topic Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment. in Rebuilding Your Credit

Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:16:33 GMT

Around the time I first joined the forums, I posted about having a charged off loan from Pioneer Military Loans. I defaulted when I got out of the military at the end of 2004. They nagged me on & off over the phone until maybe mid-2008. I wasn't able to pay because I have been unemployed since 2004. They sent it to a CA, Tate & Kirlin, who I DV'd after they put a hard inquiry on my TU report. T & K never responded. After that, they had left me alone for a long time. Then, about 4-6 months ago, Pioneer started emailing me at the beginning of each month:

Re: Account Number: xxx0979

Dear Rosemary,

Your account with Pioneer Services from 08/21/2004 is seriously delinquent. We have tried to contact you repeatedly and you have not responded.

It is important that you contact us today to resolve your obligation with Pioneer Services. It is also our duty to notify you that you are in jeopardy of damaging your credit and forcing further collection efforts on our behalf.

Your actions will determine what steps we must take. Contact us today at 800-538-4233.

Respectfully,

Pioneer Services

We may report information about your account to the credit bureaus. Late or missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report. (Duh, right?)

Since this is pretty much past SOL (TX - 4 years), should I just email them & ask them to leave me alone? Since this is still the OC, I doubt they would do a PFD. They were jerks the entire time they were actively trying to collect. I have never sent them any kind of written communication or request, mostly because I don't want them to see it as an invitation to start sending me letters or whatnot.

The only reason I'm hesitant to contact them is because I don't want them to start updating my TU report again. They stopped way back in 2006, & show a zero balance. For some reason, they keep updating the other 2 every month, including a $2,117 balance, but not exactly the same. I believe on EQ they have listed a total of 32 90-day lates! I would dispute but it would probably just do more harm than good.

My credit reports all say this should come off my reports by the end of next year, even though that seems early to me, but I'm not complaining! I just want to know if I should be concerned that they are suddenly contacting me again after all this time. Thank you for reading this.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

AndySoCal — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:21:47 GMT

Two questions

1. Is the OC or any of the collection agency(s) still reporting this account ?

2. What type of loan is it ?

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:24:20 GMT

The OC is reporting only. No CA ever reported it. It's a small loan I got to help my bf pay for his tuition, I think originally $2000? I don't remember.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:01:46 GMT

It depends really on your situation. Do you have the money to pay in full if necessary? Is this your only negative? The fall off date is correct if your Date Of First Delinquency was 8/04. If this is your only baddie and you are out of the SOL then I say go for it. Try DV'ing the validity first. Then offer to PFD. Especially if you have copies of the CR showing the fall off date. This would keep them from being able to reclock. You are better off PFDing with the OC in my opinion. Anyway that is my thoughts. Again if you are looking for a major purchase anytime before now and next year then it might be worth it.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:08:12 GMT

@laz98 wrote:
The OC is reporting only. No CA ever reported it. It's a small loan I got to help my bf pay for his tuition, I think originally $2000? I don't remember.

As long as it is not a private lender student loan and you are sure it is out of SOL, you can probably just add their e-mail address to your kill file.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:19:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It depends really on your situation. Do you have the money to pay in full if necessary? Is this your only negative? The fall off date is correct if your Date Of First Delinquency was 8/04. If this is your only baddie and you are out of the SOL then I say go for it. Try DV'ing the validity first. Then offer to PFD. Especially if you have copies of the CR showing the fall off date. This would keep them from being able to reclock. You are better off PFDing with the OC in my opinion. Anyway that is my thoughts. Again if you are looking for a major purchase anytime before now and next year then it might be worth it.

No, I certainly don't have the money to pay in full, aside from putting it on a credit card. & honestly, I don't want to. They didn't want to work with me when I did have some money from my tax return, so I'm really not inclined to make them happy by PIF. That may be childish, but oh well.

The DOFD is Jan '05, which is correctly listed on all of my reports, which is why I'm surprised (but glad!) the dropoff date is listed as something earlier on all of my reports, even if only by 2 months, in one case.

no, this is not my only baddie. i have a midland account from a verizon account gone bad. that should fall off in the next 6 months or so.

i don't plan on buying anything big, not with my credit scores. my main goal is to get better credit cards.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:20:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@laz98 wrote:
The OC is reporting only. No CA ever reported it. It's a small loan I got to help my bf pay for his tuition, I think originally $2000? I don't remember.
As long as it is not a private lender student loan and you are sure it is out of SOL, you can probably just add their e-mail address to your kill file.

Oh no, definitely not a student loan. I would never go that route, for sure. I borrowed the absolute minimum help my bf avoid getting dropped from his classes. It's just a plain unsecured loan.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:54:57 GMT

Then I'd just keep ignoring them or flag as spam.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:38:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Then I'd just keep ignoring them or flag as spam.

It might be kind of funny to report the e-mail sender to their ISP for spamming and sit back and watch to see if their ISP nukes their account.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

IOBA — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:47:58 GMT

Food for thought... you received a loan when you asked for it... since you have not paid it back (then, since, or now), you could be the reason another person/family is turned down.

Aside from that aspect, you borrowed the money, you should pay it back. This far out from DOFD, you can pretty much write your own terms for monthly payments.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:17:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Then I'd just keep ignoring them or flag as spam.
It might be kind of funny to report the e-mail sender to their ISP for spamming and sit back and watch to see if their ISP nukes their account.

that's a really twisted (but hilarious) idea!

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:38:20 GMT

@IOBA wrote:
Food for thought... you received a loan when you asked for it... since you have not paid it back (then, since, or now), you could be the reason another person/family is turned down.

Aside from that aspect, you borrowed the money, you should pay it back. This far out from DOFD, you can pretty much write your own terms for monthly payments.

i agree, & i'm not one to run around advocating dodging debts. i spent an entire year trying to get these people to work with me every time they called, & they always flat out refused. i was the one who actually initiated contact with them, after i got out, which is how they got my phone number in the first place. so i tried to do the right thing, right from the start, whether you believe that or not. they wanted the whole thing, right then, & they didn't want to hear anything else. they said they didn't offer any payment plans, so it was all or nothing. they said borrow it, steal it, we don't care. so i have definitely done my part to work with them to clear the balance. i'm not a deadbeat cheerfully dodging my debts. but i'm not going to bend over backwards for these people either, when this could have been settled back in 2005, even if it might have taken me the whole year. i don't have the money to PIF, so i'm not going to call them up, just to have them start harassing me again.

as far as being able to write my own terms, not every creditor is that flexible. perhaps that has been your experience, & that's great. i had positive experiences a long time ago paying off bad debts as well. but my experience with this creditor gives me no indication that they are going to try & resolve this amicably. they're only pretending to play nice because they probably know they can't sue me now, or don't think it's worth their time, or who knows.

as aggressive as they are, i'm surprised they didn't sue me, to be quite honest. i got the impression from their collectors that they would come to my house & beat the cash out of me, if that's what they had to do. but then again, i don't have much they can take. i'm not a homeowner or even a car owner. heck, my bicycle probaby isn't even worth much! the most expensive thing i personally own is my iPod.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 02:14:32 GMT

@laz98 wrote:
@IOBA wrote:
Food for thought... you received a loan when you asked for it... since you have not paid it back (then, since, or now), you could be the reason another person/family is turned down.

Aside from that aspect, you borrowed the money, you should pay it back. This far out from DOFD, you can pretty much write your own terms for monthly payments.
i agree, & i'm not one to run around advocating dodging debts. i spent an entire year trying to get these people to work with me every time they called, & they always flat out refused. i was the one who actually initiated contact with them, after i got out, which is how they got my phone number in the first place. so i tried to do the right thing, right from the start, whether you believe that or not. they wanted the whole thing, right then, & they didn't want to hear anything else. they said they didn't offer any payment plans, so it was all or nothing. they said borrow it, steal it, we don't care. so i have definitely done my part to work with them to clear the balance. i'm not a deadbeat cheerfully dodging my debts. but i'm not going to bend over backwards for these people either, when this could have been settled back in 2005, even if it might have taken me the whole year. i don't have the money to PIF, so i'm not going to call them up, just to have them start harassing me again.

as far as being able to write my own terms, not every creditor is that flexible. perhaps that has been your experience, & that's great. i had positive experiences a long time ago paying off bad debts as well. but my experience with this creditor gives me no indication that they are going to try & resolve this amicably. they're only pretending to play nice because they probably know they can't sue me now, or don't think it's worth their time, or who knows.

as aggressive as they are, i'm surprised they didn't sue me, to be quite honest. i got the impression from their collectors that they would come to my house & beat the cash out of me, if that's what they had to do. but then again, i don't have much they can take. i'm not a homeowner or even a car owner. heck, my bicycle probaby isn't even worth much! the most expensive thing i personally own is my iPod.

It seems like this creditor is willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Negative: You are dealing with the OC and in general provisions of the FDCPA do not apply to OCs.

Negative: They still have the ability to mess with your credit report for another year or so.

Negative: They seem to be jerks.

Positive: The SOL has long expired.

Positive: Even if they used sewer service to get a judgment, you are judgment-proof.

Positive: As evidenced by their contacting you, they are hungry.

Analysis: Contrary to public opinion, I am really a nice person, but I do not deal well with jerks. Although an OC does not necessarily have to abide by a Cease & Desist (otherwise known as a FOAD), I would send them a C & D. I would further point out that their e-mails are considered SPAM and you will ensure their ISP enforces their TOS against them for spamming you. In addition, let them know that you understand the SOL has long since expired and should they attempt to take any legal action you will crucify them to the fullest extent of the law. Point out that in the past you have attempted to satisfy this debt with, for example, 75 cents on the dollar, but they refused to work with you. At this late stage of the game you are willing, out of the kindness of your heart and without acknowledging that this debt is even yours, to offer, say, $10.00* in full satisfaction. Then sit back and wait to see if they stop being obnoxious.

* When dealing with jerks I like to offer them a ridiculously low amount that they will probably misconstrue to be a typographical error thinking that you originally meant to write $1,000.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

RobertEG — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 03:24:14 GMT

I think O6 has hit every nail on the head!

I dont think anyone is advocating not paying a legit debt. That is not what this site is about. That is a personal decision. Any advice offered on this site is to educate the consumer about the potential implications on credit reporting, scoring, and/or legal action, shuld the debt remain unpaid.

After reviewing this thread, I would only offer one small, additional recommendattion, and that deals only with the credit reporting aspect.

It appears that, to date, the only reporting to the CR has been by the OC.

These are the CR drop-off dates that influence future CRs issued by the CRAs, regardless of whether the debt is paid.

For each monthly delinquency reported by the OC to the CR, just add 7 years from their individual dates. Then they are gone from your CR/

If they did a charge-offf, and reported that CO to the CRA, then you have to go back to the date of your first default (not later delinquencies) to determine the 7 1/2 period for CO inclusion in your CR. If 7 1/2 years has expired from your DOFD, then the CO must drop from credit reporting.

You have multiple dates to consider as they regard credit reporting.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 04:10:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@laz98 wrote:
@IOBA wrote:
Food for thought... you received a loan when you asked for it... since you have not paid it back (then, since, or now), you could be the reason another person/family is turned down.

Aside from that aspect, you borrowed the money, you should pay it back. This far out from DOFD, you can pretty much write your own terms for monthly payments.
i agree, & i'm not one to run around advocating dodging debts. i spent an entire year trying to get these people to work with me every time they called, & they always flat out refused. i was the one who actually initiated contact with them, after i got out, which is how they got my phone number in the first place. so i tried to do the right thing, right from the start, whether you believe that or not. they wanted the whole thing, right then, & they didn't want to hear anything else. they said they didn't offer any payment plans, so it was all or nothing. they said borrow it, steal it, we don't care. so i have definitely done my part to work with them to clear the balance. i'm not a deadbeat cheerfully dodging my debts. but i'm not going to bend over backwards for these people either, when this could have been settled back in 2005, even if it might have taken me the whole year. i don't have the money to PIF, so i'm not going to call them up, just to have them start harassing me again.

as far as being able to write my own terms, not every creditor is that flexible. perhaps that has been your experience, & that's great. i had positive experiences a long time ago paying off bad debts as well. but my experience with this creditor gives me no indication that they are going to try & resolve this amicably. they're only pretending to play nice because they probably know they can't sue me now, or don't think it's worth their time, or who knows.

as aggressive as they are, i'm surprised they didn't sue me, to be quite honest. i got the impression from their collectors that they would come to my house & beat the cash out of me, if that's what they had to do. but then again, i don't have much they can take. i'm not a homeowner or even a car owner. heck, my bicycle probaby isn't even worth much! the most expensive thing i personally own is my iPod.
It seems like this creditor is willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Negative: You are dealing with the OC and in general provisions of the FDCPA do not apply to OCs.
Negative: They still have the ability to mess with your credit report for another year or so.
Negative: They seem to be jerks.

Positive: The SOL has long expired.
Positive: Even if they used sewer service to get a judgment, you are judgment-proof.
Positive: As evidenced by their contacting you, they are hungry.

Analysis: Contrary to public opinion, I am really a nice person, but I do not deal well with jerks. Although an OC does not necessarily have to abide by a Cease & Desist (otherwise known as a FOAD), I would send them a C & D. I would further point out that their e-mails are considered SPAM and you will ensure their ISP enforces their TOS against them for spamming you. In addition, let them know that you understand the SOL has long since expired and should they attempt to take any legal action you will crucify them to the fullest extent of the law. Point out that in the past you have attempted to satisfy this debt with, for example, 75 cents on the dollar, but they refused to work with you. At this late stage of the game you are willing, out of the kindness of your heart and without acknowledging that this debt is even yours, to offer, say, $10.00* in full satisfaction. Then sit back and wait to see if they stop being obnoxious.

* When dealing with jerks I like to offer them a ridiculously low amount that they will probably misconstrue to be a typographical error thinking that you originally meant to write $1,000.

LMAO!!! O6, I love your posts, they are always great!

I'm really happy to have you weigh in on this, as I respect your knowledge on credit issues. I will definitely not worry about this anymore! Thanks a million!

@RobertEG: Yes, it does show as a CO on my reports. So it's just a waiting game now. Thank you for that information

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 05:35:16 GMT

@laz98 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
@laz98 wrote:
@IOBA wrote:
Food for thought... you received a loan when you asked for it... since you have not paid it back (then, since, or now), you could be the reason another person/family is turned down.

Aside from that aspect, you borrowed the money, you should pay it back. This far out from DOFD, you can pretty much write your own terms for monthly payments.
i agree, & i'm not one to run around advocating dodging debts. i spent an entire year trying to get these people to work with me every time they called, & they always flat out refused. i was the one who actually initiated contact with them, after i got out, which is how they got my phone number in the first place. so i tried to do the right thing, right from the start, whether you believe that or not. they wanted the whole thing, right then, & they didn't want to hear anything else. they said they didn't offer any payment plans, so it was all or nothing. they said borrow it, steal it, we don't care. so i have definitely done my part to work with them to clear the balance. i'm not a deadbeat cheerfully dodging my debts. but i'm not going to bend over backwards for these people either, when this could have been settled back in 2005, even if it might have taken me the whole year. i don't have the money to PIF, so i'm not going to call them up, just to have them start harassing me again.

as far as being able to write my own terms, not every creditor is that flexible. perhaps that has been your experience, & that's great. i had positive experiences a long time ago paying off bad debts as well. but my experience with this creditor gives me no indication that they are going to try & resolve this amicably. they're only pretending to play nice because they probably know they can't sue me now, or don't think it's worth their time, or who knows.

as aggressive as they are, i'm surprised they didn't sue me, to be quite honest. i got the impression from their collectors that they would come to my house & beat the cash out of me, if that's what they had to do. but then again, i don't have much they can take. i'm not a homeowner or even a car owner. heck, my bicycle probaby isn't even worth much! the most expensive thing i personally own is my iPod.
It seems like this creditor is willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Negative: You are dealing with the OC and in general provisions of the FDCPA do not apply to OCs.
Negative: They still have the ability to mess with your credit report for another year or so.
Negative: They seem to be jerks.

Positive: The SOL has long expired.
Positive: Even if they used sewer service to get a judgment, you are judgment-proof.
Positive: As evidenced by their contacting you, they are hungry.

Analysis: Contrary to public opinion, I am really a nice person, but I do not deal well with jerks. Although an OC does not necessarily have to abide by a Cease & Desist (otherwise known as a FOAD), I would send them a C & D. I would further point out that their e-mails are considered SPAM and you will ensure their ISP enforces their TOS against them for spamming you. In addition, let them know that you understand the SOL has long since expired and should they attempt to take any legal action you will crucify them to the fullest extent of the law. Point out that in the past you have attempted to satisfy this debt with, for example, 75 cents on the dollar, but they refused to work with you. At this late stage of the game you are willing, out of the kindness of your heart and without acknowledging that this debt is even yours, to offer, say, $10.00* in full satisfaction. Then sit back and wait to see if they stop being obnoxious.

* When dealing with jerks I like to offer them a ridiculously low amount that they will probably misconstrue to be a typographical error thinking that you originally meant to write $1,000.
LMAO!!! O6, I love your posts, they are always great!

I'm really happy to have you weigh in on this, as I respect your knowledge on credit issues. I will definitely not worry about this anymore! Thanks a million!

@RobertEG: Yes, it does show as a CO on my reports. So it's just a waiting game now. Thank you for that information

Once they soften up, though, you might want to seek out a settlement with them for whatever seems appropriate. First of all, it is the right thing to do and, secondly, even though Robert has so kindly pointed that there is a specific date beyond which your credit report cannot show the baddie, the OC can still hound you and cause you grief by making you lose sleep over possible INQs and the like.

Re: Should I email them back? OC asking for payment.

laz98 — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:01:20 GMT

I agree 100%. I don't want to have to keep looking over my shoulder for these guys til the end of time. I'll just wait for them to adjust their attitude

SMALL UPDATE!

laz98 — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 17:11:48 GMT

well, i haven't finished drafting a letter to pioneer, but i woke up today to a new inquiry on my experian report!

i guess they want to make their annoying presence known.

MORE NEWS

laz98 — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:19:20 GMT

today i got a new dunning letter from tate & kirlin, the original collection agency on this account. they never responded to my DV 2 years ago! & now my balance has gone from $2117.28 to $3961.19 !!! isn't it illegal for them to contact me when they never answered the original DV letter?

i was reading online that this CA typically deals with accounts where there is little to no legal recourse. i wonder how true that is.

Re: MORE NEWS

IOBA — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 02:14:49 GMT

I think, but am not sure, that they can.

You DV'd them and they stopped all collection efforts. They returned the collection back to the OC.

The OC tried to collect from you without success. The OC has now turned it over to the CA.