Anowl I am new to all this so I am learning as I go. What is a FOAD Letter? Yes they are reporting on his CR and we did a mortgage pull in June/July.
Dang I wish I would have known not call them a few days I go. lol
I do have a few more questions. Can we settle after sending the validation request? also Does settling admit to the debt which could then give them grounds to seek a judgment? I want to know if we get an agreement to settle in writing from them and pay as stated can they turn around and try and get a judgement against my husband?
A validation request is just a way to make them verify it's the debt you think it is and that it is really out of SOL. You lose no rights.
"FOAD"=".... Off And Die" and it legally requires them to avoid contacting you again except to note they got the FOAD or that they are actually filing suit.
Do NOT agree to "settle" anything unless the debt is still inside the SOL. This is a way to reset the SOL timer which you do not want to do.
Debt collectors are required by law not to state they are suing unless they actually are going to do that. However, there are lots of marginal collection types that will say and do nearly anything including threatening to have you arrested. The odds of a collector threatening to sue an out of SOL debt and then actually suing are pretty small. Usually, they don't talk to you at all and just file a lawsuit and hope you don't contest it. That's one reason to send a FOAD letter. It informs them of your address (and you have a record of it as well). If you are sued it is really important they have your address so you can be notified and defend it.
Well I may have messed up when I spoke with them. I called a couple of numbers about this debt trying to find out who actually had the debt. I would inquire about who the OC was and if the debt was actually my husband's we would try to settle the acct. Then I started doing some research and found out that the alleged debt was a time barred debt. By the time I found that out I had already spoken w/ the correct creditors about validating the debt and possibly settling if it was actually his debt.
Now I am wondering if I have reset the debt or not by doing that.
And I want to know if they would hold him responsible for that even though he never agreed or called them about it.
I am afraid I may have really messed things up for him now.
Relax and take a deep breath. You haven't messed up anything other than your responses probably left them drooling. You haven't reset anything at this point. Whatever you do, send a formal request for validation. Make it clear you will not even consider paying any debt until you know the details of the alleged debt. If it's within SOL they will oblige and provide this information since it is in their best interest to do so. OTOH, if they are just using illegal pressure tactics with an out of SOL debt then whatever they send you will be appropriately vague.
In any case if they call, state all further communication will be in writing, give them your address, nothing else, and then STOP TALKING! This will have the side benefit of giving you time to learn more about these heavy handed tactics that are, for the most part, just a lot of hot air.
What cashnocredit said.
have dealt with Dominion law/ Midland more than once. Even met them in court. The fact that I showed up was enough to back them down; had I not shown up they would have gotten a default judgment. But the Judge continued the case since I simply disputed the debt with them, and on the next court date, Dominion/Midland did NOT show!!! Judge dismissed without prejudice ( I argued about this) but I've never heard from them again. 3 years ago.
