Associated Recovey System-help

[sara08]

I just received my first dunning letter (today) from Associated Recovery System for an account from Capitol One, the letter reads:

January 14, 2008

Dear Sir/Madam:

Because of your failure to respond to our requests for payment, as of 01-19-2008 we will continue to assume this debt is valid and that you do not wish to settle this debt for less than the original balance. Therefore, unless you respond to this notice by 01-19-2008:

-Your status in this office will be downgraded to "Refusal to Pay"

-All previous settlement offers will be voided

-We may recommend further collection efforts on your account

If you wish to avoid further collection activity, send us your payment by 01-19-2008 or contact your account representative at (XXX-XXX-XXXX) to discuss your options. The call is free.

This communication is from a debt collector. This is an attempt to collect debt...

This is the first time I have ever heard from them, they are not even on my CR. Don't I have 30 days to dispute the debt. The letter is dated Jan 14, and they want payment by Jan 19, what if I hadn't received the letter yet!? What should I do?

[debtorshusband]

First, relax.

CA's always try to instill a sense of urgency by setting deadlines.

Next, take the offensive. In a similar situation, I sent a letter similar to the one below. Send something like it CRRR:

Dear Sir:

I am in receipt of your communication dated January 14, 2008, a copy of which is enclosed, wherein you claim I owe a debt of $xxxx.xx to Capitol One.

As this is your first written communication with me, your letter violates the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (15 USC section 1692g) in that it fails to inform me of my debt verification rights, specifically the statements required in subparagraphs (3), (4), and (5) below:

Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in

connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector shall,

unless the following information is contained in the initial

communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a

written notice containing--

(1) the amount of the debt;

(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;

(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days

after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or

any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the

debt collector;

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector

in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any

portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain

verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the

consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed

to the consumer by the debt collector; and

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within

the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer

with the name and address of the original creditor, if different

from the current creditor.

This letter will serve as notice that I am exercising my rights under subparagraphs (3), (4) and (5), and am disputing the validity of the debt, requesting verification of the debt, and requesting the address of the original creditor. Verification of the debt is to include an accounting of all transactions from the inception of the alleged debt, including all charges, fees, penalties, payments, and assessed interest. I remind you that upon receipt of this notice of dispute you are required to stop all efforts to collect the debt until you have obtained the required verification and provided it to me.

Due to the serious nature of this matter, I do not wish to discuss this matter on the telephone. I request that all communication be in writing so that I may include your correspondence in my records. Furthermore, under no circumstances are you to make phone calls to my family, neighbors, friends, or to my place of employment.

Sincerely,

sara08

Good luck.

DH

[debtorshusband]

Don't throw away their letter. Start a file to keep all their letters, and copies of all your letters.

DH

[Amerikaner83]

good letter but a little long for my tastes. I take the "going fishing" approach: I play LSC (Least Sophisticated Consumer) and let them nibble at that, not letting them KNOW i know all they're about to violate.

Here's my standard DV letter that I use:

RE Acct # XXXXXX

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am in receipt of your letter dated ______ which I received on ______. In accordance with all applicable Washington State and Federal Laws, I dispute your claim in its entirety. Please provide me with full validation and documentation of your claim, as required by the FDCPA and Washington State Law.

In addition, I would like to inform you that all calls to my employer are prohibited, and all calls to my home are recorded. As such, I expect any and all further correspondence to be in writing.

I look forward to receiving the requested validation promptly.

Cordially,

That lets them know that a)I do know my rights (but they don't know how well ) and gives me carte blanche to record if they call, and violates if they call my employer.

basically giving them enough rope to hang themselves.

And DH is right - they have already violaed FDCPA by overshadowing - demanding payment before the 30 days have expired. Indeed, since you did not get the "unless you notify this office within 30 days..." wording, they've violated FDCPA again. Twice in one letter!

[debtorshusband]

good letter but a little long for my tastes. I take the "going fishing" approach: I play LSC (Least Sophisticated Consumer) and let them nibble at that, not letting them KNOW i know all they're about to violate.

Granted, some big chunks of my letter could be chopped out, especially the FDCPA citation.

But in this case, where the initial letter is more in the form of a second letter, my personal preference is put them on the defensive right away, leaving at least this much in:

As this is your first written communication with me, your letter violates the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (15 USC section 1692g) in that it fails to inform me of my debt verification rights

Of course they'll claim they sent such a letter, and the OP didn't respond, but I would never be willing to concede that point unchallenged.

YMMV

DH

[Amerikaner83]

I will agree on that one.

[sara08]

Wow, thank you for the informative replies! I just found out that Capital One still owns the account!! They just assigned the debt to ARS (heh heh, appropriate name ). Doesn't that mean I can still deal directly with them? If thats the case, I sure would much rather deal with them than with a CA. I am thinking of writing a letter offering them payment in full in exchanged for removing "Charge Off" and changing status to "Pays as agreed". Do you think they would accept this offer? After reading all the posts on Capital One, I just want to be done with this. I am already dealing with another CA in court, and I don't have the energy to do battle with these guys, I've got bigger fish to fry right now. If I send in my offer, who should I direct it to?

[brokeinok]

Call Capitol One and ask for the Recovery or Collections department. When they tell you to call the CA, state to them that you make it a practice not to deal with CA's and that you would like to work with them. Ask about rehab programs and be positive. You don't state how this card got to this stage, but I've always tried to explain that I had a temporary financial crisis and am trying to make good on my obligations.

It may take several calls before you get someone who'll help you, but this has worked for me several times in getting the OC to recall something from collections so that I could rehab it.

[debtorshusband]

Call Capitol One and ask for the Recovery or Collections department. When they tell you to call the CA, state to them that you make it a practice not to deal with CA's ...

"especially CA's that violate the FDCPA."

If Capitol One cares about its reputation, it won't be very happy if a CA representing them is not complying with the law.

DH

[sara08]

Brokeinok-I'm afraid if I call, they might sucker me into something or I may say something to mess this up, I'm not very good over the phone. I would like to write them a letter and send it with confirmation-will that bug them? Anyway, I am going to offer them payment in full (its not too much) but want to get the most bang for my buck. This is what I am going to ask for:

1. Remove CHARGE OFF from all three CR

2. Return the status of the account to "Pays as Agreed" on all three CR

3. Return to account to a positive status

Is there anything else I should get in there, I don't want to sound too demanding?

[smokhound774]

I received several letters from ARS last year about 2 old Cap 1 accounts . I had the not so bright idea to send Cap 1 2 OC verification letters NOT A GOOD IDEA !!!!!!!!! They keep EXCELLENT records .So I guess I will hear from ARS again soon . At least they are 2 years out of SOL in my state but unfortunately they are also 2 years from falling off my CR .