 Credit Repair Adventures: A True StoryFriday, June 20, 2008 - Article by: Jim Kemish -
Cease Communication Letters Cut Two Ways Bob and Sue were reading about credit repair and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act on the internet. They came across information about Cease Communication Letters which would force a collector to stop calling. So one day, after getting a call from an aggressive collector, Sue suggested they send a Cease Communication Letter. They sat down at the keyboard and gleefully wrote a note to the collector demanding that he cease communication. Bob even added some impressive language to convey his knowledge of the law. They went to the Post Office, mailed the letter, and went out to celebrate their credit repair victory. And then it all went bad. The Cease Communication Backlash Bob and Sue thought they magically made the collector vanish. Unfortunately, the collection was about to return with a vengeance. One evening there was a knock on the door. When Bob answered a man handed him an envelope. Bob had been served. The collector who received the Cease Communication Letter had returned the collection to the original creditor. The collection was well within the statute of limitation for collecting through the courts, and the creditor decided to sue. It was their right. Bob and Sue learned the hard way about sending Cease Communication Letters before the expiration of the Stature of Limitation. Credit repair decisions require care. Falling for a Collection Trick One day Bob and Sue got a friendly letter from a collection agency. It was an offer to settle an old debt for half price. Even better, Bob and Sue could make three affordable installment payments. They were determined to make their credit repair program succeed, so they called the collector and started the payment plan. It was only later that they realized the mistake. First of all, the collection was many years past the statute of limitation for collection through the courts. Worse yet, in spite of the fact that this account was showing on their credit report, the original default had occurred more than seven years ago... Credit Repair and Timing So what did this all mean? It meant that they did not have to pay a penny. The fact that the collection was beyond the statute of limitation for collecting through the courts meant that the collector had no way to enforce the collection. And the fact that the original default date was over seven years old meant that Bob and Sue could have disputed the presence of the account on their credit report with the credit bureaus and it would have been deleted. Credit repair is all about the timing. |
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