Many if not all banks have been involved and lost class action lawsuits for improperly imposing interest rate changes and fees as well as conducting deceptive and abusive practices especially 1999 through 2008....
I have no legal background but what I don't understand is why there is no simple avenue for consumers to prove improperly imposed fees dating back to early 2000's and to establish the true amount owed if money is still owed. In addition there is no recourse for consumers if ironically the bank after imposing these abusive practices owes the consumer a refund of over-payments? Law or no law it is simply the right thing to do.
Why are banks, debt collection agencies and JDB's not forced to recalculate the amount owed after removing the improper and illegal practices? I don't understand why nobody is stopping this horrid abuse. In Michigan alone today, one JDB is getting over 3000 judgments even after a collection license has been revoked. I hope I am wrong but all I see is another unfair mafia-type racket allowed to continue in the good old USA. I wish I knew 10 years ago it would have been this easy to "get rich quick" if I went to law school. There is no hard work involved for these JDB's to buy debt and then file thousands of lawsuits thereby getting rich quickly. What kind of message is our country trying to send? At the minimum this country should force them to recalculate what is actually owed based on some rate derived by reviewing the many lawsuits the banks have lost already on the abusive practices. Law or no law it is just the logical thing to do.
I have spreadsheet that can recalculate daily interest to show how much I should owe after the improper and illegal practices. But because I have no legal background, live in a rural area and don't have an extra $5000 to retain an attorney how am I as a defendant to prove what is truly owed against these "mafia-like" attorney collection agencies? Do judges really have the time to go through 20 years of spreadsheets and recalculations even if the defendant can make them available? Does our country want judges to spend countless hours reviewing statements so the JDB's with little work can get rich quickly and then spend their free time in Aspen at their 20 million dollar chalet?
If you can afford an attorney good luck finding one that will dig deep into the statements to see how much a person should really owe. Most attorneys only want to defend based on "account stated" if you can even find an attorney in a rural area. Many folks like myself have not only paid off all transactions but have over-paid above reasonable interest rate yet I find myself with horrible a credit report and now trying to get law degree in one week to defend against these JDB's trying to squeeze more money out of me. Money they clearly don't deserve. In my case it is a travesty of justice if I end up having to pay more above what I have already paid to the bank.
All I want is my good name back and I deserve it. I never received free money and have paid back every penny to these banks and more.
We need laws to prevent these abusive practices. If a person owes money after the recalculations then force the original bank even after a 6 month "charge-off" (where did the 6 months come from?) to work out a payment plan. Why are these unprofessional JDB's and collection agencies in the middle? It simply is not logical even if it is the law. Change the law.
Thanks for listening...
"A Mad and Frustrated American in Michigan"
In Michigan a company had its Collection Agency Revoked due to unethical practices 2008. But this did not stop them. Now they practice as attorneys and continue the unethical practices. Yes states must figure out how to close this loophole.
Complex issue's require different strategies and tools which most often are largely not interchangeable...........
In all seriousness what does verifying debt accomplish? Except allowing an easy "get rich quick" scheme to continue. Why bother attend college for a medical or engineering degree when all you have to do is buy "junk debt". For a few pennies and a few phone calls "you can get rich to"!! It is that easy. Simply buy a spreadsheet with a name and an amount.
So not to bore you I will put my suggestions for change first. If you are curious how I came up with them then read the rest of this comment.
What to do?
1st. Return all credit card debt back to the original banks and change the 6 month charge off rule existing today. ( they most likely never attempted to worked it out anyway because of the 6 month charge off rule)
2nd. All the returned accounts should be examined for the multiple bad, abusive and deceptive practices the banks implemented the last 15 years and then recalculated. Believe it or not, a practice fairly common 10 years ago was to send consumers multiple 0% offers (free cost money) but if you were to pay 10 minutes late online the rate would go to 29.9% and there was no recourse. So if banks offered "free cost money until the balance was paid off" and the debtor only paid late once or twice then the amount owed should be recalculated at the original 0%. Of course there would be limitations but more often than not the debtor simply paid late by a 1/2 day or day. Another example was when online payments were first introduced. Many times there were technical glitches yet the fault always fell on the consumer not the bank.
3rd. Once a new amount is recalculated then the banks should make a good faith attempt to work it out with the consumer. If after recalculation, it is determined there was an over payment from the consumer for more than or equal to a 25% return to the bank then a refund should be issued.
Anyway.. Verification should all ready be a given.
Verification simply verifies an amount. My guess is a large part of the outstanding debt today consists of debt from the bank's past abusive practices. Do we know today what percentage of debt outstanding is simply leftover from the 32.9% insane and abusive interest rates? How much of the outstanding debt is leftover from the many abusive practices considered illegal today?
In my case how does a consumer with 15 years of periodic statements marking in detail how the principal amount and more than fair interest has already been paid off but yet still has a collector calling?
What good does verification, objection to debt in a lawsuit or disputes do? This means nothing... For example, I have copies of letters sent, spreadsheets of interest rates going back to 2000 supported by statements and recorded phone calls. Calls consisting of attempts to work it out with a bank in 2009 -2010. The result? A junk debt buyer trying to squeeze out more money today above the 16% ROI the bank already made. I already liquidated my retirement account to contribute to this 16% return for the bank in 2010 . How much more do these banks and junk debt buyer's need over and above the principal and a generous interest ?
When a consumer can prove using spreadsheets, graph's and power-point presentations showing the abusive practices who out there is going to listen? The banks did not listen in 2003 or 2005 or 2007 or 2010 . Who here really thinks the 3rd or 4th generation junk debt buyer is going to sit down and examine 15 years of periodic statements. Who here thinks junk debt buyers will be appalled to see an offer of 4.9% jacked up to 29.9% because of a 10 minute late payment and forgive the debt? How come folks like me are dealing with these junk debt buyers on issues like these and not the original banks?
Feel free to contact me for documentation dating back 15 years including bi-weekly mailed offer's (ledger sized) of 0% interest rate cost "free" money. (god forbid you might pay 10 minutes late online because your rate will go to 29.9%) Multiple copies the banks have yet no avenue of recourse for the American consumer!!
There is nothing written above to allow "debtor's" to get out of paying debts. (a typical debt buyer comment). Just correcting an egregious "David and Goliath" that got out of control.
CCC3
1
Many if not all banks have been involved and lost class action lawsuits for improperly imposing interest rate changes and fees as well as conducting deceptive and abusive practices especially 1999 through 2008.... I have no legal background but what I don't understand is why there is no simple avenue for consumers to prove improperly imposed fees dating back to early 2000's and to establish the true amount owed if money is still owed. In addition there is no recourse for consumers if ironically the bank after imposing these abusive practices owes the consumer a refund of over-payments? Law or no law it is simply the right thing to do. Why are banks, debt collection agencies and JDB's not forced to recalculate the amount owed after removing the improper and illegal practices? I don't understand why nobody is stopping this horrid abuse. In Michigan alone today, one JDB is getting over 3000 judgments even after a collection license has been revoked. I hope I am wrong but all I see is another unfair mafia-type racket allowed to continue in the good old USA. I wish I knew 10 years ago it would have been this easy to "get rich quick" if I went to law school. There is no hard work involved for these JDB's to buy debt and then file thousands of lawsuits thereby getting rich quickly. What kind of message is our country trying to send? At the minimum this country should force them to recalculate what is actually owed based on some rate derived by reviewing the many lawsuits the banks have lost already on the abusive practices. Law or no law it is just the logical thing to do. I have spreadsheet that can recalculate daily interest to show how much I should owe after the improper and illegal practices. But because I have no legal background, live in a rural area and don't have an extra $5000 to retain an attorney how am I as a defendant to prove what is truly owed against these "mafia-like" attorney collection agencies? Do judges really have the time to go through 20 years of spreadsheets and recalculations even if the defendant can make them available? Does our country want judges to spend countless hours reviewing statements so the JDB's with little work can get rich quickly and then spend their free time in Aspen at their 20 million dollar chalet? If you can afford an attorney good luck finding one that will dig deep into the statements to see how much a person should really owe. Most attorneys only want to defend based on "account stated" if you can even find an attorney in a rural area. Many folks like myself have not only paid off all transactions but have over-paid above reasonable interest rate yet I find myself with horrible a credit report and now trying to get law degree in one week to defend against these JDB's trying to squeeze more money out of me. Money they clearly don't deserve. In my case it is a travesty of justice if I end up having to pay more above what I have already paid to the bank. All I want is my good name back and I deserve it. I never received free money and have paid back every penny to these banks and more. We need laws to prevent these abusive practices. If a person owes money after the recalculations then force the original bank even after a 6 month "charge-off" (where did the 6 months come from?) to work out a payment plan. Why are these unprofessional JDB's and collection agencies in the middle? It simply is not logical even if it is the law. Change the law. Thanks for listening... "A Mad and Frustrated American in Michigan"
View this comment in the discussion thread
CCC3
2
In Michigan a company had its Collection Agency Revoked due to unethical practices 2008. But this did not stop them. Now they practice as attorneys and continue the unethical practices. Yes states must figure out how to close this loophole.
View this comment in the discussion thread
CCC3
3
Complex issue's require different strategies and tools which most often are largely not interchangeable........... In all seriousness what does verifying debt accomplish? Except allowing an easy "get rich quick" scheme to continue. Why bother attend college for a medical or engineering degree when all you have to do is buy "junk debt". For a few pennies and a few phone calls "you can get rich to"!! It is that easy. Simply buy a spreadsheet with a name and an amount. So not to bore you I will put my suggestions for change first. If you are curious how I came up with them then read the rest of this comment. What to do? 1st. Return all credit card debt back to the original banks and change the 6 month charge off rule existing today. ( they most likely never attempted to worked it out anyway because of the 6 month charge off rule) 2nd. All the returned accounts should be examined for the multiple bad, abusive and deceptive practices the banks implemented the last 15 years and then recalculated. Believe it or not, a practice fairly common 10 years ago was to send consumers multiple 0% offers (free cost money) but if you were to pay 10 minutes late online the rate would go to 29.9% and there was no recourse. So if banks offered "free cost money until the balance was paid off" and the debtor only paid late once or twice then the amount owed should be recalculated at the original 0%. Of course there would be limitations but more often than not the debtor simply paid late by a 1/2 day or day. Another example was when online payments were first introduced. Many times there were technical glitches yet the fault always fell on the consumer not the bank. 3rd. Once a new amount is recalculated then the banks should make a good faith attempt to work it out with the consumer. If after recalculation, it is determined there was an over payment from the consumer for more than or equal to a 25% return to the bank then a refund should be issued. Anyway.. Verification should all ready be a given. Verification simply verifies an amount. My guess is a large part of the outstanding debt today consists of debt from the bank's past abusive practices. Do we know today what percentage of debt outstanding is simply leftover from the 32.9% insane and abusive interest rates? How much of the outstanding debt is leftover from the many abusive practices considered illegal today? In my case how does a consumer with 15 years of periodic statements marking in detail how the principal amount and more than fair interest has already been paid off but yet still has a collector calling? What good does verification, objection to debt in a lawsuit or disputes do? This means nothing... For example, I have copies of letters sent, spreadsheets of interest rates going back to 2000 supported by statements and recorded phone calls. Calls consisting of attempts to work it out with a bank in 2009 -2010. The result? A junk debt buyer trying to squeeze out more money today above the 16% ROI the bank already made. I already liquidated my retirement account to contribute to this 16% return for the bank in 2010 . How much more do these banks and junk debt buyer's need over and above the principal and a generous interest ? When a consumer can prove using spreadsheets, graph's and power-point presentations showing the abusive practices who out there is going to listen? The banks did not listen in 2003 or 2005 or 2007 or 2010 . Who here really thinks the 3rd or 4th generation junk debt buyer is going to sit down and examine 15 years of periodic statements. Who here thinks junk debt buyers will be appalled to see an offer of 4.9% jacked up to 29.9% because of a 10 minute late payment and forgive the debt? How come folks like me are dealing with these junk debt buyers on issues like these and not the original banks? Feel free to contact me for documentation dating back 15 years including bi-weekly mailed offer's (ledger sized) of 0% interest rate cost "free" money. (god forbid you might pay 10 minutes late online because your rate will go to 29.9%) Multiple copies the banks have yet no avenue of recourse for the American consumer!! There is nothing written above to allow "debtor's" to get out of paying debts. (a typical debt buyer comment). Just correcting an egregious "David and Goliath" that got out of control.
View this comment in the discussion thread