Comments on: To Be Bullied Or Not Be Bullied, That Is The Question http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2008/09/to-bully-or-not-be-bullied-that-is-the-question/ Motivational Money Management Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:11:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Today is Enemy of Debt's 2 Year Anniversary! http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2008/09/to-bully-or-not-be-bullied-that-is-the-question/#comment-5665 Today is Enemy of Debt's 2 Year Anniversary! Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:17:27 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=231#comment-5665 [...] To Be Bullied Or Not Be Bullied, That Is The Question – Creditors will bully you into paying money you don’t have. Don’t let them! SEPTEMBER 2008 [...] [...] To Be Bullied Or Not Be Bullied, That Is The Question – Creditors will bully you into paying money you don’t have. Don’t let them! SEPTEMBER 2008 [...]

]]> By: Brad Chaffee http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2008/09/to-bully-or-not-be-bullied-that-is-the-question/#comment-4570 Brad Chaffee Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:00:04 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=231#comment-4570 Generally people who collect for student loans do not use bullying tactics. The core of this post is to get people to think twice about allowing outside creditors bully them into giving them money they cannot afford to give them. I have not heard of many stories where Sallie Mae threatened or called the person who received the loan names and such. There's a big difference. Plus there is such thing as deferment when extra time is needed, something that credit card lenders do not allow. Generally people who collect for student loans do not use bullying tactics. The core of this post is to get people to think twice about allowing outside creditors bully them into giving them money they cannot afford to give them. I have not heard of many stories where Sallie Mae threatened or called the person who received the loan names and such. There’s a big difference. Plus there is such thing as deferment when extra time is needed, something that credit card lenders do not allow.

]]> By: ka http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2008/09/to-bully-or-not-be-bullied-that-is-the-question/#comment-4569 ka Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:43:21 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=231#comment-4569 Yea, but how do you get around this with student loans? You can't.... Yea, but how do you get around this with student loans? You can’t….

]]> By: Brad Chaffee http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2008/09/to-bully-or-not-be-bullied-that-is-the-question/#comment-965 Brad Chaffee Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:32:44 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=231#comment-965 Thank you Peggy for sharing that story. The only trouble we have had so far is simply trying to close credit cards. It takes an act of Congress for Credit Card companies to actually do what you ask them to do. Close my credit cards NOW! LOL Most of them were like, "Well most people keep one open in case of an EMERGENCY!" We just said well MOST people are broke too, and we have an EMERGENCY FUND now! Take that! :) Thank you Peggy for sharing that story. The only trouble we have had so far is simply trying to close credit cards. It takes an act of Congress for Credit Card companies to actually do what you ask them to do. Close my credit cards NOW! LOL Most of them were like, “Well most people keep one open in case of an EMERGENCY!” We just said well MOST people are broke too, and we have an EMERGENCY FUND now! Take that! :)

]]> By: Peggy E. http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2008/09/to-bully-or-not-be-bullied-that-is-the-question/#comment-964 Peggy E. Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:39:26 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=231#comment-964 My story on dealing with bullies and winning. I switched my cell phone and paid AT&T in full. However, somehow they showed a balance of $117 that they sold to a variety of collectors. Each time I would get a notice, I would send a debt validation letter asking them to prove the debt to me. Invariably I would never hear from them again. I had the same thing happen with Palisades Collection. I sent them a DV letter and then didn't hear from them for 18 months. Then I see the item appear on my credit report. A week or so later I receive the "validation" by mail, forward to me because the collection agency had sent it to my old address. The "validation" was an old ATT bill that didn't even show the amount they were trying to collect. In addition to the fact that they didn't actually "validate" the amount, they re-aged the item on the credit report to make it look newer than the actual date of closing of the AT&T account. I sent them a letter back again disputing the amount and informing them that if they didn't remove the collection item from my credit report, I would file complaints with the FTC and the Colorado Attorney General. After 30 days and no response, I did exactly that. I forwarded a complete package of correspondence to both the FTC and the AG. I never heard anything back from the FTC, but got a phone call from the AG's office. I gave all my information to a very nice lady there who promised me they would be pursuing the case. In fact about three weeks later she called me back and told me that Palisades had decided to write off the amount and not pursue it out of "goodwill" because basically they knew they were going to get creamed by the local AG. They had been spanked and they knew it and were running away, tail tucked between their legs. We both laughed about it. That's the last I have heard about this debt. This time I think it is well and truly dead, because if they try to sell it again, they will be in violation of the law and they could really get their butts handed to them by knowingly selling a debt that they know is not valid. The moral of the story: know your rights, know how to pursue it if your rights are violated, and be willing to fight back. I knew that what they sent me didn't constitute legal validation of the debt and that it was a smokescreen designed to get me to roll over. Bad move. It just made me mad. It's not a good idea to make me mad......... My story on dealing with bullies and winning. I switched my cell phone and paid AT&T in full. However, somehow they showed a balance of $117 that they sold to a variety of collectors. Each time I would get a notice, I would send a debt validation letter asking them to prove the debt to me. Invariably I would never hear from them again.

I had the same thing happen with Palisades Collection. I sent them a DV letter and then didn’t hear from them for 18 months. Then I see the item appear on my credit report. A week or so later I receive the “validation” by mail, forward to me because the collection agency had sent it to my old address. The “validation” was an old ATT bill that didn’t even show the amount they were trying to collect. In addition to the fact that they didn’t actually “validate” the amount, they re-aged the item on the credit report to make it look newer than the actual date of closing of the AT&T account.

I sent them a letter back again disputing the amount and informing them that if they didn’t remove the collection item from my credit report, I would file complaints with the FTC and the Colorado Attorney General. After 30 days and no response, I did exactly that.

I forwarded a complete package of correspondence to both the FTC and the AG. I never heard anything back from the FTC, but got a phone call from the AG’s office. I gave all my information to a very nice lady there who promised me they would be pursuing the case. In fact about three weeks later she called me back and told me that Palisades had decided to write off the amount and not pursue it out of “goodwill” because basically they knew they were going to get creamed by the local AG. They had been spanked and they knew it and were running away, tail tucked between their legs. We both laughed about it. That’s the last I have heard about this debt. This time I think it is well and truly dead, because if they try to sell it again, they will be in violation of the law and they could really get their butts handed to them by knowingly selling a debt that they know is not valid.

The moral of the story: know your rights, know how to pursue it if your rights are violated, and be willing to fight back. I knew that what they sent me didn’t constitute legal validation of the debt and that it was a smokescreen designed to get me to roll over. Bad move. It just made me mad. It’s not a good idea to make me mad………

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