csmidwife Posted July 21, 2003 Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 I am 3 months behind on all my cc accts. I am not going to pay anything at this time nor talk to them. I may either try to settle or do a bankruptcy. I just don't have the $$ to pay them. I feel bad, but as others have commented, they really do bait you. And then the ungodly fees they charge if you are one day late, go over your balance by $1 on accident, etc... I don't know how much I paid them extra for those things! I think they have all tried calling. But only two of them, with the highest balances, are calling often. I have never answered any of them, except DMB, the one with the highest balance, last week on accident, when I thought the caller ID said a different number. We were on the way out the door to an important medical appt and I thought it may be the dr. The woman was so rude. I just finally hung up on her.Well, anyways, the other day I noticed a truck stopped out in the road in front of our house. Mind you, we live in the country. This is a through road and so we mostly have cars flying through to the nearby towns. Nobody slows down unless it is a)the mail carrier or b)one of the county/utility workers. This truck was privately owned. It appeared they were looking up here, but we live about 150 ft off the road, so it was hard to tell what they were doing. Plus, I didn't think much of it at first. Then, this weekend there was a similar incident, but with a privately owned car. It turned around in our driveway and left. This afternoon the children said that there was a truck stopped out in front again. When I looked, sure enough it was that same truck. The man appeared to be writing something, and would look up and at our house from time to time. He was out there for maybe a minute. He then pulled right up into the beginning of our long driveway and then backed out, to turn around. As they drove away, it looked as though the passenger was looking back this way. But it gets kind of fuzzy at that distance. Funny, as I was sitting here writing this, a similar thing happened again. Now, this was a different vehicle from the other two. But they didn't actually stop, just slowed way down. Looking right over here, though. Then turned around in our neighbor's driveway. I went outside this time and the vehicle picked up some speed then, but still was going slower than normal. My husband jumped in his car and went after them, but they were gone. It all just seems weird. Especially when I have only seen people turn around on this road a couple of times in the entire 5.5 yrs we have lived here. And then, they never stopped out in front like that. I could believe that one of them were looking for a certain address. But all three? Especially someone who was here days ago and then again today, and possibly other times we may not have seen them. And to stop and be writing things? Also on this road, in this little town everyone knows each other. Everyone has house numbers and names on their mail boxes, including us. Nobody is having any special estate sales (they don't even have those in this neck of the woods) or any open houses, etc... either. What do you make of it? Are OC known to resort to such tactics? Should I be worried? I don't have any assets, employment, etc... Blessings,Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercrusader Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 I highly doubt that it's the OC's checking up on you. Something like what you described would be stalking/harassment and against the law. It's probably something with a very reasonable explanation. One day I saw a guy in a Honda stop in front of my house and start taking Polaroids. He turned out to be from the homeowners insurance company.If you are really worried about it, I would call the local police and report it. This way they'll keep an eye out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csmidwife Posted July 22, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 Well, that makes me feel a little better. I suspected, but didn't know, that it would be harrassment for the OC to do such a thing. I didn't want to believe they would try such things, but with some of the horror stories I have heard...I don't know what to believe about them! I probably look like a paranoid idiot now, haha. Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercrusader Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 In today's world a little paranoia is a good thing.......I always say.Now had this been a third party debt collector....then I wouldn't put it past them. On the other hand it could be Ed McMahon and the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol trying to deliver your $10 million dollar check..... I'll be watching for you on TV when you come to the door with a baseball bat... (j/K) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planner2 Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 Call the police, they love to hear from you, gives them something to do.I saw something very strange one night, 4:30 am, a white van stopped in front of my house and started shinning a flashlight at my door. Called the police and went to bed. Next morning tripped over the newspaper, wife ordered without me knowing, put two and two together, I called the police on the newspaper boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolo Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 It's probably Sears waiting for a chance to repossess your house paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz-saw Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Csmidwife,It's not illegal for someone to stop on a public road in front of your house, or even turn around (at the beginning) of your driveway. HOWEVER, the pattern and observations you mentioned indicate that there's possibly more to it than meets the eye. The fact that they picked up speed when they saw you, and that they managed to "get away" when your husband went to check on them, underscores the possibility that the party is up to no good. If it were a legitimate party with a legitimate interest, they would state their business if approached -- not run away.Is this your creditor or a rep? Probably not, but there are a couple of possible exceptions. Is your home payments past due? If so, it might have been a drive-by inspection to verify (for the mortgage company) that your house hasn't been abandoned. Is anything inside the home rented and/or past-due on payments and subject to repossession? They can't enter without judicial intervention, but if you have something that qualifies for repossession, they could just be casing the place out prior to obtaining a judicial order. Another possibility is the local Tax Assessor's office. Also, there could be a utility company wanting to make upgrades or modifications along your route.But at any rate and in all cases, when the same vehicle(s) exhibit the same pattern in front of your personal residence, then take overt action to escape being discovered and confronted, then you have a valid reason to believe they are not on the up and up. What do you do??These people, whatever their reason may be, thrive on the same thing -- your not knowing (or caring) about their presence. Let them know you know, and that you care about it, and that you won't tolerate it. That will foil their little cloak-and-dagger plan. The safest and important thing you can do is contact the police and provide as much information as possible. Anytime you see these folks, make note of the date and time, then call the police. It also wouldn't hurt to run out and start snapping pictures (after reporting it), or even pretend to be jotting down their license tag number. Actually, this would be the most effective measure without personally confronting them (which you shouldn't do for personal safety reasons -- it could be Bonnie and Clyde you're dealing with, lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 If you know someone that has a flash-less game tracker camera, you can set it up at the end of your driveway (camouflaged of course). When an object crosses its path, it will take a photo automatically. Being out in the country where you are, somebody should have one if they’re avid hunters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghacorp Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Basically there is no privacy when it comes to financial matters. Almost anyone for little or no money can access personal information on another individual and it just isn't necessary to sneak up on private property to assess an abode or to see what's parked in the driveway. Creditors are into credit files almost DAILY so anything adverse that occurs, all know instantly via credit profile triggers. Manage your lives with these facts in mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cha0sman Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 may i ask how high the balances are on the accounts? it may be possible that the OC may think you skipped..so they hired a PI or a skip tracing agency..i have seen this done for balances over 20k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlytop Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 When I first stopped paying on my ccs 6 years ago, I was using my parents address. At some point early on, one of them went my parents' neighbors' houses and told them they were trying to contact me re: an urgent matter. I know it is a violation, but that doesn't mean it can't happen! It may have been a CA, but it was only a couple of months into it, like yur situation. I am no expert, but I wouldn't automatically rule it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz-saw Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 When I first stopped paying on my ccs 6 years ago, I was using my parents address. At some point early on, one of them went my parents' neighbors' houses and told them they were trying to contact me re: an urgent matter. I know it is a violation, but that doesn't mean it can't happen! It may have been a CA, but it was only a couple of months into it, like yur situation. I am no expert, but I wouldn't automatically rule it out.Hmmm.... yeah, I guess it's possible that it could be used as a scare-tactic, but most collectors would (probabily) view that as time away from the phones and not want to lose the other collection opportunities as a result.About the only way she can be sure of who it is, without putting herself in harm's way, is having the police actually catch and question them. I doubt they could be arrested, though, unless something illegal is discovered or learned while the police are talking to them. Now, if they entered her private property and she declared them a trespasser and told them to leave, and they didn't, it would be an entirely different story.I can relate to what she's saying about the pattern not being ordinary. I was raised in the country (the sticks) and know what a normal "country traffic pattern is." I can't really explain it, but I know it when I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Need to back that up by posting sign in yard against trespassers! Then you have them if they try to come onto the property, least the short & cut of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz-saw Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Need to back that up by posting sign in yard against trespassers! Then you have them if they try to come onto the property, least the short & cut of it.Great point! I was asleep when I posted that last message and forgot all about the sign. With a sign posted, you don't even have to declare the person a trespasser and tell them to leave. Unless they have a forceful entry and detainer warrant, they're at your mercy. Now, back to the coffee (3rd cup and counting). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts