Re: "Friendly Collection Agency" OXYMORON

Posted by LadynRed (199.91.33.254) on November 04, 2002 at 10:41:15:

In Reply to: Re: "Friendly Collection Agency" OXYMORON posted by DebtGuy on November 02, 2002 at 11:45:41:

I would have to say that you're a single entity trying to take on a system that is so entrenched in shoddy, nasty and illegal practices that myself and most other people on this board, will be dead and buried before you even make a small dent !!!!!!

Unless you've got a HUGE amount of money to make monumental government and industry changes, it ain't gonna happen, I'm not holding my breath.

MOST of us, as you have observed, have been abused by CA's, bruised and beaten down by the foul economy and, YES, we're ANGRY at being percieved as deadbeats and treated like lowlife criminals when most of us have had NO CHOICES in what's happened to us that we are in financial distress now.

I had NO CONTROL over my layoff. I had NO CONTROL over not being able to get a new full-time job for 7 months and barely surviving on unemployment. I had NO CHOICE but to stop paying the creditors. The alternative was being homeless and starving because they would take every single dime I had to pay THEM. Well, I've got news for you.. that ain't happenin.. not now or EVER ! They can piss up a rope.. all of 'em. I called every single creditor when I was laid off and NONE of them would work with me. They all wanted money I did not have. One nasty OC collector actually suggested that I find a street corner and solicit so that I could pay THEM !!! THIS is the kind of crap we all put up with from OC's and CA's alike.

And you want to know if we'd pay a "friendly" CA? Where is the incentive for that ??? In the credit system, the consumer is GUILTY until proven INNOCENT. We are penalized for having credit (too many and your score goes DOWN). We are penalized for being a victim of a bad economy and losing our jobs. IF we manage to get a job that pays the same or more than the job we lost (which is most cases is the exception rather than the rule these days !), then we're so far behind that outrageous fees and interest have been added to the point that even though we now have a paycheck again, 'catching up' is hopeless. The creditors, or in most cases the CA's, would enslave you for years and years to come. Your example of paying only $50 a month would stretch out a debt for many, many years, and if there's interest being added every month, then you're paying to your grave ! If they won't take that low a payment, then they expect you to live out of a cardboard box and eat nothing but mac and cheese just so they can line their pockets and you can feel 'morally responsible again'. As Fenrir has said, if you try to settle, you're penalized not one way but it could be 2-3 ways ! Credit report shows negatives, settling gets you nothing but another bad mark. It also leaves you open to a potential IRS debt, which is even worse. OR, the remainder gets sold to another CA and you start the whole nasty process all over again !

The system sucks, and I doubt you'll be able to change it any time before I die. As for having assets a lawyer can take.. you forget, EVERY state has EXEMPTIONS against judgments and even though I DO own a 5 year old computer (worth about $100 !) and I do own furniture and a 10 year old car, the law allows me to keep my personal property and NOT have to sit on crates for the next 5-10 years ! To take my car, or force me to by some $300 pile of junk would mean I would not be able to get to work, I'd lose my job.. again, THEN where would that get an OC or CA who wants money ??????? I have a job again, but all the accounts except 3 have gone to charge-off and are in collections. The only reason the 3 aren't gone is because the amounts were low enough that I could pay $10 or $20 a month and they accepted that w/o penalty !! Will I pay the rest of them ?? I have no incentive to. My credit is screwed for 7 years and if I settle, it'll get screwed for more years after that. They want so much money now, even with a full-time job I can't catch up and I refuse to live like a beggar in the streets just to satisfy them, as they seem to think I should.

The credit system is against US, the consumer, and works ONLY for the creditors and those people rich enough to not have to ever worry about losing a job or paying huge medical bills (another screwed up system !).

You have far too much to change besides CA practices to ever succeed.

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