Collections

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!

I have some really old debt in collections from 2002. I was told by several people to just let that debt fall off my credit report since the Statute of Limitations is like 7 years.

What I want to know is, can I go out and get a secured credit card so I can start improving my credit?

Would this even be worth my time to start now, like, will my credit score go up even though I still have the old debt on my credit report?

Thanks for all the help!

Depending on what the old debt is, it may not fall off in 7 years. If they are still attempting to collect from you, it can stay on your report for a very long time. Get a copy of your credit report and it will show when it will potentially be removed from your report.

And yes, start rebuilding your credit. You want your positive credit postings to outweigh your negative postings.

If you get served papers and have to go to superior court for a disputed debt, is there a jury?

No….but you have the right to request a trial by jury….which is probably not going to happen. If you afford an attorney, hire one to help you with this matter. If you can’t afford one, then here is some general advise for dealing with the issue:

Send this debt collector and the court a letter via Certified Mail with Return Receipt (NOT regular mail) stating:

Notice of Intent to Defend

I cannot officially respond to your claim until validation is made for the alleged debt. I am officially requesting validation of your claim, to include (this info will be requested at the court hearing):

- A copy of the original application with my signature for this alleged debt
- How much was this debt purchased for?
- Provide a fully itemized statement for the amount you are asking which clearly details how this amount over the amount that was paid for this debt was calculated, including the interest rate being charged. Confirm that this rate falls within state usury limits
- What is the “Date of Last Activity” being used to calculate the Statute of Limitations for the alleged debt

This letter has been mailed via Certified Mail with Return Receipt. Receipt of this letter is being officially time stamped.
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Fill out the response to the court the best that you can. If you are asked if you Affirm or Deny the claim, mark "Deny" and mail that along with the above letter stating that you cannot affirm or deny the claim until the claim has been validated. Also mail this via Certified Mail with Return Receipt
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On the court date: DO NOT be a no-show under any circumstances whatsoever. Not showing up is the worst thing you can possibly do. Even if you are frightened….or you’re sick with a 102 degree fever…or if you think that you’d loose anyway…show up anyway! If you don’t, the other side will get a default judgement and they will get this on THEIR terms. They will tack on all sorts of add-on fees and the amount of the judgment could end up being two or three times the actual amount of the debt.

On the court date:

- bring complete documentation of your income and living expenses: Pay stubs and copies of bills. Even if you loose, you can use this to negotiate much more favorable repayment terms. Request the following info from the other side on the court date:

- a copy of the original application with your signature - a fully itemized statement for the amount they are asking which clearly details how this amount was calculated, including the interest rate being charged - How much was this debt purchased for? ===============================
Lastly….if they take you to court and win a judgement, this will authorize them to freeze your checking accounts….To be safe, this might be a good time to start pulling out any money you have in check/savings accounts and putting the cash in a safe deposit box to keep them from getting your money. Also, stop any direct deposits of payroll checks

I am about to finish a Business Degree and I want my stuff to look good on resume, but will this look bad….

It may actually be an advantage. It’s a job not many people like to do or are actually good at. You do need to "spin it" to your advantage in your resume so that it will boost your profile for a job. There are many skills related to your job, such as managing difficult customers, communication skills, influencing others, projecting a strong and confident personality, perhaps even sales skills - as you "convince" people to pay, and of course - following up and being persistent.

Fyi, I work at a bank and I’ve hired people with your experience. They have proven to be very valuable at other positions, such as sales and service.

Good luck!

I am a 20 year old student and i opened up a credit card my freshmen year in college and i haven’t made one payment. I lost my job and found another but now i have an apartment and bills to pay and can’t afford to make the payments.

Your in a little bit of a pickle.

Search the credit database on this site. http://www.researchdeck.com

I pay my bills on time, no collections, not being bankrupt. However I do have a lot of debt, will this affect me getting a finance job.

Most employers that do credit checks only do a score pull. So basically, they aren’t going to actually view your credit report. They’re only going to see your score and make a decision based on that. The average credit score in the U.S. is 640. If you are anywhere around that you should get the job.

As long as you have no negative entires on your credit report I cannot see having a lot of debt as really affecting you all that much. Unless, of course, its really TONS. Part of how your credit score is judged is a debt to limit ratio, so as long as you don’t have 10 credit cards that are all maxed out on which you are only paying the minimum you should be fine.

Different companies have different sets of criteria for hiring. So if one fnance company turns you down due to credit, another may have no problems at all. It just depends on the company.

Hope this helps.

North Carolina is a one party consent state, so it is not illegal.
http://www.aapsonline.org/judicial/telephone.htm

The credit conseling servie would looks worse on your report, while the debt collections are hurting your score. At least with the collections, you could negotiate a "pay to delete" and get them removed in exchange for paying the account off.

The credit conseling servie would looks worse on your report, while the debt collections are hurting your score. At least with the collections, you could negotiate a "pay to delete" and get them removed in exchange for paying the account off.

I have a credit card debt that has gone to collections. I would like to pay it back in full. Can I contact the original creditor and pay them back directly? Or do I have to pay through the debt collection agency? They are very rude and I think that they have the wrong amount as to what I owe.

You may contact the original creditor to pay in full and they can cancel your account with the Collections agency depending if your account has been transferred to a Colletions Agency very recently and haven’t been written off in the original creditor’s system. I know my company does that. Your amount to pay is higher because of the collection fees/interest too (the Collections Agency has been trying to get a hold of you and so that agency needs to get paid for working on getting you money for the original creditor).