SinkingFast
Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Missouri
I'm trying to help my husband get the paperwork ready so he can file Chapter 7 (filing alone). Because the debts are all from his previous marriage and I'm going strictly on what records his ex gave him (before she destroyed the rest) plus the recent credit reports from the "top 3" I'm having some trouble trying to sort through it all. The ex was in charge of paying bills and keeping track of stuff so my husband isn't able to help much. I've spent countless hours trying to figure out which debts are connected to which. In other words, which collection agencies picked up the debt once the original creditor charged off the debt. In some cases the debt was passed off (sold) to several companies. Our atty says to list the original creditor (and charged off amount) plus the last company that is listed as having the account (and the highest amount shown due).
I'm running into several weird things based on the credit reoports. Here's one I haven't been able to resolve:
Creditor "A" approved a credit card for my husband. After charge off for non-pay, First Select picked up the debt. At first I thought they were another credit card company because I found a letter that read, "Your Creditor A account has been transferred to First Select Corporation, so you will begin receiving monthly statements from us. Your First Select acount number appears above and your new Account Agreement is enclosed. Unfortunately, your Creditor A account was closed for non-payment and the severity of your delinquency places your account in default. However, we assume that all of our customers are honest people and want to repay their debts. Yada, yada, yada..."
After some attempts to collect the debt a law firm supposedly representing First Select sent an "ultimatum" letter ("If you don't pay the full amount within so many days we may have no recourse but to..."). When this didn't produce the desired effect First Select sent some more "statements" (that look like credit card statements) which included steep interest amounts. Then the trail abruptly ends.
After doing some google searches I discovered that First Select Corporation is a company that buys bad debts and that anyone that's had to deal with them had problems. One of the chief complaints I read about is people not being able to contact them (no valid address or phone). I also saw them connected to Providian. I found this interesting because there is a Providian account on my husband's credit reports that he doesn't remember having. After seeing them linked with FSC on the web I carefully compared info between the two accounts as they are listed on the credit reports. What I found is that BOTH Providian and FS show the same "open" dates, the same "close" dates, the same account number (which is the number that FS assigned to my husband), the same amount due and BOTH show a zero balance and the status of having been sold or transferred to another company. They even show almost identical P.O. box numbers from the same town in CA for their addresses. What's even stranger is that the Providian account shows up under the "favorable" credit accounts and the FS shows up under the negative listing. I'm curious about the account being listed with both places during the same time period. Also, when I clicked on the link that mentioned both companies (which was a Providian site) I found no reference to FSC on the page it brought up. When I did a search on the Providian site it brought up no info on FSC.
Now (finally!) to the reason I shared all of that here. Since FSC ceased attempts to collect on this debt and shows that the account was sold or transferred to another company, no further attempts have been made by any company to collect. The amount of debt is $7,200. There is nothing on the credit reports listing anyone (since the FSC "close" date of 05/03) trying to collect that amount or having any reference to this account at all. If the last known reference(s) show the account was sold or transferred then SOMEbody out there has it. My concern is that with the IRS lien ($23,000) showing on the credit reports, some company is just biding their time till it's removed so they can move in for the kill. If we can't list the company that now owns the debt because we don't know who it is will we just be stuck owing it after the Chapter 7 is over?
Another question. My husband thinks the atty will be checking all of these accounts anyway and that it's not necessary for me to spend the time (or stress) doing it now. He thinks I should just list every single one (even though the ones that have been sold show a zero balance) to make sure all of our bases are covered and that the atty will sort it out. My response; yeah, but at how much $$$ per hour and will he be able to connect all the dots? Anyone know how much of the work is typically done by the filer?
Thanks for any help/thoughts,
SF
I'm trying to help my husband get the paperwork ready so he can file Chapter 7 (filing alone). Because the debts are all from his previous marriage and I'm going strictly on what records his ex gave him (before she destroyed the rest) plus the recent credit reports from the "top 3" I'm having some trouble trying to sort through it all. The ex was in charge of paying bills and keeping track of stuff so my husband isn't able to help much. I've spent countless hours trying to figure out which debts are connected to which. In other words, which collection agencies picked up the debt once the original creditor charged off the debt. In some cases the debt was passed off (sold) to several companies. Our atty says to list the original creditor (and charged off amount) plus the last company that is listed as having the account (and the highest amount shown due).
I'm running into several weird things based on the credit reoports. Here's one I haven't been able to resolve:
Creditor "A" approved a credit card for my husband. After charge off for non-pay, First Select picked up the debt. At first I thought they were another credit card company because I found a letter that read, "Your Creditor A account has been transferred to First Select Corporation, so you will begin receiving monthly statements from us. Your First Select acount number appears above and your new Account Agreement is enclosed. Unfortunately, your Creditor A account was closed for non-payment and the severity of your delinquency places your account in default. However, we assume that all of our customers are honest people and want to repay their debts. Yada, yada, yada..."
After some attempts to collect the debt a law firm supposedly representing First Select sent an "ultimatum" letter ("If you don't pay the full amount within so many days we may have no recourse but to..."). When this didn't produce the desired effect First Select sent some more "statements" (that look like credit card statements) which included steep interest amounts. Then the trail abruptly ends.
After doing some google searches I discovered that First Select Corporation is a company that buys bad debts and that anyone that's had to deal with them had problems. One of the chief complaints I read about is people not being able to contact them (no valid address or phone). I also saw them connected to Providian. I found this interesting because there is a Providian account on my husband's credit reports that he doesn't remember having. After seeing them linked with FSC on the web I carefully compared info between the two accounts as they are listed on the credit reports. What I found is that BOTH Providian and FS show the same "open" dates, the same "close" dates, the same account number (which is the number that FS assigned to my husband), the same amount due and BOTH show a zero balance and the status of having been sold or transferred to another company. They even show almost identical P.O. box numbers from the same town in CA for their addresses. What's even stranger is that the Providian account shows up under the "favorable" credit accounts and the FS shows up under the negative listing. I'm curious about the account being listed with both places during the same time period. Also, when I clicked on the link that mentioned both companies (which was a Providian site) I found no reference to FSC on the page it brought up. When I did a search on the Providian site it brought up no info on FSC.
Now (finally!) to the reason I shared all of that here. Since FSC ceased attempts to collect on this debt and shows that the account was sold or transferred to another company, no further attempts have been made by any company to collect. The amount of debt is $7,200. There is nothing on the credit reports listing anyone (since the FSC "close" date of 05/03) trying to collect that amount or having any reference to this account at all. If the last known reference(s) show the account was sold or transferred then SOMEbody out there has it. My concern is that with the IRS lien ($23,000) showing on the credit reports, some company is just biding their time till it's removed so they can move in for the kill. If we can't list the company that now owns the debt because we don't know who it is will we just be stuck owing it after the Chapter 7 is over?
Another question. My husband thinks the atty will be checking all of these accounts anyway and that it's not necessary for me to spend the time (or stress) doing it now. He thinks I should just list every single one (even though the ones that have been sold show a zero balance) to make sure all of our bases are covered and that the atty will sort it out. My response; yeah, but at how much $$$ per hour and will he be able to connect all the dots? Anyone know how much of the work is typically done by the filer?
Thanks for any help/thoughts,
SF
These accounts are such a mess they make my head spin after a while. It's imperative that they are all accounted for so no choice but to press on no matter how much they make my brain hurt. (It might not be so bad if I wasn't dealing with several other issues simultaneously) 
