I received a phone call from a representative and she identified the company as Asset One. Well, I've been keeping in touch since the first ...

Question

I received a phone call from a representative and she identified the company as Asset One. Well, I've been keeping in touch since the first day of contact(3-23-2015). That day she was real nice to me, she gave me four days to come up with $110.99, as I said before I kept in contact the whole time letting her know that I was trying to get the money up. I am not employed, I'm also fighting for my disability, and my son receives SSI. Well, I spoke to her today and told her what was going on and the only way I could pay anything was with the SSI, only reason I agree to that is because earlier in the week she threatened me with an arrest warrant, also she made me feel intimidated. I was never rude or raised my voice, or cursed her. When I was transfered to the billing department, I asked the girl if she could mail me copies so I could look, investigate, or at least have proof of what I was doing. I wanted proof so that if it ever came up again, I had proof, that the company was real, what would I be paying or paid, whatever comes first. At least something. After I finished with Billing, the woman called back and told me that she was submitting my phone recording to somebody, I could hardly hear her. I did my own investigation and the company is legit. She said that I seemed skeptical with the questions I asked the billing lady, I have not received any paperwork from this company, only threats. She questioned me about the integrity of her and Asset One. She said that her company is a multimillion dollar company and asked if I thought that he would risk taking more than $250 plus the 10.99 processing fee or something like that, because she had me in tears. That is what I use for my son. She did say that she dropped what I owed to 750.00. But as she was questioning me about the integrity of everything, she told me that that pissed her off. I gave her my bank account information, what do I do. I called the bank, and the payday loan place, the payday loan place verified that Asset One was indeed a real debt company. I am scared, because she told me that if I didn't pay that they would take me to court, I have nothing to garnish, they can't garnish my sons SSI can they. What can they do to me?

Answer

First, if they actually do sue you and you do not respond they can garnish you but if you are getting those SSI payments electronically your bank should fight that for you. Sometimes banks slip up and don't or if your payments are not made electronically you will have to go into court and show evidence of the fact that it is Social Security or disability payments. But if the debt is under $1,000.00 I would really doubt a lawsuit is coming. I cannot guarantee that but I have not seen debt buyers or anyone other than local credit unions or local businesses suing on (what they consider them to be) such small debts.

I am bit confused, did you pay her anything? Never, ever give anyone your bank account information to anyone and never ever pay anyone with those green card debit cards. Always tell them that you will be happy to send a money order for a low amount to an address via certified mail. Once you see that your payment has been made and credited and you have confirmed that, then you can rely upon them. If they won't accept that then you have to tell them that they must not be legitimate.

There is a ton of fraud, especially in payday loan areas. If this is a payday loan they cannot threaten prosecution. Most of these threats of arrest are just scammers trying to prey on people. If you hear them say that they are "mediators" or "arbitrators" it is a scam. They are debt buyers and they think the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not apply to them. I would not pay anyone unless you can trace a clear path from the original debt company to the current debt buyer. Even then if there has been any illegal behavior you should take notes on everything a collector says and when they said it to you. Also, the $10.99 processing fee seems a bit high and suspect as well. If the original agreement did not authorize this cost, it could be illegal. You need to verify everything before dealing with these people.

Threats could be illegal. If they don't intend to sue you they cannot threaten to sue you. They cannot threaten you with arrest either. In these situations, I always suggest that clients take notes and ask questions. Do not feel intimidated. While you do not want to antagonize by using rude language or any profanity, you DO want to ask questions and ask questions. Ask they that if you cannot pay, what will they do.You need to ask them if they can arrest you. You want to ask them are they going to sue you and if so for how much and ask them if you will owe attorney fees and how much. Take notes on the answers and call an experienced lawyer in these areas to see if those notes constitute a violation of Michigan or Federal law.

Good collectors will answer all of your questions and not have to use bad language. They will all try and bring it back to you again and again. Bad collectors will continue threats and get frustrated quickly. But you need a list of question and you need to be persistent and you need to stay calm and take notes. Tell them it is inconvenient to be contacted between certain times, if that is true. For example if you want to relax without any phone calls between 4-8 pm, tell them that "it is not convenient for" you to receive calls between 4pm and 8pm. If they do call you between those times, they are violating federal and state law.