Collections

I recently inherited my dad’s stamp collection. It is very thorough. I would like to sell the collection and put the funds toward my student loan. Dad never cataloged the collection, but said it had an approximate value of $14,000. I recently bought the EZ Stamp program to begin cataloging everything, but it is such a daunting task…there are more than 15 very full albums, as well as thousands of envelopes of extra duplicate stamps. I am completely overwhelmed, but I want to get a reasonable amount for everything. Help!

You can try to contact a stamp dealer.

But it usually is not for free!
Standart fee for Expertizing $10-$20 per 1 item (if Current Catalogue value $1,000 or less or if item is not in catalogue). Or 2% of the current catalogue value (for stamps valuable than $1,000)…

So, I think it better to learn what you have before.
Most of stamps are worth 5 to 20 cents each. Even 100-year-old stamp could worth less than 1 dollar.

You need to get (buy) stamp catalogues and find your stamps there.
After this you can sort your stamps as a rare (which you suspect as a rare) and rubbish. (which definitely worth less than $1).

to find the value of your US stamps try http://www.findyourstampsvalue.com

Does that mean that I’ll have to go to court? Being unemployed, I’m unable to pay my debt at this time.

It means you will now have to deal with the attorney but remember this, many collection agencies use this scare tactic. They pay a law firm for the use of their letter head to send out notices of intent to file suit which is illegal under the FDCPA 15USC1692e

First of all check with your courts to see if this attorney is legit. If he is then contact him and inform him that you are currently what is called "judgment proof" due to being unemployed. This means that they can win a judgment against you, but they can not collect anything. They could place a lien on any property you may own, but there is no wage to garnish. They would have to wait until you were employed once again. Then you would negotiate a payment with the attorney.

Hope this answer is of help to you
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The answer provided here is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended nor presumed to be legal counsel or professional legal advice

EX. Is it illegal for a collection agency in Birmingham, AL to collect money in Baltimore, md

No, its not illegal. But they do have to comply with the laws of both states as well as any federal laws that may apply.

My credit score was near perfect before this and I was reported just once for a small amount of $13. I am desperate and I have no clue what this will mean to me. Please provide some resources if possible!

I have a great credit score… On one service it was 725 on the second service it was 751 and and the third it was 773. When I looked at the difference of what was reported, I found that the 725 had a report of a medical bill for about 50 bucks which was actually paid. There had been a screw up in changing insurance companies and so the doctors office’s collection people reported this and missed removing it when they realized their error.

So, once this was removed, my credit score from that service rose to the 760’s.

Now, anywhere in the 700’s are suppose to be great, but when I went to buy a home, they did ask about this, and it was a hassle. I am sure I would have gotten the loan either way, and maybe I made it more of a hassle than it should have been, but I really dislike having anything questioned when I am going for a Jumbo loan.

I hope this helps.

A collection agency has acquired the debt of my daughter who lives in Texas and has threatened my daughter that if she doesn’t pay a large amount up front they will garnish her paycheck from where she works. Can they do this? Is this legal?

It depends.

According to the Associate Dean for the Houston Law Center, there are only a few exceptions to the general rule that there is no garnishment of paychecks in Texas:

Wage garnishment is permitted for child support, certain federal taxes and government backed student loans.

I’m wanting to pay two small bills to get them off my credit report, one is for $308, and the other is for $100. I just spoke with the creditor regarding the $308, and they said they would take a settlement of 80%, but would not give me anything in writing in regards to having anything removed from my credit report. I was under the impression you needed something in writing first, what should I do to make sure this gets settled properly?

Get it in writing that 80% will settle the debt in full.
Then mail them a money order.

They won’t remove it from your credit report.
But once you pay the debt, they have to report that the debt was settled.

HSBC passed my overdraft debt to their in-house debt collection agency.

DO they add more charges?
Can they take the things I own?

hi, Their in-hose debt collection agency is the first attempt to recover the debt owed, they will contact you regarding recouping moneys owed. they have the power to take you to court but in my experience they give you several options before this happens. phone with a pro active stance on repaying the money, arrange to pay it instalments they usually will respond to this in a good way. If you then continue to not repay the money more sever action will be taken ie courts.. at this time, it seems very scary but if you go to them with the right attitude they are usually very helpful!

My wife recently got a new cell phone and new number. On the first day of having the new number she got a call from a collection agency asking for "Tara"(not my wife’s name). She politely explained to them she had just gotten that cell phone number and was not the person they are looking for. They have continued calling at least once a day since then. What can we do to stop this?

Ask the person for their name and the name of the company that their calling from and phone number. Then tell them that they have the wrong number and that they’ve called 10 to 12 times a day which is harassment and your calling your lawyer and the attorney general office and press charges on them.
I did this to a collection company and they stopped calling right away, they do not need harassment charges on them.

We are looking for an international company which is experienced in debt collections / recoveries (B2B) for Chinese exporters. Particularly interested in recovering business debts from the US and South America.

We have been using a company from the US called SGA Collections. http://www.sgacollections.com and they have offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Their China contacts are on http://www.sga.bz.

Their pricing is the best I could find, only 15%.

Hope this helps!

Are debts void after 7 years? I have a collection agency calling me several times a day and the debt is coming up on 7 years old. I refuse to pay it because it is from a video store that says I didn’t return a movie. It never happened. I disputed the debt in writing years ago but it made no difference. What do I do?

Yes, negative accounts should be removed after 7 years but you may need to request it. It’s best to get a copy of your credit report (you can get one free report each year from each of the three reporting agencies) to review the account in question.

It’s best to correct the matter with the account holder directly, but if that does not work and it is 7 years old: Send a copy of your correspondence to the video company to each of the three reporting agencies. Include your drivers license with your ssn and a letter noting your dispute and the age of the account. It may take some time, but the agencies are required to fix it.

Also note, if the account was sold, they may consider the 7 years to start from the new account… Good luck.