[troyfromPa]

I was contacted two weeks ago by my local magistrate regarding an old HSBC account I had that Mann Bracken had bought up. First of all this account was a charge off from about four years ago. Anyhow times were tought at that time and I owed well under $1000 on the account when they charged it off. MB intends to come to a hearing in two weeks to sue me for $791 and court cost plus interest. A few days later a company called Va Ru Credit Corporation sent me a letter letting me know that Palisades Collections was willing to settle for less than owed in three payments. Palisades was also being handled by MB also on the same debt. I called Van Ru and agreed on the settlement. I then visited the local magistrate to see what I had to do next and her representative informed me I had to contact MB to let them know what is going on. I did and all hell broke loose between myself and MB's representative on the phone. She was very rude and demanded that I MUST pay the $791 plus $150 in intersst and court cost that equalled over $1000! I told her I'm handling all this through Van Ru and she tells me that she had never heard of them before and MB's attorneys would never settle for anything less than their amount. I told her that her company will NOT see a penny and since Palisades already agreed to the settlement Van Ru will get my money. She got very beligerant and told me that MB will see me at the hearing. I told her fat chance that will never happen because I won't be there. I also sent a letter to the magistrate with all Van Ru file numbers and agreements and told her I won't be at the hearing also. Palisades settlement ended up being less than what was originally owed (less than $600). Who is in the right in this situation?

[Fr_Chuck]

Well you had better show up in court with your evidence. If not guess what they will show up, unless you got the case dismissed and they will win by default since you did not show up.

1. almost always you will owe 2 or 3 times the original amount by the time it gets to court. So the amount they are suing for sounds actually small. I am surprised it is not 2000 or more by now. Late charges, court fees and legal fees.

First Iwill assume you have this agreement in writing, and signed by their company.

First the being charged off has nothing to do with anything, that is merely an accounting term used for tax purpose.

But if MB bought the debt, they own it, not the orgainal debtor, and they have the choice to settle or not. Who is the other collection firm working for, on whose authority are they making the deal