on for being 1 day late on a $100 payment

Oh and don't forget about a $50 document preparation fee.

Again, they MADE me sign this or else they would not accept a single dollar from me til I did.
i was not forced to sign it with a gun held to my head, but I was forced to sign it to take care of it and for it to stop hurting my credit.

i have already tried apologizing and they just laughed and we got into another argument

shawnprince1989 · ‎04-28-2014

So I went down there with an $875.34 check I tried offering it to them. she said 1200 right now in a lump sum. I didn't have $1200 so I declined it then she said 1375 with 875 right now and 500 next month and I told her that I couldn't do that because only make $12.50 an hour. she said okay we're going to start the garnishment process then so a little while I called them back and I said, "since you guys are declining my payment can I have a letter stating that?" She then said she didn't decline the payment that she offered me something and I didn't like it's another going to start the garnishment process so I asked if the phone conversation was being recorded and she just went off on me Then when she got done, she hung up.