Annoyed by these debt collection tactics

Money-come-lately

I have an old debt With CapitalOne which I have not serviced for a while (2 years). Last year I got a letter from Intrum Justia stating that they were now dealing with the debt, and sure enough when I contacted Capital One they confirmed that they had sold the debt to them.

I then heard nothing for over a year until I recieved a letter from Recoveryourdebt (who are based in Preston) threatening Bankruptcy unless I paid in full. A month later I recieved a statutory demand. I spoke to them and they refused a payment plan on the basis that they seemed to know that I owned my house. I explained that my partner is disabled and I cannot work just at the moment - they were totally unsympathetic, and said that they wanted the balance (8 k minus a 20% discount) in 14 days or they would petition for bankruptcy.

Is this a bluff or are they really serious?

Also if they do not have a signed copy of my credit agreement can they enforce it if I dispute the debt? And if so is there any point sending them this letter :

*******************************************************
Quote:
I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee, PO Serial Number xxxxx.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.



Please advise as I am really desperate.

rog2

You should send them that letter.
Yes, they could, in theory, petition for your bankruptcy, but first, they must serve you with a statutory demand - which takes some time. This statutory demand would allow you time to negociate with your creditors to attempt to reach a solution - eg payment by instalments. After the expiry of the statutory demand, then the creditor, assuming of course that they can prove that they are the creditor, can petition the high court for your bankruptcy. This process can involve considerable additional cost to a creditor and, if you have no personal assets, he may not get anything out of it.
For this reason, creditors very rarely go for enforced bankruptcy.
I would, at this stage, be inclined to think that this is a 'scare' tactic, by the DCA, and I would, initially, ask for the agreement as in the template letter.
Also it may be a good idea to talk to CAB, or a solicitor, to start to resolve the problem.

mountainofdebt

or judgemental, but can I ask why you haven't serviced the debt for 2 years?

Apart from talking to someone at the CAB or a solicitor, it might be worth you posting a list of your income and outgoings (including details of any other debt with APRs, limits and balances) to see if we can help you clear this debt someother way.

Money-come-lately

Hi rog2. Yes, they did send a statutory demand a few months ago, and I have tried to set up a monthly payment plan. But after initially accepting the plan they then wrote to me saying that they would not accept it as I owned a house. I rang them but they said that I should either pay the full amount straight away (with a 20% discount), or go with a scheme of theirs where they buy your house off you and allow you to live in it rent free for a year and then buy it back!!!!!!!!!!

Money-come-lately

Also, just as a general rule of thumb, how much discount do these debt collection companies usually give for a payment in full? I've been offered 20% - is it usually a little more than this?

beanielou

Money-come-lately wrote:

Also, just as a general rule of thumb, how much discount do these debt collection companies usually give for a payment in full? I've been offered 20% - is it usually a little more than this?

It varies very much from DCA to DCA.
I would be very careful how you go forward given that you do own your own home.As you will know there are steps they can take.

Money-come-lately

Hi Beanielou. Thats the thing - how do you know if they are bluffing or not?!

mountainofdebt

Can I just ask again, how come the debt hasn't been serviced for such a long period of time?

I do think it would be useful for you to post your incomings/outgoings.....we may be able to come up with a plan of action for you.

Money-come-lately

Hi Mountain - Yes, its a good question. The truth was that I was scared and shoved my head in the sand. I also moved house and I hoped (a little naively I admit) that they might lose track of me and eventually write the debt off as I had no way of being able to pay it.

I have spoken to Payplan and asked them if theu could set up a payment plan - but they told me that they do not deal with DCA's.

All my other creditors have accepted a payment plan - It's just the one company that is being difficult. I did set up a plan with them but they wrote to me and cancelled it as they seem to know that I have a house (don't know how though)?!

I have done a balance sheet and offered every creditor the max that I can afford.

mountainofdebt

Well I don't know if this would help BUT why not send them a breakdown of your income & expenditure together with a cheque of what you can afford to repy this debt and do the same every month, without fail. Would also send it recorded delivery so that you could prove that it was received.

Personally I wouldn't wait for them to agree to this, especially if it sounds as if they are going to try and go for the jugular. If they do return the cheque then obviously keep everything so that it will make them look unreasonable. It goes without saying keep a record of the cheques sent to them, and when they were (if at all) cashed.

That way the judge may look on you more sympathetically than if no payment was made especially if you are making payments to other creditors and this is the only one you aren't making a payment to.

Don't know if this is what others would agree to but personally I can't see it doing any harm.

Money-come-lately

Have any other users heard of Recoveryourdebt ? Are they allowed to bully on the phone by saying that if you do not pay within 14 days they will bankrupt you? Also, are these sort of DCA's bluffers or are they serious?

I spent the best part of 1 hour talking to this two-bit pokey company - they made it clear that they will accept nothing else than full payment - even though I told them that I had a young family. Can they really do this even if I am trying to pay? Or would a CC judge dismiss a bankruptcy petition on the grounds that this DCA will not negotiate?

Please help I'm desperate !