Trish Advice please

[hipptrain]

My wife and I owned a business for a few years. Unfortunately the business failed and left us financially devastated. My wife has taken on a job, however for only minimum wage, and I have a job that is commission based. We've had a few other issues due to my wife's health and medical bills. Well suffice it to say we are in financial dire straits.

We had business credit cards and they are charging off and collection agencies are calling. One called my wife today at her work place and proceeds to tell her she owes 10K and there's a law suit against her. He berates her and now she's scared she's being sued. We are not shirking
our obligations, but they have charged us 28% interest for months so I think they have made quite a bit of us. I do remember a few months ago another rep from NCO called me and threatened me to pay $20K in full or I would be going to court, etc. I did, from money I didn't have, and then learned my lesson.

I called this s.o.b. after he called my wife and gave it back to him and he starts yelling at me that he dictated the rules. I told him in no uncertain terms what I felt about him, NCO, etc.

What would you suggest. What are our rights? He wants me to set up payments with them this coming Mon. What should we do? Thanks for your time.

[jjgross]

First thing to do is to write a letter that it is inconvenient to call you or your wife at any phone number any time and all business will be conducted through usps. Buy a telephone recorder. Send the letter cmrrr.when you get the recorder if its them record the time and date. Also google nco and the others and see what they do you will find a lot of lawsuits they have lost. Please don't think all is lost. You have options this will pass remember your wifes health.

Is bk an option or not? After 7 years they will fall off your credit report. Did you pull your credit reports yet? Depending on your state you may be out of sol for collecting money on these accounts, we would need more info on the debts, like dola, last payment etc.

[Trish]

Yes.....to everything that jj said!
You should NEVER have to put up with someone talking to you like that........regardless of how much you owe.

Send them a DV w/a limited C&D asap (if you want to even overnight it so that the harassment stops quickly, you can......just make sure you can get a signature confirmation). Avoid their phone calls until then. I know it's kind of hard to do that at work but tell your wife to try and stay very calm and just state "I do not wish to be called at work".......and no matter what they say keep repeating that and hang up on them if she needs to. I've learned that being a broken record irritates the hell out of CAs (especially when you are calm about it). If she wants to, have her tell her co-workers that she is not going to accept any personal calls unless it's an emergency.

You can look up and see if recording phone conversations is legal in your state......but yes, if they keep calling.......you can either do that or take pictures of your caller id to prove they called. (I had to do that once and it got me a settlement check). It would also be a good idea (while it's fresh in your mind) to document EVERYTHING that was said, the times they called......etc.....in case this does go to court.


The SOL info would be good to have. Exactly how old are these? What is the collection SOL for your state?

Now as far as what to do in the long run......if you are worried about being sued and do not have the money to pay for these large debts......then maybe bk would be something to consider. I always say that should be a last resort......but unfortunately sometimes it is necessary.