My roommate has debts. Debtors are calling and waking me up at 9 AM in the morning and I don't owe them! Help.
114128
if you don't expect a call, don't answer the phone or hang up the phone. don't entertain them. place a notice at your door -"No visitors please unless previously arranged. this is my rest day"
97740
First my battle cry....\n\nYou are about to go to war.  Do not fight these guys unarmed!  Your weapon is knowledge of the law!  Go to the link below and read up on the Fair Debt Collections Act.\n\nThe debt collectors are armed...they know these laws.  \n\nStopping the calls is easy.  Use the sample letters below, and send them a CERTIFIED letter.  It's not necessary to get a return receipt, you just need to prove you sent it.  If they continue to bother you then sue them!\n\nThere are other ways, but without knowing more about the who's and why's they are bothering you I can't help.  \n\nI am not a lawyer or a credit counsoler.  I am someone who has been down this path and counsoled others in dealing with these jerks.\n\nIf you need help or encouragement contact me.
901211
Speak to the Citizens' Advice Bureau about FREE debt advice. There are some other charities that will offer you free advice about the best/quickest way to repay what you owe but I am unaware of any organisation that will administer your debt for you or give you a consolidation loan without making some sort of charge. \n\nCAB will encourage you to look at what all your income and outgoings are and devise a strategy with you, not for you, as to how you are to pay it all back. Meanwhile, write a holding letter to your creditors telling them that you are seeking independent advice about the debt. It will only serve to stall them temporarily. \n\nWork out your priority and non priority debts. Priority debts are ones which will affect your home or your liberty and include rent/mortgage, water, gas and electric and any other loan secured against your property. Non-payment of council tax can lead to imprisonment and so is a priority debt. All other debts are non-priority. It is vital that these are paid first.\n\nDraw up an honest list of what comes in to your household and what goes out and include everything, including newspaper money and pocket money for the kids etc. Don't try to hide an amount under the heading 'Housekeeping'. Debt companies know what to expect to see under all the headings based on reasonable amounts according to your home circumstances and trying to hide amounts under ambiguous headings won't work. \n\nYou then need to write again to your creditors and include the income and expenditure form. They should then come to an agreement with you although they are not obliged to. If you go to the CAB with this information, they can help you work out payment plans for each creditor and give you a standard letter to send. It may also carry more weight with the creditors if they know CAB are involved. \n\nCreditors are not obliged to accept your suggested payment plans and will be looking for some commitment from you that you are determined to clear your debt. Can you return the cards to the company, cut up? Can you sell some of your assets? Can you take on another part-time job specifically to pay them off? Could you rent a room out in your house? \n\nThere are other options like IVAs or bankruptcy depending on how much debt you are in but these have as many cons as they do pros and are not the answer for everyone, particularly if you own a house with equity. You could speak to CAB about these options but think carefully before going down these routes. \n\nYou are right to think about alternatives to taking out more debt. There are obvious problems if you cannot keep up repayments on bigger consolidation debts especially if they are secured against your home. I don't know your own circumstances, of course, but maybe going through the debt procedures above will concentrate your mind on how you managed to get into debt in the first place, the pain of being in debt and how hard it was to get out of it which will prevent you from ever going down that road again. I know that I learned that same lesson the hard way and am steering well clear of ever going there ever again. Consolidation seems like easier options but will anyone ever learn to change their behaviour or is it just a quick fix to allow the same thing to carry on all over again? \n\nAnyway, good luck. It seems like a pit you can never climb out of but it will get easier. Promise!
230485
The standard is 10 years but many creditors stop reporting after 5. But since so many companies are so different it's nearly impossible to give you an absolute answer so if you're not paying your bills then assume that they'll remain on your record for 10 years.\nIf you're served you a) go to court or b) settle with the company. The settlement will be much lower than the actual debt. And not having a job is gonna do you absolutely no good in your argument. The best way to avoid paying the debt (at least in a lump sum) is to pay in very small amounts. As long as you pay something then legally you aren't refusing to pay your debt. But if I were you, I'd get a job and settle with the company. You might be able to talk them into a monthly minimal payment.
793943
Contact the major credit bereaus. They can provide you tools to correct it without involving the law.
82725
What you should do is talk to them and explain your situation... Also I would look into going through a debt consolidator... That is what I do... and I was in your situation and now all I have left is less than a year and I am debt free!!!! I had to go to court for one of my bills... and when I did that the person said that they couldnt take money I didnt have, so they worked with me so I am paying a very low payment... SO your best solution is to talk to all of them... They may be able to help you out...
1177498
Get your key back or change the locks. It's quite easy to do.\n\nThey are taking advantage of you. Tell them that they need to use their own apartment to cook and clean in and a laundromat to clean their clothes.   \n\nThey also need to chip in for running up your electric bill. now is not the time to be meek
571470
<sigh>\n\nOK, William, I thought you would be a differant form of creditor....but you are at least honest.  Just need some more education.\n\nWinelover, you are obviously a collector, peddeling the same like of BS as all the rest!\n\nLets clear up the lies.  Debts can NOT be reported on your credit report for more then 7 years, beginning on the date of the delinquency.  Please refer to the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 804.\n\nCreditors can continue to collect on a debt that is older then the statute of limitations.  They just have no legal way of collecting.  Depending on the state, that runs from 4-10 years.  Once that day is passed, they can NOT sue you in court or legally try to collect.  If the debt is real old, you can simply contact the credit bureau and demand that it be removed due to the SOL running out.  It will probably require a letter to the creditor also.  Either way, debts older then 10 years can easily be ignored!\n\nSo when you folks tell people that depts never go away, you are simply uneducated or lying?  Which is it?\n\nThe only time they can continue to come after you is if they have taken you to court, and won a judgement.  \n\nThat said, lets answer your question.  William is correct.  Older debts do not hurt your score as bad as recent debts.  Don't get me wrong...negative reports still hurt!  \n\nIf you have any bills collection interest, pay them first (high interest rates first).  Then just try and work your way through.\n\nBefore you pay, first contact the creditors and try to negotiate a lower balance if possible.  Just explain what happened and they may work with you.  \n\nMost importing...you are trying to cean up your credit report.  It does you absolutely no good to pay these bills if the creditor does not remove any negative information from your report.  And you will find that once they have your money, they will not be very cooperative in helping you.  Once paid, you no longer have any leverage to work with.\n\nGet IN WRITING an agreement that once the bill is paid, they will remove all negative information from your records.\n\nUse the sample letters below to help you.\n\nWhen you negotiate, DO NOT offer to pay anything.  One slick trick collectors are using is to ask for a "good faith" payment.  If you do that, you start the statute of limitations clock, and your debt added several years to it's age.  The way the game is played...you are NOT denying you owe the debt, but you are NOT offering to pay it either, until an agreement is reached.
678711
Lets clear up these bad answers.\n\nJeff L is almost correct, but he is wrong about the fact that paying a debt restarts the "clock".  There are actually two "clocks", one is the Statute of limitations, the other is the Credit Reporting Clock.  According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, they can only report a debt for 7 days, beginning on the day of the delinquincy.  PERIOD!  Payments, closed accounts, charge-offs, none of these can reset the clock.  Agents will attempt to do it, but it's called "re-aging the debt" and it's illegal!  If you can catch them doing it you can sue them and easily get $1000 for your troubles.  \n\nThe answers are also wrong that negative information can not be removed from your report.  It is a fact that credit reporting agencies can not remove any listing.  Only a creditor can do it.  Nothing in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or the Fair and Accurate Credit Reporting Acts prevents a creditor from removing anything that they have posted to your record.\n\nThe problem is convincing them to do it!  And once you have paid them off, you have lost all leverage with them.  You are going to find they are very uncooperative now.  The best you can hope for is they will post "paid in full" on the account, but it will still contain negative information such as collections and late payments.  \n\nThis nonsense that a paid debt looks better then an unpaid one is silly!  IT'S STILL A BAD MARK!!!  IT KILLS YOUR SCORE!\n\nSo what do you do now?  \n\nSend a letter to the credit reporting agencies and dispute the listing.  If the creditor fails to respond to the verification request, they will remove the listing completely.  If they respond, it will be with a notice that the debt is now paid.  \n\nYou can also call the creditor and politely ask if they would remove the listing, or take away the negative information.  It's a long shot but give it a try.
739430
There is nothing they are going to do that you can't do yourself.  Look up your specific issues on-line, learn, and apply the lessons to your issues.  When you get involved with these groups, there are hidden fees and costs, such as interest charged for longer length loans.  Read this:\n\nHere's another example, this one involving debt settlement. Let's say you have racked up $20,000 in unsecured credit card debts. You owe $10,000 to one credit card company, $7,000 to another one, and $3,000 to a third one. You agree to contract for a five year debt settlement plan where you pay $250 a month to the settlement company.\n\nSounds good, right?  After all, $250 a month for five years is only $15,000, so you're saving $5,000 and you'll be debt-free in just five years, right?\n\nLet's examine this arrangement a bit closer. The admin fee will cost you $750 up front. Your first three monthly payments go towards that admin fee and nothing gets put into your trust account until your fourth monthly payment has been paid. The settlement company takes the first $50 of your $250 payment every month as the service fee. That means that only $200 a month is actually being added to your trust account.\n\nMost debt settlement companies will claim to be able to settle your debt for about 1/2 of what you actually owe, so let's use the middle credit card debt as an example:\n\nIf you owe $7,000 on the account and the creditor agrees to accept $3,500 as payment in full, it will take you 8 months at $200 per month to have accrued enough cash in your trust account to pay off just that one credit card bill. But remember, your first three  payments to the debt settlement company only paid the $750 admin fee. That means your first credit card isn't really settled until 11 months after you started sending them money! So what is the problem? It's really very simple - Your creditor won't agree to accept half of your actual debt amount in settlement unless, or until, that amount can be paid in full. Otherwise, they'll expect you to make your normal monthly payments.
430021
From time to time, police departments are known to do roundups or warrant runs.\n\nIt is in your roommate's best interest to go ahead and get this taken care of.  They know the warrant is out there, and if they voluntarily take steps to resolve the issue, it will go easier on them.\n\nIt will likely be a fine, and your friend can ask the court to work with them regarding payment plans.
938453
I highly recommend you call these folks\nhttp://www.cccsintl.org/\nCCCS or Consumer Credit Counseling Service (if you are in the US)\nThey are a non profit credit counseling service that all major credit card, irs, government agencies recommend to help folks with bills.. might even prevent bankruptcy.. They can work with you and help you with contacting your creditors and what to say and help you settle with them, might even negotiate lower payments. etc.. I used to work for a major department store dept collection department and we always referred the worse cases to these folks... goodluck!
1035556
If you are disputing the debt, contact the credit reporting agency and file a dispute. The creditor will have to validate the dept, or it must be removed from your report!
1040622
you can always try going to court and talking you way out of it\n\nmy roomates done that a couple times before, it really works :)
260106
Not paying your bills
126738
Like crythsania said....why are they threatening you?  What agreement did you have with the debt collector (and why are you messing with those fools anyway)?\n\nIf you have an agreement with them to pay an amount of money, they can't just change it.  Keep sending them the agreed amount of money, and let them sue you.  The judge will simply re-instate the conditions of that agreement.\n\nOn the other hand, if you are not paying what you agreed on, they can sue you.  Now you must gamble on whether the judge will order a payment plan you can afford, or risk garnishment/lien proceedings.  \n\nDon't know where you are at, bit in my area the judge would look at the debtor's financial situation and order something he can handle.  I've seen people get away with $5.00 a month.
112221
The first thing I would do, is if you owe the debt, contact the original creditor in writing expressing that you are intrested in resolving the issue and are being harassed by a collection agency...be sure to provide them with who the collection agency is.  If you still owe it, they will work with you.\n\nAs far as stopping the calls, simply ask the agency for their mailing address and send them a certified letter demanding the harassment and phone calls stop and that all communiction should be in writing.  Be sure to log the calls and the times and any threats or harassing they commit.  After they recieve the letter, it is illegal to call you....if they do, file a complaint with a copy of your letter and the certified receipt showing they received it along with your log to the authorities.  Whatever you do, do NOT discuss the debt with them at all!  Simply cut them off politely and say that you need a mailing address and tell them that any future communication should be in writing.  Follow up with the certified letter, and it should stop.  Also, if the collection agency has reported the debt on your credit report, you can remove it by sending a letter to each of the creit reporting agencies denying the accuracy and demanding that the debt be "validated".  This will give the collection agency 30 days to send a copy of the original signed credit agreement as well as a complete payment history.  If they donot do this completely within the 30 days, it must be deleted by law.\n\nGood luck....I hope this helps you.