Has anyone delt with National Financial Systems before?

[strugglingKS]

I am having issues with this collection agency right now. (National Financial Systems, out of NY). I checked the Better Business Bureau website & they have had numerous claims filed against them. Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

Struggling

[ravenrant]

These guys are something else. Don’t talk to them – they will say anything and threaten everything. They will call at all hours - at home, at work, on your cell phones. Their letters want “Autopay” – don’t even consider giving them any account info. DV and Ltd. C&D them, give them 30 days; after they don’t respond to it, send them a follow-up DV, reinforcing the Ltd. C&D. They will continue to call you so start logging their calls and saving their threatening phone messages. They may fade away eventually although I think they are tied into NCO and one or more of those totally unscrupulous collection law firms and JDBs in upstate New York. Are they showing up on your CRs yet? They may not, they may just leave it at the OC reporting. If you want to get rid of this, try to settle with the OC; hopefully, NFS does not own this debt. In your offer letter tell them about the tactics used by NFS on their behalf and how they violate the FDCPA and that you refuse to deal with NFS. They probably won’t care but at least you will be on record that you will only deal with the OC. Send all correspondence CMRRR and keep copies.

[strugglingKS]

Hey, thanks for your last post! I was wondering-can you tell me what "Ltd." is? Thanks!

[ravenrant]

Hi - Sorry. Ltd. C&D is a Limited Cease and Desist - work the following into your debt validation request (DV):

I further request that you limit all communication in regards to this account to United States Postal Service only. I am not allowed calls at my place of employment, and choose not to accept calls at my home. I am making this request under the FDCPA:

§ 805. Communication in connection with debt collection [15 USC 1692c]

(a) COMMUNICATION WITH THE CONSUMER GENERALLY

(3) at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication.

© CEASING COMMUNICATION. If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt.

If such notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification shall be complete upon receipt.

You are hereby instructed not to call my place of employment, my home or cell phone numbers, my family or my neighbors. All communication must be done through the mail. I reserve the right to file charges under applicable federal and state law if these requests are not met.

The point is that you don't want them calling you but you don't want to cut off all communication so you leave the mail route open. I would be surprised if they heed the warning but once they receive the letter they are in violation if they call you. Good luck - post if you need any more help - everyone here is great about that.

[ynkewmn]

RECORD EVERYTHING FROM NFS!!!! I had them collecting on one of my accounts and sent them a ltd C&D letter. NO RESPONSE!! Sent them actually two letters! After about 6 months, I get a letter from Friedman & Wexler; "We have received notification from our client (CITI) that we are not to contact you further". LIES!!!!! I sent a "limited" letter...to NFS.

Then they pointed out that they are allowed to initiate legal proceedings.

Well, I let it go, and didn't DV Friedman & Wexler, now DH is battling them in court. My advice to you, send DV letters PRONTO, to all whom are collecting, and if they say they will sue, believe them, they will!

Keep everything and record everything like Ravenrant says,, it will help should you end up like in our situation.

Any other questions, feel free!!!

Hey Ravenrant, nice to see you back!

[strugglingKS]

Thank you all for your advice. I am really quite lost right now. Who is DH mentioned in your post? This NFS company tells me that citi will sue if I can't come up with the full amount of $2129 or a big chunk of it right away. It doesn't sound like much, but I am a college student in my last year & I really don't have it. It's not that I don't want to make any payment, I just don't have the kind of money they are asking. Should I still DV NFS?

Thanks

Struggling

[strugglingKS]

I guess what I mean is I understand I owe them $ (them being Citi), but I can't pay a thousand dollars or even three or four hundred dollars right now. What should I do?

Thanks.

[ravenrant]

Struggling - "DH" means "Dear Husband". I think there's a sticky post in the Resources section that explains most of the shorthand and acronyms used here.

Yes, I would DV them, and send the follow-up DV when they don't respond. You will be buying some time to start thinking about settling and funding that settlement. Unless you live in NY state (with NFS) and Citi is fast-tracking this to a lawsuit, this is going to take awhile to get to the lawsuit stage. It may go through a couple of collectors. Citi may eventually send it to a law firm collector, maybe in your state, maybe not. If they are local to you then they will file on behalf of Citi. If not, it will take them a bit longer but they may farm it to a law firm that is local to you. I say "may" because no one can predict what an OC will do (sue or not). Citi, Discover, Providian and Cap One are all pretty suit-happy, tho. Spend some time in the back row at your county's small claims court observing the process and you will see the reality of these types of collection suits and how often judgments are granted.

The violations committed by an assigned CA are really not going to mean too much when the OC sues you. If the collector is suing you because they now own the debt, then that is a different story. Right now you log them as they occur and use them to saber rattle to try to get the OC to settle with you. I would try to get out in front of this thing by contacting Citi right away. If they will talk to you or correspond with you, agree on a figure and then propose a payment plan. There are a lot of posts on this board with sample settlement letter language that you can edit to make your own. Make sure to get everything in writing and that it is a settlement in full payment of the debt. When you get to that stage, we can help you draft an agreement and release.

If Citi won't bite, keep trying and trying with them - send them lots of offers (all CMRRR). If it comes to a suit and you do end up with a trial or in arbitration, this correspondence will come in handy to show that you have been trying to work things out but that they are ignoring your good faith efforts. It's not going to make the debt go away, but it's something for the judge or the arbitration panel to weigh into their decision.

If you do get served, it's not the worst thing. You can still negotiate a settlement before the gavel comes down on a judgment. If the debt is relatively new, plan on settling between 60 - 80%. But, you can still negotiate a payment plan. Be sure to go to all appearances and keep in touch with your county clerk to keep on top of what papers Citi is filing and be sure that you have filed the proper responses. Keep posting here so people can help you through it. But, you could settle before you even step up for the first time. If you fail to appear, it's dollars to Krispy Kremes that they will get a default judgment against you at the first call and then things will get uglier. A judgment will follow you around for a long time. A portfolio of judgments is an asset for the OC to sell so you can be sure that someone is going to try to collect it eventually. They may wait until your CR shows that you are gainfully employed so they can garnish your wages or have property against which they can get a lien but they will get aggressive at some point.

For right now, send the DV and Ltd C&D to NFS and get a letter to Citi with a settlement offer. I would start at about 40%, explain you are a student with limited income (pile on the hardship reasons you have been unable to keep current) but that you want to make this right as best you can. I wouldn't mention a payment plan until you arrive at an amount. If the debt is not charged off yet (check your credit report) then perhaps you can talk with Citi and get on a hardship or "re-age" program. It's worth a shot to see what they might offer. The payments might be pretty steep, tho, so you might want to wait until the debt is charged off and then offer a settlement.

I'd get the DV letter out, check your credit report for a status on the account and then come back and post again. The more details you can provide (no names, no account numbers, tho) the better help folks here can give you. It helps to know what state you live in, the general amount of the debt, whether or not it has been charged off and when. There are lots of twists and turns. The best thing is to READ a lot of posts on this board and ask a lot of questions - this is how everyone starts.

This has been a long post but I've tried to give you an honest picture based upon my own experiences. Others may have different opinions and advice and you should consider everything offered and how it relates to your particular situation. Don't be afraid to ask for clarifications.

ynkewmn - nice to see you, too. DH and I have just finished up settling our second suit with Citi. That makes 4 suits in the past several months - 2 in small claims, 2 in court-annexed arbitration. Whew!! We have a couple of settlement offers out now and then hopefully, we will be on the brighter side of this tunnel (fortunately, the light wasn't really an oncoming train - lol) and be able to start some aggressive credit repair. PM me when you get a chance and let me know how things are going with you.

[strugglingKS]

I appreciate all your help! I looked undser the sample letters above & didn't find any...I don't know how to write a letter proposing that kind of settlement & also requesting a payment plan. Can anyone help w/this?When I contacted Citi on the phone, I spoke with Internal Recovery, who said I had to deal with the CA. That is where NFS comes in. Should I NOT send any payment at all? I am mailing DV tomorrow to NFS.

[strugglingKS]

I meant to include that I am in KS & my debt on this account is around $2100. It doesn't sound like much, but to me, it's a lot! Sorry for not putting this in my last post.

[ravenrant]

No problem - glad you are not in NY with the NFS-sters. Hey, to me, any debt is "a lot". You reached a low-level rep at Citi - that is what they are trained to do - just shine you on to the CA. If you wanted to settle over the phone you would have to try to break through to reach someone up a couple of levels. NFS reps are trained to tell you anything and threaten anything to try to get you to cough up some money. Remember, NFS can't sue you. They will try and try to shake some $$ out of you and then they will have to run back to Citi and report that they didn't get squat and they won't be making their commission. Then Citi has to decide whether or not to move it on to the next CA for another run at you or to sue, or to just put it on the back burner for awhile. If and when they decide to sue, then Citi has to engage a law firm licensed in your state and they have to sue you in your local courts. This doesn't all happen overnight. I gather you've talked on the phone to NFS - have you received any letters from them yet?

When was your last payment to Citi on this account? Were you more than 120-180 days late on that last payment? Did you make the minimum payment? Can you get a copy of your credit report to check and see how Citi is reporting this? Citi reports to all 3 agencies so it doesn't really matter which one you get. You can go to www.myfico.com and get a copy of one of the big three reports for about $10 by using the discount code myfico20. You can also check out a trial membership at www.PrivacyGuard.com. It used to be three months for $1 but I'm not sure what it is now. You can pull a tri-merge (all 3 reports) daily, if you really want to, at PG. Helpful if you are watching more that just this one account.

Do a search on "settlement letter" or "settlement offer" and you should find lots of examples. Did you find a good DV, Ltd. C&D letter?

[ravenrant]

Check your PM inbox - I just sent you a couple of sample letters.

[Heironymous]

I also owe Citibank (11k) and they were using a differant CA until today, I have been working on getting the Validation letter out to the 1st CA but today NFS left me a NASTY message, so they must have picked up the account or something.

So should I still send the validation letter to the 1st CA or both? I need to get a phone recording service setup.

[ravenrant]

I'd send a DV and Limited C&D to both of the CAs.

[Heironymous]

As an update, I did get the green card back after sending the validation letter. It has been more than 30 days so I am sending out a follow up letter, do any of you have a good sample letter for the validation follow up? Since I owe 11k I really cannot afford to make a settlement offer at this point so I am really just buying time.

The thing that makes me the most mad is that I never missed a payment for 4 years with Citi and then I was out of work for 3 months and could not make my payments, so they dump me to a CA. A-holes!!! They told me I had to pay 2k a month to catch up, how can I pay 2k a month if I CANNOT AFFORD MY NORMAL PAYMENT! Alas, logic doesn't enter into modern credit companies.