Steve
Bradenton,#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, March 20, 2008
P, You have my words included in "J"'s post. I guess they were cut and pasted together at some point. These were my words: Submitted: 5/22/2007 5:13:48 PM Modified: 5/22/2007 9:05:15 PM P Dallas, Texas U.S.A. THIS IS A CUT AND PASTE FROM ANOTHER POSTING FROM J - LAKEWOOD, OHIO ........ EXCELLENT READ ... 'debts' sold off to collection agencies Calvary is a junk debt purchaser ... You see, that 'debt' stopped being a 'debt' when the original creditor charged it off, sold it and took the tax deduction for the loss. It became an investment when the first junk debt buyer bought it as an investment with full knowledge that it was a bad debt. These people are not creditors and are not afforded the protection under the law that creditors are. They are simply investors who made a bad investment! This is like you calling your stock broker to purchase a stock, you buy it, it crashes, you lose all your money and then you sue your stock broker because you made a bad investment! This is exactly what these junk debt buyers like Asset Acceptance are doing when they use the courts to collect on thier bad investments. The courts get really pissed off when they are used to enforce return on investment! You need to bring this up repeatedly and even add it into your response to the summons. get it documented early on, and make it a part of permanent record, which your response to the summons becomes. First of all, under FEDERAL LAW, a debt MUST be 'charged off' 180 days after first major delinquency, which is usually on the 7th month. The purpose of this mandatory chearge off, is to stop penalties and excessive interest. That is the whole reason for it. The interest is limited to a statutory maximum, NOT the contract rate. The contract rate only applies up to the date of charge off. After charge off the statutory max applies. As far as JUNK DEBT BUYERS go, they MUST be able to prove that they own the debt and be able to show an entire account history and itemization of all charges, otherwise, the suit gets tossed. Every time. There is a big difference between 'assignment' and 'sale'. In any civil suit in FL, legal fees and costs must me sought in addition to the principal amount. They are not automatic. They ARE awarded by the court, or excluded by the court. The junk debt buyer does not have any prior business relationship or contract with the debtor. Therefore, they do not have the same rights as the original creditor. They MUST prove the obligation actually exists. And, the amount paid for the debt is the amount of the loss. Not the original contract amount or charge off amount. The courts will toss these suits almost every time when the amount is questioned, and cannot be documented. Again, I have done this several times in Florida Courts. And, the Discovery Motion is perfectly valid as provided for under the law being made by the defendant. The Pro Se staus makes no difference whatsoever. A Pro se Defendant has all of the same rights of the Discovery process as the defendant being represented by counsel. Most debt cases in Fl never get past the Pre trial appearance, as anyone who denies a claim, gets forced into a little room with an arbitrator. Little do most people know, they do not have to say anything at this time except stating they deny the debt and want a trial date. >>>> Thanks
Timmieshia
East Point,#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Thu, March 20, 2008
I put a fraud alert on my credit report and still waiting for an update. But how can I fix this quickly?
P
Dallas,#4Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 23, 2007
Putting the collection agency on notice might be a better avenue and accomplishes perhaps a little more. A cease and desist order has an air of you accept the debt as your own(whether you want to or not) and putting the collection agency on notice that you want them to validate the claim would be a much better choice. Generally speaking, by the time it gets to a collection agency (see other post cut and pasted from J - Lakewood - Ohio) they generally can't provide the DETAILED information required to validate the claim. Sending you statements doesn't count as validation. You need to see SIGNED DOCUMENTS of charge slips, etc .... Your Name Mailing Address City, State, Zip Date Name of Collection Agency Mailing Address City, State, Zip CERTIFIED NUMBER: Re: Dispute of Collection Action: Case # ________ [If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency and/or identify the creditor by name if you can.] To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]: On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt]. This individual is collecting on behalf of [name of creditor]. [OR] This individual would not tell me for whom you are supposed to be collecting. [OR] On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached. This is to inform you that I dispute the debt because [insert reason for dispute, e.g. the agency has confused you with someone else or the debt was paid. Include copies, not originals, of any correspondence that proves your point]. I am hereby requesting that you confirm the fact that I owe this debt as required by any applicable state and federal laws. Please contact the creditor to obtain verification. In addition, under the provisions of state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and related consumer statutes, I am hereby instructing you that you are to cease collection of the debt while efforts are made to obtain verification. Until you resolve this error with the creditor, you should neither contact me nor anyone else except the creditor about this collection. Furthermore, any reporting of this matter to a credit reporting agency is premature. Until you have investigated my dispute, you should not relay negative information to a credit reporting agency. If negative information has already been reported, you will need to notify the agency to remove said report until the investigative process is over so that my credit report remains accurate, or at the very least, my credit report should be updated to reflect my dispute. Your next contact with me should be either notice that the creditor has failed to provide verification of the debt and that the matter has been closed or that you believe that this debt is valid and are providing proof of my responsibility. If the former, please confirm that I am not being held responsible for the debt in writing and also that if the account has already been noted on my credit report, that you will contact the bureau(s) in question to have the account removed. If the latter, I expect that you will provide me with an explanation as to why you have decided not to remove this account from collections and a copy of all documents relevant to the debt such as the application, bills, records of communications and payments, and any other data that indicates my responsibility. I am instructing you not to contact any third parties such as my employer, neighbors, friends or family members. In addition, you may not contact me by phone at work or at my home about this collection activity. All future correspondence should be sent to me in writing. [If you want to still speak to a collector by phone, indicate times when it is okay to contact you or note the name, address, and phone number of your attorney, if you have retained one.] I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter]. Sincerely, pRINT OR TYPE Your name
P
Dallas,#5Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 23, 2007
Putting the collection agency on notice might be a better avenue and accomplishes perhaps a little more. A cease and desist order has an air of you accept the debt as your own(whether you want to or not) and putting the collection agency on notice that you want them to validate the claim would be a much better choice. Generally speaking, by the time it gets to a collection agency (see other post cut and pasted from J - Lakewood - Ohio) they generally can't provide the DETAILED information required to validate the claim. Sending you statements doesn't count as validation. You need to see SIGNED DOCUMENTS of charge slips, etc .... Your Name Mailing Address City, State, Zip Date Name of Collection Agency Mailing Address City, State, Zip CERTIFIED NUMBER: Re: Dispute of Collection Action: Case # ________ [If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency and/or identify the creditor by name if you can.] To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]: On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt]. This individual is collecting on behalf of [name of creditor]. [OR] This individual would not tell me for whom you are supposed to be collecting. [OR] On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached. This is to inform you that I dispute the debt because [insert reason for dispute, e.g. the agency has confused you with someone else or the debt was paid. Include copies, not originals, of any correspondence that proves your point]. I am hereby requesting that you confirm the fact that I owe this debt as required by any applicable state and federal laws. Please contact the creditor to obtain verification. In addition, under the provisions of state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and related consumer statutes, I am hereby instructing you that you are to cease collection of the debt while efforts are made to obtain verification. Until you resolve this error with the creditor, you should neither contact me nor anyone else except the creditor about this collection. Furthermore, any reporting of this matter to a credit reporting agency is premature. Until you have investigated my dispute, you should not relay negative information to a credit reporting agency. If negative information has already been reported, you will need to notify the agency to remove said report until the investigative process is over so that my credit report remains accurate, or at the very least, my credit report should be updated to reflect my dispute. Your next contact with me should be either notice that the creditor has failed to provide verification of the debt and that the matter has been closed or that you believe that this debt is valid and are providing proof of my responsibility. If the former, please confirm that I am not being held responsible for the debt in writing and also that if the account has already been noted on my credit report, that you will contact the bureau(s) in question to have the account removed. If the latter, I expect that you will provide me with an explanation as to why you have decided not to remove this account from collections and a copy of all documents relevant to the debt such as the application, bills, records of communications and payments, and any other data that indicates my responsibility. I am instructing you not to contact any third parties such as my employer, neighbors, friends or family members. In addition, you may not contact me by phone at work or at my home about this collection activity. All future correspondence should be sent to me in writing. [If you want to still speak to a collector by phone, indicate times when it is okay to contact you or note the name, address, and phone number of your attorney, if you have retained one.] I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter]. Sincerely, pRINT OR TYPE Your name
P
Dallas,#6Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 23, 2007
Putting the collection agency on notice might be a better avenue and accomplishes perhaps a little more. A cease and desist order has an air of you accept the debt as your own(whether you want to or not) and putting the collection agency on notice that you want them to validate the claim would be a much better choice. Generally speaking, by the time it gets to a collection agency (see other post cut and pasted from J - Lakewood - Ohio) they generally can't provide the DETAILED information required to validate the claim. Sending you statements doesn't count as validation. You need to see SIGNED DOCUMENTS of charge slips, etc .... Your Name Mailing Address City, State, Zip Date Name of Collection Agency Mailing Address City, State, Zip CERTIFIED NUMBER: Re: Dispute of Collection Action: Case # ________ [If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency and/or identify the creditor by name if you can.] To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]: On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt]. This individual is collecting on behalf of [name of creditor]. [OR] This individual would not tell me for whom you are supposed to be collecting. [OR] On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached. This is to inform you that I dispute the debt because [insert reason for dispute, e.g. the agency has confused you with someone else or the debt was paid. Include copies, not originals, of any correspondence that proves your point]. I am hereby requesting that you confirm the fact that I owe this debt as required by any applicable state and federal laws. Please contact the creditor to obtain verification. In addition, under the provisions of state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and related consumer statutes, I am hereby instructing you that you are to cease collection of the debt while efforts are made to obtain verification. Until you resolve this error with the creditor, you should neither contact me nor anyone else except the creditor about this collection. Furthermore, any reporting of this matter to a credit reporting agency is premature. Until you have investigated my dispute, you should not relay negative information to a credit reporting agency. If negative information has already been reported, you will need to notify the agency to remove said report until the investigative process is over so that my credit report remains accurate, or at the very least, my credit report should be updated to reflect my dispute. Your next contact with me should be either notice that the creditor has failed to provide verification of the debt and that the matter has been closed or that you believe that this debt is valid and are providing proof of my responsibility. If the former, please confirm that I am not being held responsible for the debt in writing and also that if the account has already been noted on my credit report, that you will contact the bureau(s) in question to have the account removed. If the latter, I expect that you will provide me with an explanation as to why you have decided not to remove this account from collections and a copy of all documents relevant to the debt such as the application, bills, records of communications and payments, and any other data that indicates my responsibility. I am instructing you not to contact any third parties such as my employer, neighbors, friends or family members. In addition, you may not contact me by phone at work or at my home about this collection activity. All future correspondence should be sent to me in writing. [If you want to still speak to a collector by phone, indicate times when it is okay to contact you or note the name, address, and phone number of your attorney, if you have retained one.] I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter]. Sincerely, pRINT OR TYPE Your name
P
Dallas,#7Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 23, 2007
Putting the collection agency on notice might be a better avenue and accomplishes perhaps a little more. A cease and desist order has an air of you accept the debt as your own(whether you want to or not) and putting the collection agency on notice that you want them to validate the claim would be a much better choice. Generally speaking, by the time it gets to a collection agency (see other post cut and pasted from J - Lakewood - Ohio) they generally can't provide the DETAILED information required to validate the claim. Sending you statements doesn't count as validation. You need to see SIGNED DOCUMENTS of charge slips, etc .... Your Name Mailing Address City, State, Zip Date Name of Collection Agency Mailing Address City, State, Zip CERTIFIED NUMBER: Re: Dispute of Collection Action: Case # ________ [If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency and/or identify the creditor by name if you can.] To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]: On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt]. This individual is collecting on behalf of [name of creditor]. [OR] This individual would not tell me for whom you are supposed to be collecting. [OR] On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached. This is to inform you that I dispute the debt because [insert reason for dispute, e.g. the agency has confused you with someone else or the debt was paid. Include copies, not originals, of any correspondence that proves your point]. I am hereby requesting that you confirm the fact that I owe this debt as required by any applicable state and federal laws. Please contact the creditor to obtain verification. In addition, under the provisions of state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and related consumer statutes, I am hereby instructing you that you are to cease collection of the debt while efforts are made to obtain verification. Until you resolve this error with the creditor, you should neither contact me nor anyone else except the creditor about this collection. Furthermore, any reporting of this matter to a credit reporting agency is premature. Until you have investigated my dispute, you should not relay negative information to a credit reporting agency. If negative information has already been reported, you will need to notify the agency to remove said report until the investigative process is over so that my credit report remains accurate, or at the very least, my credit report should be updated to reflect my dispute. Your next contact with me should be either notice that the creditor has failed to provide verification of the debt and that the matter has been closed or that you believe that this debt is valid and are providing proof of my responsibility. If the former, please confirm that I am not being held responsible for the debt in writing and also that if the account has already been noted on my credit report, that you will contact the bureau(s) in question to have the account removed. If the latter, I expect that you will provide me with an explanation as to why you have decided not to remove this account from collections and a copy of all documents relevant to the debt such as the application, bills, records of communications and payments, and any other data that indicates my responsibility. I am instructing you not to contact any third parties such as my employer, neighbors, friends or family members. In addition, you may not contact me by phone at work or at my home about this collection activity. All future correspondence should be sent to me in writing. [If you want to still speak to a collector by phone, indicate times when it is okay to contact you or note the name, address, and phone number of your attorney, if you have retained one.] I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter]. Sincerely, pRINT OR TYPE Your name
P
Dallas,#8Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 23, 2007
Calvary is a junk debt purchaser ... You see, that "debt" stopped being a "debt" when the original creditor charged it off, sold it and took the tax deduction for the loss. It became an investment when the first junk debt buyer bought it as an investment with full knowledge that it was a bad debt. These people are not creditors and are not afforded the protection under the law that creditors are. They are simply investors who made a bad investment! This is like you calling your stock broker to purchase a stock, you buy it, it crashes, you lose all your money and then you sue your stock broker because you made a bad investment! This is exactly what these junk debt buyers like Asset Acceptance are doing when they use the courts to collect on thier bad investments. The courts get really pissed off when they are used to enforce return on investment! You need to bring this up repeatedly and even add it into your response to the summons. get it documented early on, and make it a part of permanent record, which your response to the summons becomes. First of all, under FEDERAL LAW, a debt MUST be "charged off" 180 days after first major delinquency, which is usually on the 7th month. The purpose of this mandatory chearge off, is to stop penalties and excessive interest. That is the whole reason for it. The interest is limited to a statutory maximum, NOT the contract rate. The contract rate only applies up to the date of charge off. After charge off the statutory max applies. As far as JUNK DEBT BUYERS go, they MUST be able to prove that they own the debt and be able to show an entire account history and itemization of all charges, otherwise, the suit gets tossed. Every time. There is a big difference between "assignment" and "sale". In any civil suit in FL, legal fees and costs must me sought in addition to the principal amount. They are not automatic. They ARE awarded by the court, or excluded by the court. The junk debt buyer does not have any prior business relationship or contract with the debtor. Therefore, they do not have the same rights as the original creditor. They MUST prove the obligation actually exists. And, the amount paid for the debt is the amount of the loss. Not the original contract amount or charge off amount. The courts will toss these suits almost every time when the amount is questioned, and cannot be documented. Again, I have done this several times in Florida Courts. And, the Discovery Motion is perfectly valid as provided for under the law being made by the defendant. The Pro Se staus makes no difference whatsoever. A Pro se Defendant has all of the same rights of the Discovery process as the defendant being represented by counsel. Most debt cases in Fl never get past the Pre trial appearance, as anyone who denies a claim, gets forced into a little room with an arbitrator. Little do most people know, they do not have to say anything at this time except stating they deny the debt and want a trial date. Ok a common misunderstanding, is interest on a credit card. Fdcpa: allows a collector to add interest if you ORIGINAL AGREEMENT calls for addition of interestd during collection proceedings or the addition of such interest is allowed under state law, every state authorizes the collection of such interest, if its in the agreement. Assignee, the collectional agency must be collecting on behalf of the original creditor and if the original creditor has an in house collection dept, the chances are the collection agency's is trying to pull a fast one the original creditor has to contract with the collection agency Discovery in small claims court: if you do not request discovery. then you will lose out if you have to appeal: appeals court will look into errors, and what's in the records. court is you final chance to be heard. pretty much if it ain't said during the trial, it ain't going to said in appeal unless there's was a error or a bad call by the court. If a debt was every attempted, to be collected on by another collection agency, the 3rd or new collection agency can't claim to be the assignee a contract must be signed by you, to be used in court, these general terms and condiction that the collection agency's put in with there complaint, that you can get in any stores check outline, should not be allowed. This is why you always request discovery, so you know what your up against. don't expect the other guy to play fair or within the rules Yon must request, for cost and reasonable attorney fee's it's up to the court if you win the case Most attorney's will agure that a pro-se should not get attorney's fee's, there are plenty of case laws to support a pro-se getting reasonable attorney fee's in certain cases, again that's up to the court if your served with discovery, request for admissions and questions. you must answer them, file your answer with the court too, you don't need to put all the paperwork, just on such and such date I answered the (whichever) they are, discovery, admissions and questions that way they can't come back and say you never did expect if your pro-se to fight an up hill battle, the judge will not do the work for you, so get a good basic understanding of the rules and law, you can count on the other side, knowing there job and trying to screw you over cause you missed a deadline by even 1 day, they will use it or any other error, and will try to get away with there mistakes J - Lakewood, Ohio U.S.A. =============== J - this was so good I hope you didn't mind I did a cut and paste to this thread!!!
P
Dallas,#9Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 23, 2007
Assigned or purchased debt (How do you know Bob is the right guy to pay?) Why should you care if a debt is purchased or assigned? In an assignment, the collection agency does not own the debt, and therefore you do not technically owe them any money. There is no way for a collection agency to prove that you owe them money because there is only an assignment of the debt and not a contract between you and the creditor. One loophole: Some contracts have the wording "debtor agrees to be responsible for payment of this debt to creditor OR ITS ASSIGNS." This IS a contract between you and the debt collector as well as the creditor and if they can provide you with a copy of a contract that states this (with your signature!), you are pretty much stuck and need to negotiate. www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/debt_validation.shtml What does a debt collector need to provide as debt validation? Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt. (Bob is legally entitled to collect this particular debt from you.) This is basic contract law. It is very difficult to get a judgment without a direct contract between collection agency and the original creditor. At a minimum, some account statements from the original creditor. If you really want to get sticky, you can pin them down on the amount of the debt by requiring complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. (How the heck did Bob calculate this debt? What fees/interest Bob has tacked on to this debt and how he determined these fees?) This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004.. Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. (Your contract with Joe establishing the debt between you.) However, account statements from the original can fulfill these requirements. When a creditor hires a collection agency, the debt has been assigned to the collection agency. If a collection agency is successful at collecting the money on the account, they usually keep a percentage of what is collected as payment for services. Original creditors sometimes sell debts in large portfolios to collection agencies. This is starting to be the norm, and several of these companies, called Junk Debt Buyers (JDBs), are now being traded on Wall Street. The companies do not spend much money at all for these debts, sometimes paying less than 1 cent on the dollar. Even if the debt is not a large debt, they often hire attorney to send out mass form-letters to debtors in the hopes of collecting. As you can see, even if they get a small percentage of the debtor to pay, profits are enormous. For more on JDBs, you can read our article here. Continue to treat any collection agency, junk debt buyer or law firm who says they own the debt as a collection agency subject to the FDCPA. You can still request validation and proof of the purchase, because if they can't validate it, the collection agency can't prove you owe the debt. Often a JDB will tell a consumer that since they purchased the debt, they are not subject the the FDCPA. It's simply not true FDCPA Section 809. Validation of debts [15 USC 1692g] (b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector. Plus, they must show proof positive that you owe them this debt. It's not enough to send you a computer-generated printout of the debt. There is an opinion letter from the FTC to back this up: www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/wollman.htm Nor can they ask you to pay for digging up records of your debt: www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/krisor2.htm So, if a creditor can't verify a debt: They are not allowed to collect the debt, They are not allowed to contact you about the debt, and They are also not allowed to report it under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Doing so is a violation of the FCRA, and the FCRA states that you can sue for $1,000 in damages for any violation of the Act. The opinion letter from the FTC which clearly spells out that a collection agency CANNOT report a debt to the credit bureaus which has not been validated: ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/cass.htm Spears vs. Brennan The appeals court determined: "Brennan (plaintiff collection agency attorney) violated 15 U.S.C. 1692g(b) when he obtained a default judgment against Spears (defendant) after Spears had notified Brennan in writing that the debt was being disputed and before Brennan had mailed verification of the debt to Spears." This means that you have an absolute defense in court to deny them judgment if they still have not validated the debt. Once you get your FDCPA dispute letter in, the collector cannot even get a judgment until they satisfy the FDCPA law. The appeals court overturned the default summary judgment in part because the collection agency lawyer did not meet the rules of the FDCPA. This could be grounds for getting a default judgment vacated. It's also another violation of the FDCPA and you can collect $1,000 from them.
Michael
Tulsa,#10UPDATE Employee
Tue, May 22, 2007
Cease and Desist... Those are three powerful words, but a debt owed is a debt that needs to be paid. You mention the FDCPA or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, but you forgot to mention the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In a nutshell, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, requires companies to call a spade, a spade. All in all, if no one reported anything negatively on any of the three major credit bureaus, then banks and other lending institutions would be fed to the fish. If a debt is supposed to be reported, it is for a reason. The whole ideal behind the credit bureas reporting good and bad things on people's credit is to maintain financial integrity and honesty. In Regards to the Cease and Desist Suggestion. Rights, Rights, Rights. Certainly that is your right as a consumer, but you must realize that as long as an account is in statute, and the companies legal department decides you are a good candidate for a law suit, then you have just pinned yourself into a corner with no way out. Because you must realize that when a debt collection company can talk with you. they are alot less likely to sue you because they know that they can at least work out arrangments. So, before you rev up your pens and write a Cease and Desist letter, you may want to think twice.