KCM116

I have had CA's do the following: 1. No license with DCA. 2. Excessive calling 3. Failure to notify me via letter/in writing of debt etc. 5-77 DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES This law supplements the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It is applicable to "in-house" collectors, in addition to collection agencies and individuals collecting consumer debts for others. Debt collectors: * may not contact a third party (e.g. employer, friend, relative) more than once when trying to locate the consumer. The collector is not allowed to indicate that the person s/he is looking for owes money. * may contact third parties only for location purposes, unless the consumer has given permission to the debt collector after institution of debt collection procedures. * may not call the consumer between 9 P.M. and 8 A.M.; nor may the collector call with "excessive frequency" (more than twice a week). The collector is not allowed to call a consumer at work if the collector has reason to believe the consumer's employer would disapprove. * may not harass or abuse consumers. EXAMPLES: Threats of violence; obscene or profane language; advertisement of a debt; and anonymous calls. * must send the consumer written notice indicating amount of debt; to whom it is owed; and when it is due. The statement must also inform the consumer of the right to dispute validity of the debt. * must respond with an explanation if the consumer disputes the debt in writing. All collection proceedings must stop until this is done. * may not misrepresent their credentials. They may not send documents that simulate government papers or legal forms. They may not threaten action which cannot be legally taken, i.e., "You will be arrested if you don't pay," or which they do not intend to take. * The consumer has the right to tell a collector to stop contacting him/her and then the collector will only be able to send one further communication indicating what action will be taken, e.g. "Final notice. If you refuse to pay, we will sue." NOTE: Any agency which attempts to collect consumer debts in NYC must be licensed by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.

I took out an installment loan from my school in 1998 to finish my last semester of college. Payments were to be made monthly for 5 years at 12%. The few payments I made were misapplied and the situation was never resolved. The school ignored my requests for my account to be reviewed, recalculated and my payments correctly split between principal and interest etc. The last payment I made was April 1999. I was in MA at the time. I now live in NYC. The SOL in both states is 6 years on installment contracts. I was under the belief that the SOL had expired because it has been TEN years since the date of last activity. Yesterday an attorney tells me some states have different SOL for some student loans. Does anyone have any information?

I belonged to the NY Health and Racquet Club. I owed them $101 which they verified. Yet somehow Net Collections says I owe them $606.00!

I have done this many times. With Experian nothing works-they will just ignore you and laugh, Equifax and TransUnion I had varying results in the past...

I have not read all your posts. Tell the DCA whatever will help you get what you need. They have not validated-whatever-just keep it simple...

Bank of America. Know lots of people with Chex systems issues. They will give anyone an account.

I was told PRIVATE student loans you can include in bankruptcy-it's the Uncle Sam insured one you can't. You should ask a bankruptcy lawyer and see what they tell you.

Report them to the Department of Consumer Affairs for NYC. You can go to nyc dot gov and type DCA into the search box. You can print out a complaint form and mail in your documentation. They already got rid of a few slimy CA for me...

I am personally completely overwhelmed by all the information on this site, the laws, the what to do when this happens times 1000 etc. All of us are super busy and I just can't spend a few hours a day on my credit "project"... Are there any groups of people meeting IN PERSON anywhere to help each navigate this stuff more easily? I am in NYC. If there's not perhaps some of us could start some...

What is this grant money for women AD showing up everywhere?

I was in a similar position as you not long ago. No one has sued me yet-but I am in NYC where the courts are backed up and attorneys cost more. ALL of my accounts went to collection- a blessing for me because now THREE of my 13 accounts are gone thanks to the CA's breaking the debt collection laws and at least 3 more more are to follow by the end of May... Before it's over, rather than me paying out most of them will be paying me... So my advice-for now, DO NOTHING as you have been-when they start calling NEVER answer the phone... After 24 months, they will be charged off and go to collection-wait for the collection agencies to hang themselves via their own law breaking and then go after them as I am-if they don't, settle them one at a time as you make the money... I refuse to go bankrupt as I have NOTHING to gain from it but TEN years of hell. Just my 2 cents based on my similar experience...