Made The Mistake And Spoke To Ca, What Is The Next Step?

[71hemicuda]

Brief History: Got a credit card through First USA, balance owed is 6,000.00. Last payment made to them was in April 2007. First USA charged it off in Dec. 2007. All the bureaus report as follows:[TransUnion] Charged off as bad debt

Canceled by credit grantor. [Experian] Account has been closed due to inactivity. Unpaid balance reported as a loss by the credit grantor. [Equifax] Charged off account. Accounts closed by credit grantor.

I have been receiving calls from Creditors Interchange and NCO Financial. Neither one of these companies show up on my credit report, decided to call Creditors Interchange today before finding this site. Spoke to the rep about the usual settlements, etc. The rep said they purchased the debt from First USA. Told them i would get back to them. Have I screwed up to much already? What should i do next?

[debtorshusband]

I'm assuming that by "receiving calls" you mean they have been leaving messages on your answering machine. Then you called CI.

My first advice is to read, read, read the information on this site.

Now that you have communicated with CI, they are required by law (The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) to provide you with a written notice of the debt within 5 days. In this letter they need to specify the amount owed, who it's owed to, and they must inform you of your right to dispute the debt.

Then you must decide what you want to do, whether it's negotiate a settlement, write them a check for the full amount, or excercise your right to dispute the debt. Whatever you choose, I recommend doing everything in writing so everything is documented.

Good luck.

DH

[redskinfan]

I got calls from CI as well and sent DV before getting a letter from them...I had no idea what debt they were calling on...I have not heard froim them since I DV'd them.

I DV'd NCO on another matter and got a nice letter from them that they were ceasing collection activities and closing their file.

Neither of the two were showing up on my credit report at the time so I caught them BEFORE they reported.

[bubbaboo]

I also had a collection with Creditors Interchange. I sent them a DV and they never responded. They sent it on to Mann Bracken who is infamous for sending cases to the NAF for arbitration so I am dealing with that now. On my case, Chase, the original creditor, still owns the debt.

You said it was a FirstUSA card. I had three of those and when FirstUSA was sold to Bankone and then Chase, the cards started reporting as Chase. Is yours reporting as Chase or FirstUSA? I have not seen the FirstUSA name on my credit reports since 2004.

Neither Creditors Interchange nor Mann Bracken has reported to any of the CRA's.

On two of my charged off Chase cards they were sold to CA's. On this last one, Chase still owns it. Since you are getting calls from two CA's, you need to figure out who really owns it. You need to send a DV to NCO. Either one will be glad to take your money, but if they don't have a right to do that, then you have not solved your problem.

Watch out for NCO. They are the worst CA and most dishonest I have ever dealt with.

Can you share with me what they offered to settle the account? Amount of settlement and whether or not they would accept payments would be helpful.

[CloudX]

I first bit of advice is to take a deep breath... I found this site through a similar situation. They guys have already starting giving you great advice. Read read read read read everything you can. Theres a lot here. Another good thing to do is take notes of everything you do and keep it with yoru files. If you send a DV, make note of it, so in case you forget you sent a DV, you remember. That sounds stupid, but after 5 DVs they all feel like the same to me, especially when Im waiting for responses. Wasnt as helpful as the others but I hope this helps. Welcome to teh boards, did I notice correctly your in texas? If so, your in a consumer friendly state!!!!

Welcome

[71hemicuda]

Thanks for all the responses guys and girls. Sorry i have been out of town and have not been able to reply. They are willing to settle for about half of the amount i owe, but my question i guess is since the CA is not on my Credit report yet, and First USA has "charged it off". Will the CA report to First USA it has been settled? And will First USA update my CR? Thanks for the replies, this site is great!!! Also they are leaving me voicemails stating they are going to send it to Mann Bracken Attorney's office.

[bubbaboo]

You need to figure out whether FirstUSA sold it to the CA or whether they assigned it to the CA to collect. You can tell by what FirstUSA is reporting. If they show a $0 balance, then they have sold it. If they show a balance of the amount you actually owe, then they have assigned it. If they sold it to the CA, then paying the CA will not affect what FirstUSA reports. But you can still get an agreement with the CA that they will never report it themselves. If FirstUSA assigned it to the CA for collection, then the CA is getting a fee or commission for collecting. It might be possible to negotiate a deletion by FirstUSA from your credit reports as well as an agreement with the CA not to report at all.

You still have the problem of determining who has the right to collect - CI or NCO. If you pay the wrong CA, it does you no good.

Also, I still don't understand why FirstUSA is still in the picture. All the FirstUSA accounts were converted to Chase accounts three or four years ago. On all three of my former FirstUSA accounts, they have been reporting as Chase accounts at least as far back as 2004.

You do not want it to go to arbitration with Mann Bracken. The system is rigged in their favor. Read about it on this forum and over at Bud Hibbs forum. You have almost no rights there and chances are they will get the whole amount they are asking for. And even if you did not agree to arbitration, MB will find an arbitration agreement you "signed". They found mine (they claim) even though Chase agrees I did not sign one.

Based on my previous research, a 50% settlement with Chase is as good as it gets. But if they sold the debt to the CA, then the CA only paid pennies on the dollar for it. If you settle, make sure they sign an agreeement that this is a full settlement and they will not sell or assign the remainder to another CA. That is a favorite trick of CA's.

I feel for you. Somehow you are dealing with three of the worst out there - Mann Bracken, NCO, and CI.

[71hemicuda]

You need to figure out whether FirstUSA sold it to the CA or whether they assigned it to the CA to collect. You can tell by what FirstUSA is reporting. If they show a $0 balance, then they have sold it. If they show a balance of the amount you actually owe, then they have assigned it. If they sold it to the CA, then paying the CA will not affect what FirstUSA reports. But you can still get an agreement with the CA that they will never report it themselves. If FirstUSA assigned it to the CA for collection, then the CA is getting a fee or commission for collecting. It might be possible to negotiate a deletion by FirstUSA from your credit reports as well as an agreement with the CA not to report at all.

You still have the problem of determining who has the right to collect - CI or NCO. If you pay the wrong CA, it does you no good.

Also, I still don't understand why FirstUSA is still in the picture. All the FirstUSA accounts were converted to Chase accounts three or four years ago. On all three of my former FirstUSA accounts, they have been reporting as Chase accounts at least as far back as 2004.

You do not want it to go to arbitration with Mann Bracken. The system is rigged in their favor. Read about it on this forum and over at Bud Hibbs forum. You have almost no rights there and chances are they will get the whole amount they are asking for. And even if you did not agree to arbitration, MB will find an arbitration agreement you "signed". They found mine (they claim) even though Chase agrees I did not sign one.

Based on my previous research, a 50% settlement with Chase is as good as it gets. But if they sold the debt to the CA, then the CA only paid pennies on the dollar for it. If you settle, make sure they sign an agreeement that this is a full settlement and they will not sell or assign the remainder to another CA. That is a favorite trick of CA's.

I feel for you. Somehow you are dealing with three of the worst out there - Mann Bracken, NCO, and CI.

I checked my credit report and it does show First USA. Also it is showing the balance owed as 5989.00. So should i call them back and work out a settelment, and request the items you have detailed above? Or should i do this in the form of a letter? Forgot to answer your question from earlier post, they are willing to accept about half and they want a lump some up front and then pay of remainder by the end of the month. Thanks in advance.

[bubbaboo]

Don't deal with them over the phone. If you do, then they feel free to say anything. And you won't be able to prove anything because it is not in writing.

Since two CA's have contacted you about the debt, how do you know CI is authorized to collect?

My suggestion is to write them a letter and send it certified mail, return receipt requested. Tell them you are not admitting owing the debt but will consider their offer if they can prove they are authorized to collect it. Lay out the proposed agreement in detail:

How much you are agreeing to pay after they prove they are authorized to collect the debt. I would suggest offering less than they proposed.

How you will pay it: how much upfront and how you will pay the rest.

They agree to never report this debt to any credit bureau.

They will get FirstUSA to agree to delete it from you credit reports (assuming they are collecting for FirstUSA).

They will not sell or assign the debt to any other party , including another CA.

This is a full settlement.

[bdebtfree]

What I'm hearing you guys say is that if your credit report shows a balance on a "closed by grantor, charged off" then chances are, the OC still owns that debt, not the CA, and the only way you know the debt has actually be "sold" is if it's showing a "0" balance. Is this always the case? If so, what stops the OC from winning a judgment two years down the road, even if you've DV'd the b-wheezers out of every CA that contacts you?