Yramtac
Jan 3, 2008, 01:49 PM
In 2005, I moved twice in a short span of time due to some non-financial personal issues. Somehow, in all the chaos, I lost track of a Sears credit card ($3300 balance) that I was paying off via ACH. When I closed my bank account, I completely forgot to transfer the payment to my new bank account, so the bill went unpaid for several months.
When I realized that I hadn’t been paying the bill, I took the initiative to write Sears a letter, providing my new contact info, a check to cover my missed payments, and a sincere apology. I promptly received a new statement from Sears, saying that I owed them over $1000 that was due immediately. I called to tell them that I couldn’t pay the full amount, but that I would gladly resume monthly payments to get back on track. The CSR took the info, and in a few days, I got a letter saying that the account had been sent to collections.
I spoke with the collections agent, and I asked him to send me a full written account of what I owed, so that I could determine a repayment schedule. He agreed, but never sent anything. I sent a letter, asking for the same, and I never received a response. Instead I received a notice that my account had been sold to another collection agency.
I experienced a repeat with the next collection agency, and by the time a 4th collection agency started to pester me, I got fed up and called a lawyer. The lawyer advised me to try to settle the original debt with Sears. I sent a letter and received no response, and at that point I got fed up and quit trying to do the right thing.
2 ½ years later, one of the collections agencies just served me with a summons to appear in court in less than 2 weeks. I live in a fairly small town in Illinois, but my summons is to appear in my local court.
Questions: Is this a bluff? Will they proceed with a lawsuit for less than $4000 (the new amount that they’re asking for is $39xx, which includes interest and late fees).
AND, do I have any recourse? I have maintained a paper trail of all of my attempts to settle this debt. Have I been wronged, or should I just call the agency that is suing me and agree to pay the debt?
We're aggressively paying down my husband's student loans, so I can’t pay the amount in full, but I’m sure that I could get the debt paid off in a year.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
When I realized that I hadn’t been paying the bill, I took the initiative to write Sears a letter, providing my new contact info, a check to cover my missed payments, and a sincere apology. I promptly received a new statement from Sears, saying that I owed them over $1000 that was due immediately. I called to tell them that I couldn’t pay the full amount, but that I would gladly resume monthly payments to get back on track. The CSR took the info, and in a few days, I got a letter saying that the account had been sent to collections.
I spoke with the collections agent, and I asked him to send me a full written account of what I owed, so that I could determine a repayment schedule. He agreed, but never sent anything. I sent a letter, asking for the same, and I never received a response. Instead I received a notice that my account had been sold to another collection agency.
I experienced a repeat with the next collection agency, and by the time a 4th collection agency started to pester me, I got fed up and called a lawyer. The lawyer advised me to try to settle the original debt with Sears. I sent a letter and received no response, and at that point I got fed up and quit trying to do the right thing.
2 ½ years later, one of the collections agencies just served me with a summons to appear in court in less than 2 weeks. I live in a fairly small town in Illinois, but my summons is to appear in my local court.
Questions: Is this a bluff? Will they proceed with a lawsuit for less than $4000 (the new amount that they’re asking for is $39xx, which includes interest and late fees).
AND, do I have any recourse? I have maintained a paper trail of all of my attempts to settle this debt. Have I been wronged, or should I just call the agency that is suing me and agree to pay the debt?
We're aggressively paying down my husband's student loans, so I can’t pay the amount in full, but I’m sure that I could get the debt paid off in a year.
Thanks in advance for any advice!