Question about Debt Collection

[Fear The Spear]

I have some debts over the years which have evolved into Collection Agency accounts, and that's about as far as they have gone.
But just recently for the first time, I received a phone message from a particular law firm. I looked up their website and they specialize in collecting debts. My question is, does the fact that it's being handled by a law firm, mean that it's escalated beyond the level of collection agency, into possible legal or court action ? Or just a "lateral move" of the debt to the law firm, and being not much different than a collection agency ?

 

[Burgundy Burner]

I really don't know a thing about it. Hope there is someone here who can answer your questions.

Just wanted to say that I hope that you can get past this and move forward in many positive ways.

 

[renaissance]

Just curious, at what point in the process do they ding your credit?

 

[tshile]

I think as soon as as you miss the bills those get reported. I think as soon as it goes to the collection agency that also gets reported. But i don't actually know.

 

[Nobody]

I can speak as a master of dealing with debt problems the wrong way

That being said, it's just another collector. A lot of debt collectors are lawyers, and they have the correct assumption that if their correspondence is such and such law firm, it makes the debtor feel like it's gotten serious. In all reality, it hasn't gotten any more serious. In fact, you can usually get the debt wiped off once the third person is in charge of the debt, and here's why........in court, if they ever get you to that point, which rarely occurs, all you have to do is say to the judge that you've never done business with this company, and that you'd like to see a detailed account statement and contract that you signed. Roughly 100% of the time, they will not have these, because you in fact have never done business with them. If they can't produce these documents, and they most surely never can, then it gets thrown out.

Another tactic some will do, which should be illegal, is to call just about everyone you've ever met, and tell them that they are from such and such investigative services, and they have a warrant for your arrest, or they have papers to serve you. If this ever happens, say ok, and give them the address you will be at and the time. Since it is a scare tactic and they have no intent of actually showing up, even though they can't because they aren't really any kind of law enforcement or anything related, they will get pissed off at you, cuss you out, etc. and demand you pay it.

Bottom line is, the longer the debt is out there, the more it gets passed around. And the more it gets passed around, the more likely it is to end up in the hands of a shady collector that will resort to desperate slimeball tactics to try and manipulate or scare you into paying the debt. And even after you do, it stays on your record for 7 years. Since it takes 4-5 years for them to get to the harassment point on that level, it's best to just wait it out rather than restart the 7 year clock.

 

[Fear The Spear]

Thanks for the comments.

I did notice that as time goes by, the collector lowers their offer for a settlement.
If I keep waiting it out, will it eventually lower to the point that they owe me money ?

 

[Nobody]

Thanks for the comments.

I did notice that as time goes by, the collector lowers their offer for a settlement.
If I keep waiting it out, will it eventually lower to the point that they owe me money ?

Good line of thinking It actually does remind me of the funniest situation I ever got in with a collector. Apparently whoever handles debts for Capital One outsources, or someone along the line as it's passed off outsources. I once got a call from India. The man had a very thick accent, and caught me on one of my off days (I have many) where rather than tell him what a pain in my ass he was being, I decided to have fun with him. I started by talking to him in the exact same accent he was talking to me in. It threw him off since I couldn't have a more white American name if I tried. I played the confusion card for a few minutes, then turned it around to where he was confused. My sales experience came into play huge here, because I began almost selling him my debt. About 10 minutes in, the guy seemed genuinely panicked, because I had him convinced that according to American debt laws, he now was responsible for the debt, because I had him recorded as claiming responsibility for it.....purely a matter of my tricky wording when I was selling him my debt. He started to get irate as I played a game of nanananabooboo I won't take my debt back, you can have it. The call ended with me laughing hysterically and hanging up.

This is the sort of thing that comes to me as a spur of the moment thing with telemarketers, debt collectors, etc. it makes for a good time

I do it with wrong numbers too, people hate calling me as a wrong number. One lady called me every night for 2 weeks straight around 3 in the morning asking for D'Andre. Every night, I told her she had the wrong number. Every night, she was drunk and didn't care, and found it funny she kept calling me. Then one night I was still awake when she called, so my brain was on. She said hello, is D'Andre there? In a worried voice I said oh my god, you didn't hear what happened? At that point, it was almost like you could hear her buzz disappear as she said oh my god no, what happened? To which I replied I DON'T KNOW, CALL HIS PHONE FOR A CHANGE AND FIND OUT!!!!!! She was cussing as I was laughing, but she never called me again