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hello,
here's the situation: i took out an apple computer loan several years
ago; after taking out the loan, the loan company contacted me and said
that they could consolidate other bills/loans for me, too. so i did
it. i consolidated credit cards, my car loan and the rest of my
student loans. it added up to be around $40-$45,000. a huge chunk of
change. this was about the time of the internet boom (97-2000) so i
wasn't very concerned, as i had a really good job and this seemed like
the right thing to do at the time. well, in 2001 i was laid off.
finding a job in my field (technology) in my area (silicon valley) was
impossible and i was unemployed for two and half years, just recently
hired. anyway, i ended up filing a bankruptcy (chapter 7, i believe)
at the end of 2001 and i know that this creditor was listed on the
bankruptcy by my attorney, but they keep calling as recently as today.
the original credit or was merlin loans, but then it was wells fargo,
and now a collection agency in houston has it. i'm not sure why this
wasn't discharged in the bankruptcy along with everything else, but my
guess is that they were pushing the loan (when i took it out, several
years ago) as an "educational loan" or educational related loan. i may
have signed something that said that the items i was consolidation
were educational related. in any case, can they sue me? i don't own
any property; no house, no car- i'm pretty broke and my recent job is
just a contract, one year position that may not even last (it's an
hour away.)
i read somewhere that a collection agency can only sue you in small
claims court- is this true? and if so, isn't there a limit of $5000 in
small claims court? any help you can provide is GREATLY appreciated. i
would like best and worst case scenarios here, please.
just a re-cap: this is in california, the collection agency is in
houston, tx. the original creditor somehow became wells fargo. the
ammount they told me i owe today is $52,000. i don't own any property.
thank you!!!
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[cc'd to previous poster; follow-ups in newsgroup suggested]
It seems "cooldude" wrote in misc.legal.moderated in article
<1njn00d4nvmp8sb4435shvsonde4ihntb1@4ax.com>:
i read somewhere that a collection agency can only sue you in small
claims court- is this true?
It's extremely false.
As for the rest -- talk to the attorney who did the bankruptcy, and
find out whether the loan was discharged or not. If it was, the
attorney should write a letter to the collection agency telling them
to lay off. If it was not, then you owe the money but the attorney
can advise you on your best course of action.
It will probably cost you a couple of hundred bucks, but the
alternative is to struggle with this for years to come.
Above all, do not simply hope this will go away. It won't.
--
If you e-mail me from a fake address, your fingers will drop off.
I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice. When you read anything
legal on the net, always verify it on your own, in light of your
particular circumstances. You may also need to consult a lawyer.
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
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nocarbs4me@hotmail.com (cooldude) wrote:
here's the situation: i took out an apple computer loan several
years ago; after taking out the loan, the loan company contacted
me and said that they could consolidate other bills/loans for
me, too. so i did it. i consolidated credit cards, my car loan
and the rest of my student loans. it added up to be around
$40-$45,000. a huge chunk of change. this was about the time of
the internet boom (97-2000) so i wasn't very concerned, as i had
a really good job and this seemed like the right thing to do at
the time. well, in 2001 i was laid off. finding a job in my
field (technology) in my area (silicon valley) was impossible
and i was unemployed for two and half years, just recently
hired. anyway, i ended up filing a bankruptcy (chapter 7, i
believe) at the end of 2001 and i know that this creditor was
listed on the bankruptcy by my attorney, but they keep calling
Have your bankruptcy lawyer write them a letter. The debt was
discharged and their attempts to collect are illegal.
i read somewhere that a collection agency can only sue you in
small claims court- is this true?
No, they can sue you in any court.
Stu
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On 19/01/04 12:37, in article 1njn00d4nvmp8sb4435shvsonde4ihntb1@4ax.com,
"cooldude" <nocarbs4me@hotmail.com> wrote:
i ended up filing a bankruptcy (chapter 7, i believe)
at the end of 2001 and i know that this creditor was listed on the
bankruptcy by my attorney, but they keep calling as recently as today.
Contact your bankruptcy lawyer immediately. Your creditor is almost
certainly violating the discharge, and your lawyer is going to get sanctions
against him, and probably you will get something too for your troubles.
However, I am assuming the loan was unsecured. If the computer or other real
or personal property was security for the loan, then possibly the creditor
has a claim against the property. But not against you.
Keep a record (log) of all the calls the creditor and/or collection agency
has made. If you can record future calls on your answerphone, so much the
better.
The claim for sanctions has to be in the court that handled your original
bankruptcy. Here's a case where sanctions were levied against a foreign
creditor:
http://snipurl.com/3xed
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