CreditCrusher

The only payment they accept via phone/online is Western Union and they state that those payments won't post until the following business day, tried it once and it was posted 4 days after they received it during a normal business week, I can't trust it. When in doubt about the date I send it overnight mail with a signature. I'm mainly trying to determine if a payment received on the 30th is late and if I pay on a weekend if it will be considered received that day or not until the following Monday.

If a payment is due on the first and is paid on the 30th (for example it's received via signature required mail during that business day) is it considered 30 days late for reporting? Or would that not occur until the 31st? Additionally, if the mail is received on a Saturday can they push the paid date until the following Monday, or do they have to report the payment as being received as Saturday (again assumed it was sent in a verified receipt method)?

Night and day here comparing criminal and civil actions...criminal cases are never going to bring in anything for the defendant so it's only logical that contingency isn't an option in these cases. It has to be assumed that a large majority of people dealing with collection cases are broke. Certainly not all of them, but a lot of them. When an attorney specializes in these types of cases it's going to be expected that it will take some contingency work to pay the bills. That aside, a 2k retainer is not unreasonable if the attorney has given their client a reasonable expectation of what the damages involved might be. In cases of gross violation of federal law where there is evidence (paper trail, phone records, recordings) the attorney should be have some idea of the strength of their case. In addition, many CAs will want to settle rather than go to court when it's obvious that the defendant has counsel and is asserting claims of their own. The laws exist for many reasons...including statutory damages. As you are well aware, collections agencies and junk debt buyers call up 80-year old women and claim the police are coming. They poison credit reports by abusing the way debts are report, they call after being told not too, and on and on. Despite the fact that the client in a specific case may not have suffered under any severe consequences of the specific CA's actions...statutory damages exist as a future deterrence from committing those acts again against others. Your post confuses me. On one hand you say that debtors need to be prepared to pay a retainer but on the other you claim that attorneys value their reputation too much to defend the same clients when the law is broken. Being a lawyer is I'm sure, much like other jobs. Most days you don't get a home run. Most of the bills get paid by those "little" jobs that keep bringing in pay. Collection agencies work the same way which is why they are unafraid to break the law daily to get the day's cut. If more people and more attorneys took "small" violations to court it would be unprofitable for CA's to keep abusing people and MORE profitable for the attorneys who took the cases.

Keep calling attorneys, Consumer Protection attorneys...... Sounds like the attorneys you talked to dont understand how they get paid from an FDCPA claim.... my guess is that they DO realize they are entitled to fees but also realize the fees are not worth the time considering that few cases go to trial and most settlements involve both parties eating their own costs. For the time suck that civil litigation is (and the manner it tends to play out), FDCPA claims are simply not worth it for most attorneys given that so few people are willing to advance the retainer. Contingency work SUCKS. And this is why CAs are largely unafraid of getting sued and continue to figuratively crap all over federal law.

Is it true that admitting to a debt resets the SOL? So if one were to say, "My records show that this debt is time-barred from collection per the state's SOL" then they've reset the clock???? I've never heard this before...

Well, ya. But it seems to me that it's basically extortion if they know they are time-barred but then sue anyway.

Theoretical question...if you notify a collection agency, JDB, etc. that the SOL has expired on a debt but then they sue you anyway...is any additional recourse available to you?

It depends on the exact state law, but it begins at the time of delinquency plus/minus some other factors usually. You can dispute at any time. You can be sued at any time even after the 4 years are up. What SOL does is let you argue that as an answer to the suit. But of course that still involves dealing with court, lawyers etc etc. The above is my non-legal opinion...when in regards to legal questions it's best to deal with a lawyer who is familiar with your state law.

I was under the impression that since the account originated in another state, legal action could still be brought according to that state's laws rather than current residence....do you have any info on what you posted? I honestly don't know for sure, but thought it was the other way around.

So...if they deny based on credit...what is the point of the secured card? I mean, was your credit like absolutely mind-bogglingly terrible or something?

Hmm...I have a couple of Cap1 negs still on my report. They were settled for less than the full amount years ago. Nothing currently in collections though...think that'd be an issue? And ya, I guess a "secured" card is really what I'm looking for.

I'm trying to build up some more credit here and am looking to put 1k on a prepaid credit/debit that reports to the big 3 and also doesn't charge ridiculous annual or monthly fees. Anyone have some suggestions from personal experience? (HSBC/Orchard are not an option apparently)

I only have 2 accounts with them, one of which is the Best Buy. The BB is about a year old, the other card is like 2-3 years old.

I was just in disbelief because they "preapproved" me without looking at that...my first hard pull in a very long time and it was wasted...

I decided I could use some more positive marks on my CR so I used the "soft" preapproval thing that Household has set up and they said I should qualify for their card with a $300 limit. I figured, sure, I'll apply...then I get a message that I was declined for having too many accounts with Household! (I have one CC and a Best Buy card through them apparently) They COULDN'T HAVE FIGURED THIS OUT DURING "PREAPPROVAL" before the HARD PULL???