Bad Credit Agency

I need to know if there is anyone out there having trouble w/credit card debt and collection agencies?

I owe Chase credit card a lot of money. I went through one Credit counseling agency who never made my pymts on time and Chase threatened to drop me from the program. I then tried to pay the card on my own and could not. Then I joined another company who charged me over $500 per month to take care of the one credit card. Anyway Chase turned me over to one collection agency and now another. The man from the second collection agency has called me at work, on my cell, screaming at me saying I have refused to pay. I told him it would be taken care of but not at this time. He then resorted to call my sister in law who he lied to and told her we put her down as a reference. I didn't put anyone down as a reference. I still do not know how he even got her phone number. Is the legal? I have recently joined with another Credit counselingagency to take care of the debt. I told the man this but he still said I was refusing to pay and they WOULD garnish my wages. HELP!!!!!

Public Comments

1. One mistake you made, as well as many many other people is when they admit that they are the person these collectors are trying to get a hold of. From my personal experience, and according to a reliable banker that I know, as long as I tell them that they got the wrong number, they can not by law and will not put me through collection because they first need the person to acknowledge that they are who they're looking for. In the beginning, I would continuously tell them that i need time to pay, or that i'll pay at so and so time. I couldn't and guess what my name ended up with collections immediately, because after 1 promise that you won't deliver, they will put your name into collections. However, there are other banks I owe money to but since I kept telling them that they got the wrong number, guess what my name with these particular banks has not gone into collections, with chase being one of them (and chase is not a small time bank) Another thing you can do is deny everything even if they're on your name. Do you think they have the time to trace back into your spending history and trace down whether it was you or someone else who used your credit cards? Nope, they don't have the time that's why they use these collectors to call people. But keep in mind, these collectors are ONLY trying to collect money, they do not investigate anything else. So if you deny that you overdrafted your cards, then you will be able to squeeze yourself out through small cracks and they will eventually leave you alone. It is the major things on your credit history that you can not easily change, which are federal, gov loans, medical bills and any other kind of loan you can think of. But you can't simply deny it over phone and think it'll take care of business. Try using freecreditreport.com. Get registered with them, check out your entire credit history and who knows you might even find some activity which was probably not even conducted by you. It always helps to keep track at least every month. One you're registered with them, you can submit your denial on their website for a fee I believe, but it is worth it. Like I said, they don't have time to check everything in details, it's the larger things they pay hard attention to and will varify like financing, loans..etc. It will take a little time but it will work. My husband tried it and so far he's having a positive outcome. I have yet to do it but I won't waste much time either. Good luck and hope it works out well for you..
2. Stay off the phone with this jerk! The next time he calls just hang up on him. Write a limited cease and desist letter basically saying " All communications must be sent through the U.S. Postal Service as any and all telephone calls are inconvenient." This scum is then allowed to contact you one more time to say that they received you letter. If they telephone you again he is in violation of the law. Make sure that you send this letter by certified mail so that you have a record. If you send a full cease and desist letter you are asking to be sued as you are not giving them any kind of recourse in contacting you. Since you are in a program to pay back this debt I would not worry about them garnishing my wages.