More on HFO Services.

taffgaff

Hi All,

I currently have a repayment plan with CCCS. I recently received a letter from a company called HFO Services informing me they had bought my debt from Citicard. They advised they were not happy with the repayment terms that had been previously agreed and were seeking repayment of the whole sum. Failure to agree an immediate repayment plan would result in them applying for a Charge on my property and potentially an Attachment of Earnings order.
After checking various Internet forums it seems that several other people have had similar experiences with the same company. Following advice from several people I have sent a request to HFO for a copy of the CCA. I have now received a mail from Turnbull & Rutherford Solicitors (a company operating from the same business address as HFO) informing me they will be seeking a CCJ against me.
I have been advised that a Court would probably rule in my favour as I have been making regular payments as previously agreed and do not have the funds available to repay the whole amount to HFO. As yet I have not received the CCA from HFO.
Do you know what my legal position is regarding this matter? I have been allowed a 72 hour 'grace' period to make an arrangement with them.
Several people have advised me to ignore these letters but I am wary of doing this until I know where I stand. Can you offer any advice on where I stand and exactly what my rights are regarding this matter?

Cheers.

RAS

who has granted you the 72 hour grace period?

taffgaff

Hi RAS,

Turnbull & Rutherford. Although I think the two parties are more or less one and the same.

cowbell

I wouldn't necessarily take this letter from the solicitors as genuine. My partner is also dealing with HFO and they have tried many underhanded tactics to scare monger him into sending them money. Starting with the card in the post saying he had a parcel, like many others have got, then the phonecalls and letters offering a discount if he settles the account within certain time frames.
When you request the credit agreement they have 12 days to respond to you, if they don't then the company enters into a default situation. They then have a further 30 calendar days to respond otherwise they have committed an offence. The debt is then unenforceable. My partner found the letters and more detailed information on forums from this site. All the rules come under the Data Protection Act (Data Protection Act 1998) so have a look into that.
Just today we received a letter supposedly from the original lending bank to say that they had assigned the account to HFO Capital Limited. The letter was dated 8th October 2007 and was only received 8 months later? That's what first made me suspicious, then I looked at the letterhead and you can clearly see that it has either been scanned or colour copied so it is not an original letterhead! The letter is not signed and the footer where a companies details are usually already printed on with the letterhead has been typed on. Also the name of the addressee and then the name after 'Dear' are not the same. Obviously been done as a mail merge and they have forgotten to update this field. I doubt very much that a bank would make such a typo. I have compared this letter to other letters we have received from the original lending bank and they are not the same. Clearly this letter is not from the original lender. I think it is outrageous that they are trying to get away with such things. I wouldn't give this company the time of day and if they do not provide you with the original signed credit agreement they can not enforce the debt onto you and you do not have to acknowledge any debt to the company.