I apologize this is a little long... Universal Fidelity LP was the agency collecting a credit card debt that had been charged off by Sears/Citi. This account was my mom's account but due to a terminal illness the account fell seriously behind. UFLP contacted her one afternoon demanding payment be made. She gave me their number and I contacted them. (I have Power of Attorney for her.)
The man I spoke with, Mr. &, demanded payment arrangements be made right then and that they had to have the checking account information to do an auto-debit. I panicked and made arrangements because I was under so much pressure to do so. (I also didn't know much about collection agencies and was scared.) I also informed him that I would send him the POA but he insisted they didn't need it... There's a major red flag.
I also informed him of my mother's health and that he is not to communicate with her any further, only communicate with me. He did not adhere to that at all. He called her five times in two days making veil threats, as well as leaving me threats of suing due to this debt.
I contacted the ACA of Texas and told them the situation. One major problem with UFLP is that they NEVER sent any kind of letter to my mother or to me explaining the debt. I found out that I didn't have to make arrangements with them unless I had that letter... Which they sent AFTER I requested it and was a week after they had contacted me and I made the arrangements with them.
I ended up not being able to get the money together to stick to the arrangement and of course when they tried to draft it I was nailed with an overdraft fee. And so the threats and nasty phone calls began. (And at this point I have learned about not having to make arrangements unless I have a letter first)
I contacted Resurgent Capital Services (who is the "client", Citi gave them the account after it charged off) to tell them about the sketchy practices of UFLP and they said they would pull the account from UFLP and for me to contact UFLP to talk to someone in their escalations dept. To discuss the problems with their staff. I did so and unfortunately spoke with a Ms.& (yelling at me the whole time) who berated me, told me she didn't want my sob story, that I am a loser and to just pay the bill and they'll leave me alone.
I called and spoke to someone in management who seemed very genuinely concerned about the situation (the ACA contacted her with my complaint about their lack of ethics and not following proper procedure as well as nastiness) and said she would handle it, apologized, and also said she would refund the o/d fee since the auto-debit was attempted and the arrangements really shouldn't be honored since there was no letter before the phone call. This was over a month ago and I still haven't received the refund. We'll see what happens.
I contacted Resurgent Cap. Svcs. And they said the account had gone to another agency and I haven't heard anything from them yet. (it's been a few weeks now... Maybe 3 since they reassigned it) I hope that anyone dealing with UFLP or (ALLIED DATA) (they are just as scummy) will investigate why they are being contacted and stay on top of dealings with these groups. They are nasty, unethical, and will go beyond what anyone can imagine in order to collect to get their commissions. Please don't let them run over you like I let them do to me. I foolishly let them scare me and worry me to death. I became physically ill worrying about what they could do to me or to her.
I also have questions about dealing with collectors. I have read a lot of posts and see that there are some extremely knowledgeable people out there... Thank you for what you do. Would someone mind helping me out with these and anything I may have forgotten to ask?...
How long is the statute of limitations on a debt that has been sold to a collector?
How far do they have legal power to go? Can they actually sue/garnish or is that up to the ORIGINAL credit grantor?
How do I deal with them? Do I return their calls from the numerous messages they leave?
Does anyone have further info about Resurgent? They are the ones the creditor gave the charged off acct to who then assigned it out to a collection agency. Do they have the power to sue or garnish?
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I feel backed into a corner and I'm not sure what to do. We don't run from debt but when a terminal illness strikes these things sometimes happen. Right now we simply cannot pay it.
Best wishes,
Natalie
Encinitas, California
U.S.A.
0 comments