Any Suggestions??

[sphinx]

I had a loan with Beneficial that was opened in 07/2004 it was an unsecured loan and the balance was $10,786. Same story, things got tough and that payment moved lower down the "have to pay" list until it was just not being paid period.

We of course had all the letters and phone calls, and being embarrassed by our inability to pay the debt we never responded. Eventually the loan was written off.

First it went to NCO Financial Systems Inc. which they were able to scare a payment out of my wife on 03/2007. Bless her heart, I believe they said something about persuing "this legally". Anyway that payment was made and nothing since.

Over the past 2 years we would occassionally receive a letter for settlement and like before we would pass it off.

The debt is now with Sentry Credit Inc.. They called this evening and of course they wanted the "new" balance of $12,536. I of course said this was not happening, and I was put on hold. He "just" got off the phone with the client and they are willing to settle for $6,268 and asked to to do two post dated checks, half for this month and the remainder next month.

I said " you want me to come up with $3000 in 18 days?" I couldnt come up with the monthly pymt! Then he suggested I come up with 10% of the total balance and then pay 1/2 of that every month so:

10%=$1253 due the end of this month

$626 due every month after that

Which I believe is $200 if not $300 more then the original payment was. I of course told him I highly doubt that I could ever possibly do that. He says ok, Im going to talk with my client and maybe get an even lower one lump sum payoff amount.

I am to call him back on the 14th, as he told me that something has to be done by the 15th as there is an "audit" the company is doing. And if something has not been agreed on my account or paid they will pursue legal action.

I honestly dont know what to do. Does anyone know what they can do to me? Sentry is in Washington, I am in Kansas. Im really looking forward to any advice and/or suggestions.

Thanx

jason

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

I have a couple of suggestions.

1. Frankly, it's disconcerting that you seem to not truly know, based on some of your statements above, what you can or can't afford. My first suggestion then is to start living on a budget (a real budget and not one based on the perfect month that comes down from heaven)...I say that because you have no business making any kind of payment arrangement or reaching a settlement until you know what you can and cannot afford. The most generous offer settlement from the creditor that you could ever hope to have is worthless if you don't have the funds to keep your end of the bargain.

2. Don't EVER send a collector post-dated checks (or even current checks for that matter) and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give a collector electronic access to your accounts.

When and if the time comes for you to pay them anything; use money orders or cashier's checks or some other medium that can not in any way be tired back to your personal accounts.

3. Stay off the phone with them and start the Dispute/Validation process - there is a ton of information on this site and I'd suggest you do a lot of reading. Before you pay anything to anybody you need information; not the lest of which is to know who owns this debt and if this collector has the authority to collect on behalf of the current owner.

As to what they can do to you; they can sue you and get a judgment and then attach assets (bank accounts, property, etc). However, none of that is automatic so don't give up hope. Understand, however, that with this much money involved, it's unlikely that they are going to wait forever before they sue. That said, I'd encourage you to be "nice" but "firm" and "reasonable" in your correspondence...no need to push them into a lawsuit by making them feel that you've backed them into a corner.

Ultimately, the best advice I can give you is to spend a lot of time reading; start with the FDCPA itself and then bury yourself in this site as there is a wealth of information here.

[sphinx]

Thank you for your reply. I apperciate your help. We do have a budget and its tight, but we have one. However not flexible enough to pull $3-$6k out by the 15th. I get paid once a month, we couldnt live without a budget. I thought I was doing the right thing by informing them what I could not afford.

I was also a little stunned by the phone call as this was the first communication I have had with this company.

Also on the DV letter, where I would put my account# since they contacted me by phone only. I do not have a letter to reference an account# to. I can go to one of my credit reports and find the original account#,, should I use that?

Thanx again

[OMGWhatHaveIdone]

Well now that Sentry Credit has contacted you, they MUST send you a dunning letter within the next five days (since it was just last night that they called). You should be receiving one. In that letter, Sentry's account # and address should be listed. Your DV letter needs to be sent within 30 days of receiving their dunning letter for all collection efforts to stop. There is much information on this site about that. Strongly pay attention to #3 in Robert_Nashville's post. It's very important that you not talk to anyone about this over the phone. Actually, pay strong attention to all the points he's made in his post. You need to make sure you know who you're dealing with before you agree to make any sort of settlement offer, etc.

When you send you DV letter, make sure you refer to some of the sample DV letters posted on the CIC site, or on the forums, for examples of what to write. Make sure you send the letter CMRRR.

I hope this helps you out. Good luck and keep us posted.

[kbjmM]

This is Sentry Credit Based in Washington State right(somewhere near Seattle)? Well I have dealt with them before, & I have EXCELLENT NEWS FOR YOU!! They are ONLY liscensed in Washington. (pull up your dept of commerce website and look them up. they won't be there.) SO they can threaten you all they want and there is nothing they can do if you don't respond. They will say "Legal this and that" and "We'll sue you" and all kinds of crap, but that's just what it is, CRAP and it's against the law to falsely claim a lawsuit if you cannot in fact file suit. or do not intend to. They would have to sell the account to a CA in Kansas, or hire and Atty liscensed in Kansas. That is one collection agency who is full of it. I have an ex who really screwed over my credit and one of the accounts is sitting with them. It has been for over 4 years. They have threatened legal action and have not done a single thing because they can't. Next time they call record the call and get them to threaten you again with legal action. (But check the phone recording laws in your state, It may be one party or it may be two party knowledge. I hope for you it's a one party state) Once you have done that the ball is in your court. YOU decide if and when you pay them and what ammount etc. You dont ever have to deal with them again if you choose. You Just ignore them. Hope this Helps.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

This is Sentry Credit Based in Washington State right(somewhere near Seattle)? Well I have dealt with them before, & I have EXCELLENT NEWS FOR YOU!! They are ONLY liscensed in Washington. (pull up your dept of commerce website and look them up. they won't be there.) SO they can threaten you all they want and there is nothing they can do if you don't respond. They will say "Legal this and that" and "We'll sue you" and all kinds of crap, but that's just what it is, CRAP and it's against the law to falsely claim a lawsuit if you cannot in fact file suit. or do not intend to. They would have to sell the account to a CA in Kansas, or hire and Atty liscensed in Kansas. That is one collection agency who is full of it. I have an ex who really screwed over my credit and one of the accounts is sitting with them. It has been for over 4 years. They have threatened legal action and have not done a single thing because they can't. Next time they call record the call and get them to threaten you again with legal action. (But check the phone recording laws in your state, It may be one party or it may be two party knowledge. I hope for you it's a one party state) Once you have done that the ball is in your court. YOU decide if and when you pay them and what ammount etc. You dont ever have to deal with them again if you choose. You Just ignore them. Hope this Helps.

First of all, CA’s don’t own debts; they collect them on behalf of creditors (Original or subsequent [aka JDBs]).

Generally a CA can NEVER sue you of their own authority; only the creditor has the standing to sue. Sometimes they will grant this authority to the CA to pursue but the authority still flows from the actual creditor.

Don’t be misled by a CA’s lack of being licenses in a particular state or think you are “safe” because you think they aren’t licensed.. Not all states require a CA be licensed and even when they do, determining the actual licensing status of a particular CA is not always easy/straightforward. Also, whether the CA is licensed or not does not prevent the creditor from going forward with a lawsuit if they choose to do so.

Don’t assume that that lack of a lawsuit equals an inability to file (or win) one – some creditors sue at the drop of a hat for even relatively small amounts of money while others seem reticent to sue even when the debt is large. In any case; making assumptions about why a creditor hasn’t sued you is, at best, short-sighted.

If the creditor pulls the trigger and sues, retaining an attorney in the consumer's state (assuming they don't already have representation) is not a big deal - it happens every day.

It’s great that you have dealt successfully with this CA but that doesn’t mean everybody else will.

[sphinx]

Thank you all so much for your input. I was doing a little fact checking,,, I called Beneficial knowing that they would not have anything to do with the loan based on the severity of the time past due. They gave me a number to their collection dept and then that dept gave me the number of Sentry who is now handeling the loan.

Previously the loan was with NCO Financial Systems,, so I called. I talked to a lady about the loan and I said that I would like to attempt to take care of this, she did inform me through our conversation that the loan was with Sentry but if we came to an agreement she could pull the loan back.

Sentry wants either $6000 now as settlement or $1200 now and $600/mo applied to the original loan amount of $12,536.

NCO offered $5014 settlement amount or $300/mo for 6months with option to settle at $5014 or less within or at end of 6 month period. Once payoff recieved they will denote on credit report positive remarks and paid in full.

Ive heard conflicting stories on what Sentry may or may not to do legally. I surely dont want a judgement or wages garnished. $300/mo is a heck of alot cheaper then 25% of my income if in fact that is what they can take from you.

I would love to feel like we are making progress on this as opposed to hiding from it. Is my head in the clouds here with the NCO offer?? As it sounds pretty good to me.

Thanx ya'll

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

I would recommend that you not do anything until you've spend some very serious time on this forum reading.

I would not send one single penny to any third-party collector until you've properly vetted that collector through the DV process.

When and if the time comes to send them money, any agreement MUST BE REDUCED TO WRITING or it's absolutely worthless - don't think that when you are dealing with a Junk Debt Buyer/CA that you are dealing with normal, honest people because you aren't.

Understand that most Junk Deb Buyers pay very little for the debts they own…3-6 cents on the dollar is normal so this settlement the are offering to you is not much of an offer.

Ultimately; how you proceed is your decision and yes, you can be sued and you do need to weigh that possibility into your decision but don't do anything out of fear or ignorance.

[admin]

Also, beside learning dispute and validation techniques, if you want to ease your mind about possible lawsuits, spend some time in our legal section. Once a debt gets to a collector/JDB, they really don't have much of a chance in court if you do the right things and cite the right laws.