Complaint Review: APEX FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT - Northbrook Illinois

I just want to say that some of the things said on here can truley adversly affect you. I unfortunatly worked for these scumbags they are all about money and dont care about anything else. First of all a lot of these debt purchasing collection agancies talk about legal action. Apex will sue you if either they have verified employment or if they have property and if your debt is over 1,000. If you dont fall into the previous group then send them a cease and desist letter and forget about it. Now if you do fall in the previous group do not ignore them or send a cease and desist because the legal desk will sue you. They settle some debts as low as 30% so good luck. The worst company I have ever worked for.

When you file for bankruptcy, it is VERY important to get copies of all 3 credit reports and list every creditor and everyone who has even made an inquiry over the last 2 years in your creditor matrix so that all of your creditors will be officially notified by the bankruptcy court. It's still not too late to include this creditor if you filed a "No-Asset" Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The presumption of the court in that case is that since there were no assets to distribute to creditors, it really did not matter whether Hilco was informed or not, because even if they had filed a proof of claim, there were no assets to distribute to them. You can reopen your bankruptcy and include them if you wish, and their debt will be discharged as well. That's what I would do. Never talk to them on the telephone. Send a Cease and Desist Communications letter to them by certified mail, and they may stop calling you. Since you are on Social Security Disability, your income is 100% exempt from creditors, and since you have no assets, there is very little they can do to you to get anything from you even if they did file a lawsuit against you. However, I would remove all money from your checking account and start using cash and money orders to pay for everything because they might try to levy or seize your checking account, and then you would have to go to court to fight to get the money back. Contact Social Security and tell them to start mailing you paper checks from now on, and then cash them instead of depositing them. This way, Hilco won't be able to get at your money and you will be safe from them.

When you file for bankruptcy, it is VERY important to get copies of all 3 credit reports and list every creditor and everyone who has even made an inquiry over the last 2 years in your creditor matrix so that all of your creditors will be officially notified by the bankruptcy court. It's still not too late to include this creditor if you filed a "No-Asset" Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The presumption of the court in that case is that since there were no assets to distribute to creditors, it really did not matter whether Hilco was informed or not, because even if they had filed a proof of claim, there were no assets to distribute to them. You can reopen your bankruptcy and include them if you wish, and their debt will be discharged as well. That's what I would do. Never talk to them on the telephone. Send a Cease and Desist Communications letter to them by certified mail, and they may stop calling you. Since you are on Social Security Disability, your income is 100% exempt from creditors, and since you have no assets, there is very little they can do to you to get anything from you even if they did file a lawsuit against you. However, I would remove all money from your checking account and start using cash and money orders to pay for everything because they might try to levy or seize your checking account, and then you would have to go to court to fight to get the money back. Contact Social Security and tell them to start mailing you paper checks from now on, and then cash them instead of depositing them. This way, Hilco won't be able to get at your money and you will be safe from them.

Liz, What "D" from Tempe forgot to mention is that when a vehicle is repo'd and is taken to auction and sold, the lender MUST serve you with a deficiency notice, AND must attempt to collect it for 180 days before charging it off, or using it as a profit and loss writeoff. If they did not do this, they ate it! Also, the debt buyer MUST provide proof to you that they actually own the debt! Most cannot, or will not because they don't want to advertise the fact that they paid a penny or less on the dollar for it! You have the right to see proof that they purchased it AND how much they paid for it. AND, even if the debt was collectable, AND even if they did actually sue you AND file for a judgement, they still would not see any money. The reason for this is that SS, Disability, and VA pensions cannot be garnished for bad debt. Once they get the cease communications letter, you will most likely never hear from them again.

One part of my report that nobody seems to have noticed: When my husband and filed for chapter 7 in early 2004, we couldn't even afford a lawyer, and had to file on our own. I had gone from earning over $73,000 a year to no income at all. I was also extremely ill at the time, having recently suffered a nervous breakdown, and filing without help was very, very, difficult. I was taking some pretty strong medications back then. Since I had never been billed by anyone for a supposed debt for a returned car, and since I do not have any education in the law, I didn't know about some things that should have been included in the bankrupty. I would be more than willing to send information on our bankruptcy to Apex if that would be at all helpful. We would have certainly included any debt we thought we might have if we had known that we needed to. Since we just barely scrape by now, we don't have even close to $50 a month to pay to anyone, for anything.

One part of my report that nobody seems to have noticed: When my husband and filed for chapter 7 in early 2004, we couldn't even afford a lawyer, and had to file on our own. I had gone from earning over $73,000 a year to no income at all. I was also extremely ill at the time, having recently suffered a nervous breakdown, and filing without help was very, very, difficult. I was taking some pretty strong medications back then. Since I had never been billed by anyone for a supposed debt for a returned car, and since I do not have any education in the law, I didn't know about some things that should have been included in the bankrupty. I would be more than willing to send information on our bankruptcy to Apex if that would be at all helpful. We would have certainly included any debt we thought we might have if we had known that we needed to. Since we just barely scrape by now, we don't have even close to $50 a month to pay to anyone, for anything.

One part of my report that nobody seems to have noticed: When my husband and filed for chapter 7 in early 2004, we couldn't even afford a lawyer, and had to file on our own. I had gone from earning over $73,000 a year to no income at all. I was also extremely ill at the time, having recently suffered a nervous breakdown, and filing without help was very, very, difficult. I was taking some pretty strong medications back then. Since I had never been billed by anyone for a supposed debt for a returned car, and since I do not have any education in the law, I didn't know about some things that should have been included in the bankrupty. I would be more than willing to send information on our bankruptcy to Apex if that would be at all helpful. We would have certainly included any debt we thought we might have if we had known that we needed to. Since we just barely scrape by now, we don't have even close to $50 a month to pay to anyone, for anything.

I am responding to your complaint as a 15 year veteran of the collection industry. I have no personal interest in the resolution of your debt. I want to step through your compaint one item at a time. First - you state that you voluntarily surrendered your vehicle. What many people fail to understand is the relationship between you, the dealership, and the bank. The dealership may have provided the loan through a bank, but they did NOT by any means finance the purchase. The bank gave the dealership the full purchase price. The day you drive off the lot, the dealer gets paid in full. The dealer has made their money, they are now totally out of the deal.. you owe the bank that financed you. So, after a year (or whatever time frame), you decide that you cannot afford the vehicle anymore. It makes NO difference whether the auto is repossessed or you voluntarily turn it in. Either way the bank MUST, BY LAW, sell it at auction. In MOST cases, the amount the vehicle sells for is significantly less than what you owe on the vehicle. Here's what most people don't understand... You purchased the car for.. example $20,000. The dealership gets PAID IN FULL the whole $20,000. You now owe that amount to the bank, as they have given the dealership that amount. If you pay $2000 on the principal amount owed (banks charge interest - that's how they stay in business), and decide to turn the vehicle in, it is now worth (this is an example) $10,000. The bank gave the dealership $20,000. You paid $2,000, and the vehicle sells at auction for $10,000. The bank has recovered $10,000 from the auction, and $2,000 from you. Yet, they paid the dealership $20,000 for the car!! You OWE the remaining $8,000 to the bank, PLUS any interest and fees. It DOES NOT MATTER how long it has been. There may be a statute of limitation in your state, but that does not preclude a bill collector from calling you. That only precludes them from suing you. Regarding the bankruptcy, most collectors will cease collections provided you give them the attorney name and phone number. It is in YOUR best interest to also give them the Case# and date filed. Regarding your complaint that you are now on Social Security, and your husband only works part time, well, unfortunately that does not release you from the debt. You still have to pay the bank (or in this case, the company that bought it from the bank). Regarding your compaint that the debt is 'written-off', yes, it most likely is. That only means that the bank moved the debt from their Assets, to their Liabilities. It may provide them with some relief when it comes to taxes, but as shown earlier - you still owe this!!

I would like to thank both of you, Jerry and Steve, for your extremely helpful comments and suggestions. Unfortunatly, I already made the mistake of calling these creeps, but I made sure to tell them that I didn't think I owed them anything for this old debt. I sent them a letter yesterday, disputing the validity of their claim, asking for their proof that I owed this money, and for any, and all, other information from them I could possible get. I didn't send this letter certified, so I have already decided to send another copy of it by certified mail tomorrow, when the post office opens. I also already pulled my FICO scores, and all three credit reports from fico.com/12. I found Hilco Receivables on my Equifax report saying that I was already over 120 days late on this debt. I am going back to the Equifax report today to instigate a formal dispute about them. I also have a few other ideas about how to protect myself, which I plan to start implementing ASAP. Your suggestions and comments are very informative, and useful, and I am going to make use of all of them. Thank you again for replying to my post.

Liz, These are junk debt buyers, who purchase these types of debts of this age for less than 1 penny on the dollar. FYI...Just because a debt was charged off, does not make it uncolectable. Federal law requires that a debt be charged off at 180 days past the first major delinquency. The purpose for this is to protect the consumer from exhorbitant interest and fees. A charged off debt can only accrue interest at 6%. Each state has a statute of limitations on enforcement of collection actions. The SOL in CA on credit card debt is 4 years. It is best to NEVER speak to ANY debt collector. Go to the FTC website and file a complaint on the collector for each violation of your rights under the FDCPA. It is also a good idea for you to print out a copy of this act and study it. Send a cease communications letter by certified mail, return reciept requested, and be sure to put the certified# on the letter itself and keep a copy for your records. Keep in mind that debt collectors are trained to lie to you and confuse you. If you make any payment on that old debt, you restart the SOL, and the 7 year negative reporting.

Liz, These are junk debt buyers, who purchase these types of debts of this age for less than 1 penny on the dollar. FYI...Just because a debt was charged off, does not make it uncolectable. Federal law requires that a debt be charged off at 180 days past the first major delinquency. The purpose for this is to protect the consumer from exhorbitant interest and fees. A charged off debt can only accrue interest at 6%. Each state has a statute of limitations on enforcement of collection actions. The SOL in CA on credit card debt is 4 years. It is best to NEVER speak to ANY debt collector. Go to the FTC website and file a complaint on the collector for each violation of your rights under the FDCPA. It is also a good idea for you to print out a copy of this act and study it. Send a cease communications letter by certified mail, return reciept requested, and be sure to put the certified# on the letter itself and keep a copy for your records. Keep in mind that debt collectors are trained to lie to you and confuse you. If you make any payment on that old debt, you restart the SOL, and the 7 year negative reporting.

Liz, These are junk debt buyers, who purchase these types of debts of this age for less than 1 penny on the dollar. FYI...Just because a debt was charged off, does not make it uncolectable. Federal law requires that a debt be charged off at 180 days past the first major delinquency. The purpose for this is to protect the consumer from exhorbitant interest and fees. A charged off debt can only accrue interest at 6%. Each state has a statute of limitations on enforcement of collection actions. The SOL in CA on credit card debt is 4 years. It is best to NEVER speak to ANY debt collector. Go to the FTC website and file a complaint on the collector for each violation of your rights under the FDCPA. It is also a good idea for you to print out a copy of this act and study it. Send a cease communications letter by certified mail, return reciept requested, and be sure to put the certified# on the letter itself and keep a copy for your records. Keep in mind that debt collectors are trained to lie to you and confuse you. If you make any payment on that old debt, you restart the SOL, and the 7 year negative reporting.

These companies feed off of buying old debts for pennies on the dollar. If they collect even a payment it is a profit to them. They use the law system to thier advanatage. But consumer's have laws that protect you also and most people do not know them. I am not a lawyer but I have had this problem before. Here is my advise. 1.) A charge off Debt is a collectable debt that is owed. 2.) STAY OFF THE PHONE WITH THEM. 3.) Send in writing to them within 30 days of first communication a dispute letter and ask for Complete and full validation of this debt, meaning your hand written signature that you agreed to pay this debt, they must reply and most times they do not becausr they cannot validate. Be sure not to say the debt is yours just ask for a validation and tell them you are disputing thier claim. You will probaly not hear back from them. BE SURE TO USE CERTIFIED MAIL ONLY. 4.) In the meantime check your state Statue of limitations for collecting old debts. 5.)You claim you filed BK7 in 2004, I am sure your attorney pulled your credit report or should have and the orginal debt was probally included in your bk7, check this out. If you need more help go to crediboards.com in the credit forum and there are people that can help in this manner. IT is free!