Archive for July, 2008

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July 31, 2008

Do I just Default?Question: 30 K to Chase. Divorced 2 years ago and had
about 15 k outstanding after I absorbed all the debt in the divorce.
Had just bought house with ex-wife and it’s sat, empty, on the market
this entire time. I have a decent job, but was laid off prior to
getting it for a while.I was over my credit limit (by a 100 bucks or
so) the last couple months. And several months ago was a few days late
on a payment. They hiked my interest to 29%. They wont work with me,
though I could pay as agreed before.What are my options. I believe max
garnishment in MO is 10% and I have no assets (little equity in
unsellable home). Would my money be better spent with a lawyer? I see
no chance of chase even talking to me and I’m not gonna be able to get
back under my credit line ($1300). Also have decided to forclose on my
house as that was another $1000/mth. What a mess…Answer: When it
comes to debt related problems lawyers are most often a waste of money
if you can even find one willing to take your case. Here is why. First
and maybe foremost is that debtors normally don’t have a viable defense
and lawyers don’t like to take cases that are almost indefensible. If
you owe a creditor or a debt collector money there isn’t any reason
that most judges will accept for failing to pay your creditors what you
owe.While judges do realize that people run into financial difficulties
their thinking is that when you can’t pay your debts your only recourse
is to run to the bankruptcy courts to absolve yourself of your debts.
As is usually the case when government is asked to resolve a problem
they end up creating more problems as a result.Bankruptcy only creates
more problems and is quite expensive. There are no free rides even if
you are dead broke and worse. Bankruptcy is no exception. Yet, sadly,
people are rushing to bankruptcy in ever increasing numbers.So what is
the answer to lawyers who can’t or won’t help and bankruptcy courts?The
answer is to learn how to defend without lawyers but once you do that
and lose a few cases in local courts no matter how well you have
learned or how well you have prepared your defenses your back is
against the wall and now you think you should have either hired a
lawyer or filed bankruptcy and it would have been all taken care of by
now without all the fight. So why did you lose even though you thought
you were sure to win?Maybe you are like a personal friend of mine named
Gene. He and I are going to court this afternoon because he has a solid
reputation of winning in various courts in other types of cases. He is
a well respected member of Richard Cornforth’s local J-accuse group
here in OKC. That’s how I met Gene a few years back.Gene has an
unbeatable defense that Judge Croy can’t deny. We believe that Gene
can’t possibly lose but the real truth is that although Judge Croy is
an outstandingly fair judge and treats Pro Se litigants with respect
and dignity and gives them a fair hearing, rules on the merits of the
case as it is presented by both parties Gene still could lose.The
reason is that instead of properly presenting his supposedly unbeatable
defense then moving on to other arguments if need be he wants to argue
that he wasn’t properly served because they didn’t personally hand him
the summons but rather served another person who was not a member of
the household but was just visiting. Gene might win on that one because
the visitor was a famous private investigator and told the process
server that he was just a visitor but the server would not believe him.
Gene should forget his outrage about that and concentrate on his
unbeatable defense.Gene also wants to argue that they failed to
validate the debt even though he demanded it and committed other
violations but I’ve told him time and time again that Judge Croy won’t
listen to those kinds of arguments. I know. I’ve sat in his court room
and watched him ignore those complaints several times. So Gene may or
may not win depending on how he argues his case today. I’m almost
willing to bet money he argues the wrong thing and loses and that’s why
I am going to go listen to the hearing today.So if he loses today what
is he to do? Just what I’m going to tell you to do. He has good proof
that they have committed several violations of federal law and if he
uses the proof he has and presents his federal case properly he will
win and not only force them to vacate the judgment they got in local
court but take the debt off his credit reports and pay him for his
expenses, time and troubleand damages as well. He should have done that
as soon as they filed a case on him in local court instead of trying to
come up with a bunch of arguments that are surefire losers.Gene has
kept careful records of all phone calls, has them recorded and his
history all written up so he can take them to court. He used my 18
questions to ask debt collectors every time they call to rack up more
violations and end up stopping them from harassing him on the phone. 18
questions He quickly reduced them to the point that they call him every
few days, ask him his name and hang up immediately without saying
another word. Each time they do that is another violation in his bag of
ammo to use against them in federal court.So that is what you need to
do. Keep careful records, learn how to deal with debt collectors both
on the phone and off and what are all the possible violations they
might commit. Do nothing more until such time as they take you to court
then file a federal case against the debt collector, prepare your
defense using what you have learned and then once the case is over and
you know whether you have won or lost sue both the plaintiff (if
possible) and their lawyer in federal court. Turn the tables on them
and make them pay you. It isn’t hard to do.So how would you like to get
started learning right now for free? All you have to do is send me an
email at with the words SUBSCRIBE ME in the subject line and I’ll send
you an invite to get my newsletter which will give you a big head start
towards getting rid of your problems without hiring lawyers or filing
bankruptcy.Bill Bauer405-684-9297405-227-9423Make money using this
search engine instead of Google, Yahoo, MSN or others and get the same
results. Get paid in Visa Reward Point
cards.http://www.shrinkmylink.com/qlmqsonRECOMMENDED READINGSubscribe
to Creditwrench mailing list on google
groups.http://www.shrinkmylink.com/iomqson Creditwrench google group by
email.See all my questions and how I answered them.Just send an email
to ceo@creditwrench.com and ask to join my mailing list of all answers.
I’ll put you on the list and you can easily unsubscribe any time you
wish.http://www.shrinkmylink.com/hhlqson FDCPA
EXPERTwww.creditwrench.com/howjudgmentswork.htmlwww.creditwrench.com/18questions.htmlhttp://shrinkmylink.com/kmlqsonwww.creditwrench.com/objections.htmlwww.creditwrench.com/howcreditwrenchworks.htmlhttp://www.shrinkmylink.com/bnlqson
List of community property statesHow to answer a
summonshttp://www.shrinkmylink.com/exlqsonLISTEN TO THESE CREDITWRENCH
STUDENTS CHAT ON OUR FRIDAY NIGHT CONFERENCE
CALLS.http://www.creditwrench.tv/MIKEJM-06-27-08.mp3http://www.shrinkmylink.com/uimqson
Mike JM tells about Greentree Financial
case.http://shrinkmylink.com/xsjqsonhttp://www.shrinkmylink.com/danqson
Mark in Rhode Island gets settlement offerStatute of Limitations for
all stateshttp://shrinkmylink.com/zlwpsonHow to set up your hard drive
for creditwrench files. Makes them easy to
find.http://tinyurl.com/3lqxawThe Creditwrench conference calls will
start this coming Friday evening at 7 P.M. Central time. It is free and
open to the public. There is no cost or obligation other than what it
may cost you for the phone call itself. You can join in and ask
questions or just listen or whatever you want to do. Dial-in Number:
(712) 432-1601 Access code: 508548#You might also want to visit our
message forum at http://consumers.creditwrench.com to get answers to
questions you need answered before next Friday night.
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Posted By Creditwrench to creditwrench at 7/31/2008 05:53:00 AM

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July 30, 2008

What legal steps can I take now? Question: Irecently received a letter
stating that an awarded was granted in favorof the claimant, for a debt
that is already pass the SOL for my state.I noticed that there were
several inaccurate details listed on theletter; some which include time
of first contact, the amount of debt,which has more then doubled in
size, a supposed hearing that took placebut was not notified about, and
the fact that the company who filed theclaim, literally went back on
time (on paper that is) by back datingthe claim to a date that was well
over a year from our first officialcontact. What action can I take now?
I am sure what this company didwas not legal. Answer: Itsounds to me
like you have several violations of federal law. I thinkthe only way to
get relief is to sue them in federal court. By doingthat you can get
rid of all those problems without a lawyer. You canlearn how to do it
all yourself and it isn\’t all that difficult onceyou get the hang of
it. I realize that many people arefrightened nearly to death of the
thought of even going near acourtroom, standing up before a judge and
trying to argue against anexperienced attorney and if that were to be
the case I might have myown reservations about doing that as well. I\’ve
gone to local courtsmany times with students to watch the proceedings.
It isn\’t a funexperience because I\’ve seen too many horror stories
acted out in localcourts. But it isn\’t like that in the federal court
system.I\’ve only had one student who ever actually went before a
federal judgeand he reports that it was a thoroughly fun experience.
The judge wasvery friendly and the outcome was everything my student
could havedesired. The defendant paid up very quickly after that
hearing. Thatis the way it is supposed to be when the large companies
use illegaltricks to whip consumers. That is the way Congress intends
that itshould be when the big boys break the law. You see, in a manner
ofspeaking Congress made you a private attorney general with the power
toprosecute wrong doers and punish them soundly. In the vastmajority of
cases there is never a court appearance. Most likely youwill never see
the inside of a federal courtroom. It is all done bymail, phone and the
internet. All you have to do is learn how to do ityourself so you don\’t
need a lawyer. Once you learn how you become notonly a private attorney
general with the power to prosecute the wrongdoings heaped upon you by
others but you also become your own lawyerand have all the knowledge
and skills you need to become a powerhouseprosecutor. And you don\’t
have to spend 3 or 4 years in college and ahundred grand in tuition
fees to do it. So what are youwaiting for? You can start learning today
and in a very short period oftime you can have a solid case all filed
and served upon yourunsuspecting defendant who will then be cringing at
your feet insteadof the way it is now. Bill
Bauer405-684-9297405-227-9423


Posted By Creditwrench to creditwrench at 7/30/2008 09:44:00 AM

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July 29, 2008

Debt reliefAmex GC ServicesQuestion: One of my Amex accounts was
recently (7-28-08) turned over to GC Services. I had been trying to
work this out with Amex, but it was not resolved in time, and sent to
collections. I received a message to call them (GC) back. I did right
away. After the gentleman found my account info he told my I was being
sued for the amount due $22,000.00+. and I needed to come up with the
money. He will call me back on Wen. the 30th for payment info. My
question is how do I reply? I don’t have the money, and I did ask him
if they would work with pay off arrangements, and he said they would
not, and that I should barrow or ask friends or family for money. Can I
ask for written proof? can they attach leins to my assets? This is very
stessfull and do want to take care of the debt. What about debt
relife/help companies?Thanks you, DavidAnswer: You want real debt
relief? What do you think a debt relief company might be able to do for
you? I don’t know what you think a so called debt relief company might
be able to do for you.There are only two ways to get debt relief that I
know of and you already said you can’t pay the debt so that way is
apparently out of the question.The only other kind of debt relief I
know anything about is where you learn how to make them forget about
collecting anything and agree to it in a written contract, take it off
your credit reports, pay you for your costs of getting the debt relief
and your damages on top of that.Now that is real debt relief as far as
I am concerned.I’m reasonably comfortable with the thought that such
strong talk may raise eyebrows and cause great skepticism but let me
refer to the words of an attorney at Nitzen & Associates of Michigan.
Nitzen & Associates are debt collection attorneys. It is their job to
collect debts by filing lawsuits on people who don’t pay their debts.
If that kind of attorneys write words like the following then what I am
saying must be true.Nitzen & Associates said:Attorneys for Debt Buyers
beware…they are on to us!I love defending people against debt buyers
because the Plaintiffs case is as strong as a house of cards in a
hurricane. Debt buyers buy judgments, credit card charge offs and other
sordid garbage debt for pennies on the dollar. Hell, there are even
debt buyers that buy debt that has already been through a collection
agency or two. Usually, when a debt buyer purchases his paper, he gets
little more than the judgments or a spreadsheet showing the balances
due. What does this mean for the consumer that is sued? Everything. The
debtor buyer has no proof that the consumer owes anything other than
some shmoe’s word for it that the debt was owed in the first instance.
Recently, someone got wise to the idea that an attorney who sues on
this crap and does not have the goods to show that the debt is actually
owed, may be violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I can’t
wait to share this case with you.In Isom v Javitch Block and Rathbone
(“Javitch”), the defendant is a law firm that had sued Ms. Isom in
state court for a debt that was purchased by some company called Direct
Merchants. Javitch attached an affidavit to its complaint that had been
prepared by Direct Merchants. When Ms. Isom demanded discovery in the
state court case, Javitch simply dismissed the case. Why? Because it
did not have any proof to show that its client was entitled to any
money from Ms. Isom. Now, its Ms. Isom’s turn.She sued Javitch in
federal court and asked for class action status. She alleged that
because Javitch had sued her without having any documentation to show
that she owed the debt that Javitch had violated the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act. Ms. Isom alleged in her complaint that
Javitch attached a false affidavit signed by Direct Merchants that said
that Direct Merchants had personal knowledge of the balance due by Ms.
Isom. The court held that because Ms. Isom alleged fraud her complaint
against Javitch, that she has enough of a case to go to trial. The
court denied Javitch’s Motion to Dismiss Ms. Isom’s claim.In analyzing
Ms. Isom’s case, the court noted two lines of cases that dealt with the
issue of whether a debt collector violates the FDCPA by suing a debtor
without having substantial supporting documentation for its case. In
Delawder v Platinum Financial, the U.S. District Court denied the
Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. In Delawder, the Plaintiff alleged that
the debt collector had committed fraud because the affidavit in support
of its case misrepresented the amount of the debt or the debt
collector’s legal claim upon the debt.The second line of cases involved
Harvey v Great Seneca Financial in which the Plaintiff alleged that the
filing of a suit to collect a consumer debt without the means of
proving that debt was a violation of the FDCPA. The court in Harvey
dismissed the action stating that Plaintiffs do not need to prove their
cases at the time that the lawsuit is filed. However, in Harvey, the
Plaintiff did not allege that the affidavit attached was false.In Ms.
Isom’s case, she alleged that the affidavit that was attached to the
complaint against her in state court was false. She alleged that there
was no way that the Plaintiff had “personal knowledge” of her debt to
the original creditor. The court found that Ms. Isom’s case should
proceed to trial on the issue of whether the Defendant’s affidavit was
false and if so, whether it violated sections 1692e and 1692f of the
FDCPA; the Act’s prohibitions against false or misleading
representations and against unfair collection practices,
respectively.Javitch pled to the court that it should not be held
responsible for an affidavit that its client had signed in support of
the complaint. Judge Barrett would have no part of that argument.
Javitch’s attempt to side step the FDCPA bullet was foiled when Judge
Barrett correctly pointed out that it was Javitch that signed the
complaint and attached the affidavit in support of its complaint.
Javitch, as a third party collector, has to take responsibility for its
own actions.ATTORNEYS FOR DEBT BUYERS BEWARE. Remember that you are
responsible to verify that the debt and every part of the debt that you
are collecting is legitimate. The days of suing debtors without having
proper documentation and hoping for a default judgment is like playing
Russian Roulette. You are bound to piss off some debtor who reads my
blog and knows his rights. Now, you have to doubly (if there is such a
word), that the affidavit that you are attaching to your complaint is
accurate. The FDCPA makes you a guarantor of sorts that the affidavit
is bona fide.I have two students in federal court with exactly
identical cases as the ones mentioned above and both will win easily.
So how did I find out about this case? I have several of what are known
as RSS feeds on my message board at Creditwrench message forum and they
bring constant updates to the board from various blogs written by
attorneys.The RSS feeds automatically update every 12 hours bringing in
any new information written by attorneys who write such things. Those
feeds keep my readers up to date and finding information they need to
win their cases against debt collectors.That should prove beyond any
shadow of a doubt that when I say something like I did I’m not just
blowing smoke. People are doing exactly what I’m telling you that you
can do all the time now. And most of them are learning how to do it
without lawyers.Now that is what I call debt relief. What do you call
debt relief?


Posted By Creditwrench to creditwrench at 7/29/2008 07:47:00 PM