broken lease in 2009 - according to them I owe 20k its preventing me from renting an apartment (Credit Bureau, foreclosure)
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They prefaced the offer that it was a one time chance to reduce what I owe. So I have not tried to negotiate further yet.
If they are making noise, they are LYING to you. Its what they do. Do not listen to a WORD they say. If its in writing, you can act on it. Nothing less.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redheadditdfw
so if you were in my place... how low would you go?
I would offer them $1,000. Tell them that you will send them a money order if they give you an offer in writing to settle if for $1,000. Negotiate with them from there. Don't go over the maximum amount you can send them right now. If they start to bully you, hang up. Monkey play nicely or no getty the money. Grow a spine and get nasty with these people. You have more cards than they do. You have money. They want money. They bought this SIX YEAR OLD DEBT that hasn't had a dime paid on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by STT Resident
They have the upper hand. You talk, they listen, they think about it and offer a figure and you counter it.
Not really. She has money. They want her money. They don't want to pay a lawyer to go to court.
Texas is my home state and it will charge the cr*p out of you if you look at them funny . Things like this rental/lease charges stay on for 5 instead of 7 years . I am having one taken off now when I left a house after 4 years with no outstanding payment and clean with pics to prove The waited until 2 people had come and gone in less than a year after we left to file a damage/ rent owed charge with pics of someone elses stuff strewn all around and they STILL WON . I refused to pay it because I didn't owe it and sometimes I have had to pay a full months deposit and other times I was totally declined .. I had tons of proof and still lost . It comes off now .
Also, I have tried to put together money about 6 mos ago to begin paying it off per my conversations with the collections company, however I couldn't come up with what they asked for.
Do not pay them a penny, nor agree to pay them a penny, until you determine the Statute of Limitations for collecting on this debt. A collections agency will most likely try to trick you into doing something that is not in your best interests.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe
Unfortunately, when you tried to start paying on the debt again, you reset the Statute of Limitations on that debt. So, if the SOL was 7 years, they got you to acknowledge the debt after 6 years, and the 7 years starts all over again.
NoMoreSnow is on to something (and I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned the Statute of Limitations). I'm not sure what you have done to date--and I'm not sure if what you have done will have indeed reset the Statute of Limitations--but you need to be very wary. A consultation with a good lawyer would be in order. If you can determine that the Statute of Limitations on your debt has not been reset and is about to expire, that would put you in the driver's seat as far as negotiating a resolution, if that's what you rightly choose to do.
But, if you've recently made a payment on your debt, "SOL" has a double meaning.
First, contact the collection agency and ask for Proof of the Debt.
Another question: Have you EVER in the past or when incurred communicated with the landlord or collection agency about this debt? To be honest, if you were basically not being proactive with this debt (for whatever reason) and have not been trying to resolve this, you have placed yourself in a very VERY difficult situation. It's not impossible to fix, but will be difficult.
I did ask for proof of debt they said the previous management company is no longer in business so they will remove the Accelerated rent og 12.6k. and then they sent over the original lease. does that qualify as proof?''
Do you still live in Texas? Another issue not mentioned is that a debt collection company may have to deal with you based on the laws of the current state you live in?
I would have more to contribute, but need to know 2 things? Have you paid them anything? and that means even 1 penny?
Statue of limitations in Texas appears to be 4 years on basically every kind of debt there is. You can tell the collection agency that the statue of limitations for them to legally sue you in court on this debt has expired. If they try to sue you on a debt with an expired statue of limitations, they would be in trouble. They cannot legally sue you in court--unless you paid them any money and reset the statue of limitations on the debt. This debt is almost 5 1/2 years old now. In 1 1/2 years it falls off your credit report. Furthermore, even if they re-sell the debt, you do not have to cave in to any new collection agency. If any collection agency violates Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act you could in fact sue them for monetary damages.
Also, if the original leasing company is no longer in business, the debt could be invalid dependant upon the wording of the contract with respect on assigning the debt or selling the debt. For example, I once had to challenge incorrect info on my credit report regarding a department store that went out of business. Credit agencies had to remove the debt because the department store was no longer in business.
If you can afford to have a consultation with an attorney, I would urge you to do so. You can share your concerns and find out your rights and legal obligations. Attorneys are expensive and sometimes coming up with money to pay for one seems impossible. If your income is limited and you meet guidelines for your state, you may be able to get legal aid for free. If not, call your state attorney referral service. Most states have an attorney referral service that lets you meet with an attorney at a very affordable fee for a (usually) 30 minute appointment. An attorney would be the best to point you in the right direction. At the very least, go to the bookstore or library and look for the NOLO books on debt collection and your rights as a consumer.
You also should challenge the debt with all of the credit bureaus. This will force the creditor to validate the debt. You can also challenge the amount of the debt--and you should. If the creditor currently reporting the debt cannot validate it, it must be removed from your credit report. It doesn't remain on for 7 years.
As for your difficulty in renting, try to work with a private landlord for the next 1 1/2 years.
Last edited by itsajourney; 02-22-2015 at 12:58 AM..
Reason: addition of info
That's a totally bogus statement; no debt comes with a "one time chance"!!! They bluffed and you blinked.
I don't like suggesting this but you need a qualified attorney to get this resolved or work with a credit counselor. The reason for this suggestion is there were several opportunities to get out from under this and each time you blew it, so you may best be served by having someone else handling this for you. Since you don;t understand the ins and out of debt collection, it may be easy for you to fall victim to some b.s. tactics, costing you more than you owe.
Now, if you really want to settle this, call the collection agency and state mater of factly, you have lived with this as a ding on your credit report for X years, it has not effected you at all, BUT as an honest person you want to clear this up. If they will send you proof of the debt, you will forward it over to your attorney to determine the validity of the debt and the actual LEGAL amount owed. I can bet you that that "one time chance" will turn into a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th.............. chance before you hang up.
The collection agency may have purchased that debt for pennies on the dollar and they get only what they can collect from you. If they collect nothing, they get nothing. If they get $500 as a settlement, they now have $500 more than when you first called.
Now, don't forget that you also may have been overcharged and the original debt is unenforceable under you state laws. So, once you have the proof of debt in hand, you are in a better position (to come back and explain) to find out if you can sue the landlord for the financial harm they caused by some illegal demand for damages. Who knows, you may be the one getting money out of this instead of paying!
They definitely overcharged this is the document that I was provided with when I asked for proof of debt. They also told me that the management company is no longer in business so with that in consideration they will offer me 5 k to settle the debt.... That is the same offer they gave me in the originally :I
Last edited by redheadditdfw; 02-22-2015 at 09:44 AM..
Reason: added detail
Statue of limitations in Texas appears to be 4 years on basically every kind of debt there is. You can tell the collection agency that the statue of limitations for them to legally sue you in court on this debt has expired. If they try to sue you on a debt with an expired statue of limitations, they would be in trouble. They cannot legally sue you in court--unless you paid them any money and reset the statue of limitations on the debt. This debt is almost 5 1/2 years old now. In 1 1/2 years it falls off your credit report. Furthermore, even if they re-sell the debt, you do not have to cave in to any new collection agency. If any collection agency violates Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act you could in fact sue them for monetary damages.
Also, if the original leasing company is no longer in business, the debt could be invalid dependant upon the wording of the contract with respect on assigning the debt or selling the debt. For example, I once had to challenge incorrect info on my credit report regarding a department store that went out of business. Credit agencies had to remove the debt because the department store was no longer in business.
If you can afford to have a consultation with an attorney, I would urge you to do so. You can share your concerns and find out your rights and legal obligations. Attorneys are expensive and sometimes coming up with money to pay for one seems impossible. If your income is limited and you meet guidelines for your state, you may be able to get legal aid for free. If not, call your state attorney referral service. Most states have an attorney referral service that lets you meet with an attorney at a very affordable fee for a (usually) 30 minute appointment. An attorney would be the best to point you in the right direction. At the very least, go to the bookstore or library and look for the NOLO books on debt collection and your rights as a consumer.
You also should challenge the debt with all of the credit bureaus. This will force the creditor to validate the debt. You can also challenge the amount of the debt--and you should. If the creditor currently reporting the debt cannot validate it, it must be removed from your credit report. It doesn't remain on for 7 years.
As for your difficulty in renting, try to work with a private landlord for the next 1 1/2 years.
they provided me with the original lease contract and the form provided to them by the management company as proof of debt... Is that all they need to provide me with?
Do you still live in Texas? Another issue not mentioned is that a debt collection company may have to deal with you based on the laws of the current state you live in?
I would have more to contribute, but need to know 2 things? Have you paid them anything? and that means even 1 penny?
And where do you now live?
I do still live in TX.
I live in a apartment my ex-husband rented for me. however he insists on having a key and he just makes my life uncomfortable in general. I appreciate his help but, he takes it too far; for example I am not allowed to date another man while I live here and he would rather that I don't have ppl over at all. Hence the reason I am really interested in being able to rent my own apartment.
Statue of limitations in Texas appears to be 4 years on basically every kind of debt there is. You can tell the collection agency that the statue of limitations for them to legally sue you in court on this debt has expired. If they try to sue you on a debt with an expired statue of limitations, they would be in trouble. They cannot legally sue you in court--unless you paid them any money and reset the statue of limitations on the debt. This debt is almost 5 1/2 years old now. In 1 1/2 years it falls off your credit report. Furthermore, even if they re-sell the debt, you do not have to cave in to any new collection agency.
If any collection agency violates Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act you could in fact sue them for monetary damages. Also, if the original leasing company is no longer in business, the debt could be invalid dependant upon the wording of the contract with respect on assigning the debt or selling the debt. For example, I once had to challenge incorrect info on my credit report regarding a department store that went out of business. Credit agencies had to remove the debt because the department store was no longer in business.
Also, if the original leasing company is no longer in business, the debt could be invalid dependant upon the wording of the contract with respect on assigning the debt or selling the debt. For example, I once had to challenge incorrect info on my credit report regarding a department store that went out of business. Credit agencies had to remove the debt because the department store was no longer in business.
If you can afford to have a consultation with an attorney, I would urge you to do so. You can share your concerns and find out your rights and legal obligations. Attorneys are expensive and sometimes coming up with money to pay for one seems impossible. If your income is limited and you meet guidelines for your state, you may be able to get legal aid for free. If not, call your state attorney referral service. Most states have an attorney referral service that lets you meet with an attorney at a very affordable fee for a (usually) 30 minute appointment. An attorney would be the best to point you in the right direction. At the very least, go to the bookstore or library and look for the NOLO books on debt collection and your rights as a consumer.
You also should challenge the debt with all of the credit bureaus. This will force the creditor to validate the debt. You can also challenge the amount of the debt--and you should. If the creditor currently reporting the debt cannot validate it, it must be removed from your credit report. It doesn't remain on for 7 years.
As for your difficulty in renting, try to work with a private landlord for the next 1 1/2 years.
If they provide the credit bureaus with the lease contract and the document itemizing what I owe is that enough for the collection company to validate the debt even if the management company is no long longer in business?
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