Trying to squeeze blood from a stone and getting sand-

[Kyrieath]

I really love debt collection lawyers, they're such smart people. I mean really; constantly calling someone unemployed in an area with a rapidly skyrocketing unemployment rate is naturally going to make them go find a job where there aren't any or go dig in the backyard to dig into that secret pirate treasure they just know they're hiding back there, eh?

Yessiree, and if the person in debt doesn't somehow pull a miracle job out of the air or have a fantastically wealthy friend/relative/alien from space to bail them out? Well obviously they were intending to defraud the company all along! You better believe it; they spent years and years paying on their bills and didn't stop until they had lost all source of income because they never intended to pay one li'l red cent. Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh. </emperor's new groove>

Funny how they get annoyed when you tell them that even if you got a job in a backwater place with a supremely high unemployment rate, the chances of you making several thousand dollars to pay back the debt and the court costs they're wanting to tag on are pretty well next to none. Cuz yeah, flippin' burgers and frying chicken or ringing up groceries for little old ladies and bus loads of maybe legal/maybe not immigrants just pays that good. Sure I can make a few thousand in a month- just let me get about seven or eight jobs going here and I'll be GOLDEN.

Really.

Seriously now; someone had to literally die for me to get my last job before medical reasons cost me it. What am I supposed to do; order a hit on someone so I can try to grab their job for one of the few hundred other folk in this area go for it?

I just love how these people try to squeeze blood from a stone and then get baffled when all they get is sand.

[velveeta]

right there with ya, kri.....
before i declared bankruptcy (this was many many moons ago, it has dropped off since then), i actually got calls AT WORK from them.
i finally told them that since they could not wait and were not willing to set up a reasonable repayment plan, i was declaring bankruptcy.
it was, in my opinion, the best thing i ever did.

these days, i do not have a credit card, and i use a debit card for everything. can't spend what you don't have that way.

i know that the laws have been made tougher, but it may be a worthwhile thing to investigate the possibility of declaring some form of bankruptcy. if you learn from it, it can give you a fresh financial start.

[LOVWYRM]

I totally agree, Vel.

We had to do so 2 years ago, when Flame got sick, so he could not work for more than a year, and then got no job.
Only help they offered, was to pay by installments, that high, that nothing would have left to live with.
So we took that path, recovered (health and money), could sleep again and doing fine now.
Flame still has no cc- np- I have one- use it only to pay for Istaria and gasoline
when we`re on vacation.

Looking at all our economies, its the only solution

[Kyrieath]

I've been looking into it Vel, Lovwyrm; the problem is they're trying to make a move against me to have it turned into some sort of 'untouchable' debt that supposedly can't be bankruptcied against.

Though to date, I haven't heard of anything that can be held against a chapter 7. I'm still trying to research it and see for sure; the last thing I want is to go through all that, get money from friends and family enough to hire a lawyer and then the judge deny because they protected the debt somehow. I don't speak legalese very well though. >.>;

Hm..have either of you heard of that kind of protection against bankruptcy? Something about claiming it as a loan of some kind? One lawyer I spoke to on a free consultation labeled me as untouchable by the companies right now due to my situation and not owning anything of resale value but the stress of putting up with these calls is killing me. And it's not like I can skip answering the phone; I'm hoping one of these jobs I've applied to will get back to me. Sadly, they don't leave messages...you don't answer, you don't get the job.

[C`gan]

Kyrieath, the only things that are unallowed in a chapter 7 bankruptcy are government loans and certain select few debts that specifically go to the government as well.

You can also opt out of declaring on debts you wish to keep. For instance, a car loan or a mortgage where a tangible asset is involved.

[Aaelefein]

Student Loans can't be wiped away either

[Kyrieath]

That's good to hear, thank you C'gan! My debts are strictly non-governmental (current headache is Bank of America; my other debts are at least being a little more reasonable given the economy's condition).

If a chapter 7 can make that take a hike, I'll happily do it. I've just been hesitating due to the threat they'll turn it into something I can't do that with. Such as this BS defraud charge.

Heh..I've got nothing to lose via it anyway. My credit's already shot. Unfortunately you can't debt-opt with that one, I think..it's a declaration of 'no money whatsoever' so everything has to go, including anything you're still paying on. I can't do a chapter 13 or 11 unless I can convince some place here to hire me, I know that much.

[Mensar]

The thing about debt collectors..

They don't expect to get a dime. They buy debts from businesses that were originally the extenders of credit or to whom the original monies were due. And they "buy" the debt for pennies on the dollar.

That gives them the legal license to harass you (to some degree) for the money.

Well.. as I said, they don't expect to get a dime so if they do actually get something from you, it's more than they probably paid and are already in the black with your account. You'd be truly surprised to know what some of these guys will settle for if they think you'll actually pay it.

And if they can't get the money from you? They'll give it a few months maybe.. then sell it to yet another collection department who will start harassing you.

It's a viscious cycle.

I hate to say it, but the credit system is an odd thing. Things fall of your credit if they are more than 7 years old.

Well.. and this is what's weird.. paying on a bad debt keeps the fact that it's a bad debt on your credit for 7 years FROM THE DAY YOU FINISH PAYING IT.. versus if you never even talk to the people, it's 7 years from the date you defaulted (because that's the last entry in your credit report). So.. oddly, it's better for your credit to just completely default (unless it's a sizable amount that someone would feel it's worth taking you to court over) in the long run than it is to make good.

Weird, huh?

But you have to clean up your credit yourself or have a professional do it.. you have to write the credit companies (all 3) and tell them the debt is more than 7 years old. If it matches to what's on their record, they'll simply delete it.

If you have an entry that wasn't valid.. just write them and tell them it wasn't valid. they'll forward it to the issuing creditor. If (and this is rare) they respond, they'll forward you the response. Every time you respond back and disagree, they have to forward it to the issuing creditor. If they DON"T respond.. the credit company wipes it by default. So you can actually harass the issuing creditor for a change and end up getting it off your credit report earlier.

Anyway.. there are lots of tricks to it, just have to play around with the system a bit and know what the rules are. Everything is geared to protect the consumer. I have no idea how businesses stay viable with the way credit companies run.

[Kyrieath]

Currently they are trying to take me to court over it; the card was a bank owned one so they're being rather temperamental about the whole affair. Though I think made the lawyer blink when I told him to just take it to court already- there was no way I could get the funds. My family has their own concerns; I'm judged the one with the least to lose so I get to sit on the sacrificial debt altar while they keep the necessary payments going just to keep us housed, fed and the car going. That apparently wasn't the response he expected to hear.

Still, not a promising spot to get money for that from. -_-; I really don't think it's all that much as banks view money but hey; guess they're getting desperate with more and more people filing bankruptcy.

...But good lord. I see debts/debt collection/debt settlement makes about as much sense as anything else in law or what have you. That DOES sound pretty ridiculous. I'm inclined to agree with you: how the heck do businesses stay in business with this kind of chicanery going on?

Meh..well...Just I'll just see if I can ride it out. The way the job market's going, I'm not going to HAVE a job in the next seven years unless I like, manage to get a book published and sell well.