Old Sears Credit Card Debt

I agree with debt paid in full. People should be responsible for their debt. I mean, it's true, Too many people live beyond their means, often deliberately intending to not pay for what they buy. Why the hostility?

Meg
you are no better than the other collector trolls posting here.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT PAYING VALID LEGITIMATE DEBTS - this is about DEBT COLLECTORS that break the LAW on debts that are no longer valid and can no longer be proven to ever have existed in the first place.


That is why THERE are LAWS in PLACE to PROTECT CONSUMERS!  

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My Grandmother is being constantly called by Creditors Interchange about her Sears charge card debt.For someone who's only income is social security, the calls keep coming in. At first the calls had the words that began saying it was from the offices of such and such, that it was a legal matter that her or her lawyer call such and such number about an important business matter.

Then a few months later, Creditors Interchange started calling daily identifying themselves as the company calling with a call back number and a reference number.

Now, they are resorting to leaving pre recorded collection messages on our machine..

While they have not been verbally abusive through use of language over the phone (since in the state of California such calls are prohibited) their calls are getting annoying. They did break a FDPCA Law however once calling my mother on her cell phone about my grandmothers debt however but my mother quickly told them off and they did not do it again. If it was on my cell phone, if they did not identify themselves, I would hang up immediately.

I have been in the credit industry for over 20 years, please check the SOL in your state. All the SOL does is give guide lines as to how long a credior can take legal action. The FTC sets the guide lines as to how long a trade line stays on your credit bureau but even after all SOL have ran out the credit can still try to collect the debt.They just loose their leverage.Always best not to avoid paying your bills. I am not currently working on behalf of creditors I now working in consumer rights.

As too the bankruptcy filing. Just simply send a letter stating was discharged in the bankruptcy and also send in a copy of the notice and the discharge. I know this is bothersome but it is just a simple step to stop the collection efforts.

Debt Paid in Full,

Lamet may very well be correct in believing you to be a CA troll, but I will give you the benefit of a doubt in that regard.

I know that what I am about to say will place me at odds with almost the entire known universe, but I don't advocate making decisions based primarily on what something does to your credit report. Although, I don't mean you shouldn't avoid creating situations that allow the re-aging of debts, or other needless self inflicted wounds.  

Indeed, practices such as re-aging in order to place adverse information in credit reports seem counter productive to me, and I am at a loss as to why the collections industry doesn't see this.  Still, for those who are concerned about picking up a few points here and there, and who aren't unknowingly reviving a zombie debt, paying is a good thing.  I also advocate paying because it is the right thing to do, provided it does not create some greater harm to the payer.

Your "junkie" analogy was more prescient that you may realize.  While you may wish to divorce yourself from that term at this point, let me explain why you can't.  The neurobiology of impulse spending is pretty much the same as the neurobiology of drug abuse.  The anticipatory phase, and the actuality of the purchase, floods the brain with the same pleasure inducing compounds.  Likewise, the "buyers remorse" phenomenon is marked by a depressed level of these substances, markedly similar to that which occurs in the post usage phase of drug abuse.  And lastly, compulsive buyers become refractory to the stimulus, requiring greater excess to achieve the same satisfaction, just as we observe with drug abuse.  The bio-chemistry of the addictions is almost identical, and for many individuals, can be just as powerful.

Furthermore, these facts are well known at a certain strata within the retail and credit industries.  Sophisticated research is done in order to capitalize on these phenomena, in order to maximize impulsive and unnecessary purchasing.  

Credit cards themselves are one of the tools used to lower the impediments to an impulse purchase.  And the reason that every store plays music is not because they want to entertain you, it is because studies show that it impairs your higher cognitive functions when it comes to making well reasoned purchasing decisions.

Credit card companies and retailers are well aware that they are manipulating people into spending beyond what they should spend, and that in a fair percentage of the cases, it will sometimes exceed what the buyer is able to pay.  However, the whole Machiavellian scheme is so obscenely profitable that they accept any ancillary losses as part of the cost of doing business (which does not mean that they won't try to recover it anyway).

So do we have any responsibility for self discipline in our spending ?  Of course.  But the retail/credit industry is employing powerful methodologies in an effort to prevent us from exercising such self control, and so, to some degree, they are are also culpable.  In many cases, they are simply reaping what they have sown.

In closing, someone pointed out that your written communication is difficult to follow.  Perhaps you are not a native English speaker.  But in any case, let me recommend the following: excellent books "The Mountain Man's Field Guide to Grammar: A Fearless Adventure in Grammar, Style, and Usage" ,  and "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" .

I've cluttered this forum enough, on this topic and others, but I do hope you will give some thought to these things, even if you may be a troll.

Regards.

P.S.  For those of you having trouble with your spending, try making all of your purchases in cash for a while.  Keep a journal of everything you spend.  You'll be shocked.  I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's teachings for anyone whose financial life is not in perfect order - in other words, pretty much everybody.

WRITE THEM A CEASE AND DESIST LETTER.
GO TO THE POST OFFICE AND SEND IT CERTIFIED MAIL.
USE THE TEMPLATE BELOW:

Date

Your Name
Address
City, State Zip


Debt Collector’s Name
Address
City, State Zip

Re: Account Number

Dear Debt Collector:

Pursuant to my rights under federal debt collection laws, I am requesting that you cease and desist communication with me, as well as my family and friends, in relation to this and all other alleged debts you claim I owe.

You are hereby notified that if you do not comply with this request, I will immediately file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the [your state here] Attorney General’s office. Civil and criminal claims will be pursued.
Sincerely,

Your Name

If the debt has been discharged by a court, NCO isn't only harassing your mom, they're breaking the law:

"If a creditor attempts collection efforts on a discharged debt, the debtor can file a motion with the court, reporting the action and asking that the case be reopened to address the matter. The bankruptcy court will often do so to ensure that the discharge is not violated. The discharge constitutes a permanent statutory injunction prohibiting creditors from taking any action, including the filing of a lawsuit, designed to collect a discharged debt. A creditor can be sanctioned by the court for violating the discharge injunction. The normal sanction for violating the discharge injunction is civil contempt, which is often punishable by a fine."  http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/Bankrup ... Bankruptcy.aspx

PLEEEEZE  file a motion with the court.   NCO violates people's rights and the law every day.   They need to get a slap from a federal judge for everyone's sake.   And for that matter notify your congressional reps.  about this.   Collectors like NCO are little more than crooks and their endless violations of law and regulations are just part of their business model.   The fines mean little to them as long as they make a dishonest buck.

gee, I wish I'd thought of posting that citation when I replied to this poster yesterday...oh, wait...  ;*)

Huh smart but it's the companies the reason why the economics is bad. High prices and low pay to employees plus these companies rip offs the consumer big time.

Tools Man said: "but it's the companies"

Actually, since we have a representative form of government, and everyone here seems to want only a simplistic answer, the "real problem" is the electorate (YOU).  

When the voters' understanding of written language is so poor as to be semi-literate, when they can't even post here coherently, when they are far more aware of who won on American Idol or Sunday's football game than they are of what the elitist political class is doing to the country, how can a representative government function?  

The sad truth is that we are getting exactly what we deserve, a corrupt, despotic, third world style government, and all of the economic and social tragedies that go with that.  You are reaping what you have sown, "Tools Man", and it is a bitter harvest.  I hope you and your dim-witted ken enjoy it.  I only regret that those who have been the real contributors to our society are being dragged along to destruction with the rest.

I leave you with this pointed warning from one of our founding fathers:

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN—at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation—in the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the Convention.

I will be glad when the governent passes a law, if a debt collector is caught trying to collect a zombie or sol debt will be sued for $100,000.00. than maybe I will turn my ringer back on.

Where have you been??  Since when do who WE vote for get into office? It's no longer who WE want or vote for in an election......but who has the money!!  Remember BUSH/GORE (And no....I voted for neither one...I wrote an Independent in!!)..how OBVIOUS DOES IT HAVE TOO BE???  The Senators and Congressmen/women have put this country into the tailspin and that is because, unlike the President who serves only 2 terms MAX (8 yrs!!), they stay in  their seats for their entire lives and make the laws for the LOBBYISTS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS......you know.....the ones who 'grease their palms' and give them all those vacations and homes too go with them.....the same ones who think, out here in the REAL WORLD, things are just fine because they saw it out their limosine window!!

Send them a letter stating that it is not a  collectable debt and not to contact you any more.  If they do you can sue them for trying to collect the out dated debt, (check with an  attorney).

sears messed up when they change from "easy payment plan" to citibank, if they bring back "easy payment plan" i might start back shopping with them.