How To Tell Debt Collectors To Pound Sand On Old Foreclosure Debt And Collection Accounts

I have a love/hate relationship with debt collectors.  I hate that they even exist because I believe for the most part the industry is legally allowed to attempt to collect money that doesn't belong to them.  They get away with lying, filing bogus lawsuits, twisting the truth, unfair practices, deceptive practices, you name it, they do it.  The love part of the relationship is that I just love, love, love beating them at their game.  You see, when you know the facts and laws to beat them down, it is a real pleasure to make them go away.

Every now and then I read an article about some outrageous scheme debt collectors employ on consumers.  The latest one is going after former homeowners who lost their houses to foreclosure. Since at least last year, they have stepped up going after the deficiencies left over after foreclosure. These homeowners have already walked away from an insane mortgage situation or lost everything and have spent the last few years trying to rebuild their credit and get back on their feet. Now, in swoop the vulture debt collectors to knock them down again and take what doesn't belong to them. Well I'm here and I am so ready to go after them and help those of you who have them climbing down your backs.

Now, this will apply to debt collection firms going after the foreclosure deficiencies but also those that are hounding consumers with bad credit card debt as well.  The reason they are called debt collectors and not creditors, is because they are 3rd party collectors. This means that they are not an original party to any transaction. They buy bad debt. That mere fact means that they have no contract with you and you don't owe them squat.

It is very important that as soon as you receive a notice from them, you need to respond.  You see, they have to comply with the FDCPA - the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  The have to send you that notice within 5 days of initiating collection activity and the notice has to have certain language in it that advises you of your rights to dispute the alleged debt.   Exercising your right to dispute and demand validation is what will start the process of backing them off. If they don't comply, you get to sue them.  

For the most part, they are going to respond to you and tell you a little bit about the history with the alleged original creditor and then how much the deficiency is and now you owe them. Listen real good now everyone. Some paper with their supposed facts and claims of accuracy is NOT validation. It is NOT proof you owe them. I don't care if they send you a copy of every single bill from origination to foreclosure and then some.  Its not validation. Even if they send you a copy of your promissory note with your signature on it, that is NOT validation!

Validation is proof you owe THEM!  Have you ever contracted with that 3rd party debt collector and agreed to do business with them?  Did they ever contribute something of value to you in exchange for your money?  What they are trying to collect on is a contract that was void from the get go and a contract that was discharged as a defective mortgage, which eliminates the debt. They are trying to collect on a loan that was paid off by insurance, sometimes several insurance policies so the alleged original lender was made whole a long time ago, and maybe they collected on the PMI/MIP, and don't forget the FDIC which kicked in a lot of money that put more money back in the pockets of the alleged note owner than they paid for it.

Validation includes proof that they own the alleged account and/or are authorized to collect on the alleged debt.  It includes a contract that bears your signature agreeing to do business with them specifically. It includes the documents that prove every single aspect of the alleged debt is legitimate.  If they ever produce a contract naming them and you, can they prove it is a valid contract?  A valid contract has no less than 4 essential elements. An offer, acceptance of the offer, mutuality which means equal risk for both parties, and a meeting of the minds, which means full disclosure.  I can pretty much guarantee you that even the original contract was lacking the last two essential elements.  They would need to prove value contributed that was at risk and full disclosure, neither of which an original bankster lender can prove nor can a 3rd party debt collector.  You can't prove what doesn't exist.

So start with validation, then respond to their claim of validation. Start slapping down everything they have claimed by telling them you refuse to accept what they have failed to prove.  If they haven't even bothered to try to send you any documentation, all they have then sent you is hearsay.  Hearsay is not admissible in court and its not admissible as validation. Hearsay case law has the courts calling it incompetent and so should you.

Another thing that you need to be on your toes about is the Statute of Limitations.  Every state has their own number of years for the alleged debt to be "actionable" detailed in their Statute of Limitations for debt.  "Actionable" means they can bring a lawsuit against you. This applies to all debt whether credit cards, loans, open contracts or  written contracts. Mortgage loans fall under the Statute of Limitations for Written Contracts.  The statute doesn't start running from the date of the foreclosure (or in the case of credit cards, the date of charge off). It runs from the Date of Last Payment. If you were able to drag out your  foreclosure for 2 years, and you're in a non-judicial state, look up your state's statute for written contracts and start counting the years.  I bet you're getting close.  If you're in a judicial foreclosure state, unfortunately, they got a judgment.  In these types of cases, you need to look up the statute of limitations for judgments. 

Do you want to hear some good news? If you had a judicial foreclosure and the alleged lender or pretender lender got a judgment against you, which also gave them a deficiency judgment against you, most likely, the scumbags that are coming after you are not the party that got the deficiency judgment. Most likely they are 3rd party collectors that are not mentioned ANYWHERE on the deficiency judgment.  3rd party debt collectors buy bad debt, including deficiency judgments.  So, even though they will claim you have to pay the judgment amount plus interest and fees, you don't have to pay them!! If they want to make you pay, then they will need to validate the debt, and a copy of a judgment is evidence of a debt but not evidence that it is owed to them!

So, let's start fighting these debt collectors, my friends. Don't just let them take your money. Don't just let them screw up your credit. Make them prove it and while you're at it, track their FDCPA and FCRA violations.  Those are leverage!  Fight back, demand validation. Demand proof. Accept nothing less than the full proof.  Until they prove it, (which legally they can't), they have to cease all collection activity.  That's how you make them pound sand.   It doesn't happen overnight. It takes consistency. It takes determination. It takes smashing the law in their face over and over and over again. But it's worth it. Oh yes, it is worth it. It is such a wonderful feeling when you beat them and send them packing.

More good news. I want to help people who are hounded by debt collectors. So, my partner and I have decided to offer a Christmas Special.  If you would like us to help you fight to get rid of collections by debt collectors, and of course other items on your credit report that shouldn't be there, we would love to do so.  We will discount $100 or $200 or $300 off the amount of the cost of our services. Our prices are based off the number of derogatory accounts to go after, so I can't quote actual prices here. This special is targeted for collection accounts so if you have at least FOUR 3rd party collectors furnishing their lies on your credit reports, you qualify for our Christmas Special.  

We are running this special for 2 weeks. From now until the last day of this year, December 31, 2014, if you contact us, let us audit your reports, have your consultation, and decide to use our services, you can save quite a bit of money.  So contact me right away. My email address and phone number are up at the top of this blog, on the right hand side. I'll need copies of your credit reports from the 3 major bureaus to get started so get those together as soon as you can.  Let us help you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Fresh Start in the New Year!

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Why You Can Remove Liens, Judgments And BK's From Your Credit Report

It is always so frustrating when you are trying to build, re-establish your credit or get financing and you keep getting turned down because your credit doesn't meet the criteria needed.  I think one of the most frustrating things is when you go to buy a house and you find out that you have a judgment on your credit, many times that you had no idea was even there.

Sure, you expect to see that bankruptcy, but sometimes you aren't even aware that you have tax liens and judgments on your credit.  It feels like you're doomed and will never get that loan. Its frustrating because if you spend money on paying them off, you're cutting into the money you need for your down payment and closing costs.  And if its a bankruptcy that's killing your score, you can't even pay to resolve that.

But what if I told you that you can legally remove them?  Would that make a difference?  I hope so because I'm telling you, you really can LEGALLY remove them. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that they are ILLEGALLY being reported on your credit report. The bureaus have  a responsibility and a duty to remove them. But you have to know the game in order to beat them.

I want to be clear that just because you remove them from your credit reports does not mean that they are also deleted from the public records.  The credit bureaus and the county records are two completely separate entities. Your bankruptcy will still be recorded in the public records and you can't remove it from there. Judgments and liens will still be recorded in the public records but those are things you can actually remove from public records as well as your credit reports.  I'm not going into that today.

I've been very, very successful removing these from both the public records and credit reports. This is because my idea of a fun night, is one spent reading laws and case law and researching and developing strategies to tackle these issues successfully.  I'll tell you that it's way faster and a bit easier to remove them from credit reports than public records. 

So today, I'm going to teach you why you can legally get them off your credit reports and why I believe the law is clear that bureaus need to remove them.  If you've read my earlier posts about 3rd party collectors and removing collections, you'll see that its the same laws that affect the public record information that shows up on your credit reports. These same laws are part of what I use to remove them from credit reports.

When you look at your credit report, it tells you the name of the furnisher of the information. That may be a credit card company, auto lender, mortgage lender and sometimes collectors. When you look at the public records, you'll see that they claim it is the bankruptcy court or the superior court or the county recorder. Sometimes it says a magistrate or recorder of deeds. Whatever place it shows, they are saying that that court house or recorder, or whatever, is furnishing the information.

That's a bold faced lie.  Then the bureaus go so far as to claim that they have verified the information when you send them a letter disputing the information. That's an even bigger, fatter lie. Do you actually think that the courts have hired people to furnish details about the hundreds or thousands of cases and about the losing party, to the credit bureaus? Do you think courts and county recorders have time to verify the thousands of disputes bureaus get every day? That's just one issue.

The big issue is, do they have the legal right to furnish or verify information?  Ahh, now that's where we look to the law and that's where we find the answer that the bureaus don't want you to know!  Before we even look at the law though, let's look at the legal definition of "verify" or "verification."  Now, I did a post on this word a while back. Its really important that you understand this definition.  Its part of the, um, I can't think of the word I want but , sort of the strategy of what ties everything together. Let me take a bit of that post from last year and show you here how it ties things together.

Verification according to Black's Law Dictionary is "... averment that the party pleading is ready to establish the truth of what he has set forth." Also, it goes on to say, "The examination of a writing for the purpose of ascertaining its truth; or a certificate or affidavit that it is true." 

The court said "Confirmation of the correctness, truth, or authenticity of a pleading, account, or other paper, by an affidavit, oath, or deposition." McDonald v. Rosengarten, 134 111. 126, 25 N. E. ; and Summerfield v. Phoenix Assur. Co. (C. C-) 65 Fed. 296; and Patterson v. Brooklyn, 6 App. Div. 127, 40 N.Y. Supp. 581.

To break it down into language you can understand, verification is sworn testimony. It can be testimony in a deposition or in court or an affidavit. The only testimony that is admissible is testimony from a witness with First Hand knowledge. A court clerk does not have first hand knowledge nor does the county recorder, nor does anyone at the credit bureaus, nor does Lexis Nexis, the main public records source for the credit bureaus.  If someone verifies but they don't have first hand knowledge, then its not verification, its Hearsay. And hearsay is inadmissible and the court says its incompetent. 

This is a major puzzle piece in figuring out how to go at the bureaus and get your public records removed.  The next major piece is based upon a law that applies to 3rd party collectors.  This has been discussed in a previous post as well. The law I'm referring to is FCRA § 603(o)(5)(A)(i; iii). This law in fact, applies to more than just 3rd party collectors. It applies to every single entity that furnishes information to the credit bureaus.  Here's what this law says:

FCRA § 603 
(o) Excluded communications. A communication is described in this subsection if it is a communication 
(5) with respect to which 
(A) the consumer who is the subject of the communication 
(i) consents orally or in writing to the nature and scope of the communication, before the collection of any information for the purpose of making the communication;
(iii) in the case of consent under clause (i) or (ii) given orally, is provided written confirmation of that consent by the person making the communication, not later than 3 business days after the receipt of the consent by that person;

So, even if the courts or recorder's office was furnishing the information, other than getting a court order to furnish the information, they are not allowed to furnish or verify squat on your credit report without your authorization. If you have one of these public records on your credit, did you give the bk trustee your authorization to furnish information about your bankruptcy? (not that he/she would have the time to do that). Did you authorize Lexis Nexis? The courts? The county recorder's office? Anybody?  Did you authorize anyone to put negative public record information on your credit reports?

Yeah, I doubt you authorized anyone to furnish that information and I doubt there was ever a court order to have it on there either.  Hopefully now you'll believe me, or at the very least, understand why I say that you can legally remove these items from your credit reports and why I believe they are illegally being furnished and verified when you try to get them off.

I'm not one to brag, but I have to say here that I am extremely good at what I do. I'm not saying that I get everything off in one shot, and actually, removing public records is a multi-step process. But, I'm saying that I consistently and successfully remove these items from people's credit reports all the time.  I can't remember when I haven't been able to remove them. The power to do this is in the laws, in the definitions, and in the way you word things, and the way you follow up everything with enforcement. 

Hopefully I've given you enough information that if you choose to pursue the removal of these items on your own, you too will see success.  But, if you want someone to help you that has a proven track record, almost 3 decades of experience, I would like it if you'd get a hold of me. My contact information is up at the top right hand side of this page. 

These days, prospective home buyers have a hard enough time getting qualified for a loan with decent credit, you can imagine the hurdles they must face when the credit report has these types of negative items on it.  I want to help you if this is your situation.  I want to help you if you need to buy a new car. I want to help you if you want to get some new credit cards or you just want to clean up your credit. I love what I do. It is my passion and I'm good at it. 

I love seeing clients' credit reports go from awful to spectacular. I love the fight. I love sparring with collectors, creditors, and bureaus. Most importantly, I love to win.  When I win, its Your win. When I win, your ugly credit report becomes a pretty credit report. That's what I love to do. I love to help consumers have pretty credit reports that allow them to get the loans and credit they need at interest rates that don't choke the life out of you. I love  to help consumers save money on their insurance, their utility deposits, their ability to rent a car, to be able to get that new job or keep the job that scrutinizes their credit.

I love this so much that right now I'm running a special. From now until September 5, 2014 or the next 25 people, whichever comes first, I will go after the removal of a public record for half price.  I would say that I will remove it, but the law does not allow me to promise or guarantee results.  I know what I'm able to do, but I won't break the law in my processes nor in my claims. Bureaus, creditors, and collectors may lie, but I won't. So, again, I will go after the removal of a public record item at half the regular price, for the next 25 people or September 5, 2014, whichever comes first.

Please don't hesitate if you want to save some money on this. I fill up my client rotations quickly.  The sooner you contact me, the sooner we get started and the sooner you can expect to see a prettier credit report! Please call or email me today.

PS: If you are a loan officer, real estate agent, insurance agent or someone who has clients that need my services, anywhere in the country, please contact me. I want your turn downs. I'm willing to earn your business and send you back clients who are able to qualify and get better rates. My services will help you close more deals.  If you are a real estate agent or broker, I offer an airtight non-compete that I believe will put any of your worries about that issue to rest. I'm not looking to act as your clients' real estate agent. I'm looking to get their credit where it needs to be so you can close deals.

PPS:  I also do lunch & learns and workshops for your potential buyers and agents in Southern California. My partner and I come and show how we can help your clients become homeowners and how we can help your office close more deals!  Please contact me today!

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