I got myself into some troublesome debt. I am in college, and was laid off about a year ago. Last December I opened a credit card with Citibank to float my living expenses with the intention of repaying the balance in full and closing the account. The money I was expecting to use to repay the card had to instead be used to pay my tuition, and I never ended up making a payment on the card.
Citi recently forwarded the account to UCB. I have been ignoring their calls for a few months because I currently don't have the resources to make any type of payment arrangement. I start getting calls from my Mom saying that people have been calling the house and asking for me. Then she says that they called my little brother's cell phone trying to get a hold of me. She asks why they are calling, and when they won't tell her she refuses to give them my number.
Well, yesterday I get a hysterical voice mail from my mom. She says that she talked to a Bill Incuntro at UCB, and if I don't set up a payment with him by the end of the day he will be filing suit against me and garnishing my wages.
I worked for a credit card company as a debt collector for six months so I know that this move was completely illegal. My mom was able to ascertain the amount of my debt, though she said he never directly said it. She said that he told her I was in serious legal trouble over a credit card.
I called the number given today, and Mr.incuntro presented me with only two options: Pay $1,000 a month for four months, or a settlement of $2,500 today. I told him I couldn't afford this and he would only tell me that it was my only option, or I would be sued and the amount of my original debt ($4,000) would shoot up to near $8,000 with legal fees.
He accused me of attempting to steal from the credit card company.
He told me a judge would not be interested in my intentions or my hardships, only that I violated the contract.
He told me the judgment would be ruled against me and my wages would be garnished.
I would never be able to get a home, car or another credit card with a judgment on my report.
I would never be able to get a professional job with a judgment on my report.
I told him several times that I would like to work something out, or make a good faith payment to buy me some time and he exploded, yelling "I don't know what a good faith payment is! All I know is you didn't pay your bill."
When I told him I could not pay that amount he told me to borrow it from my parents. I told him they can't afford that kind of money either and he said it was in my best interest to find someone who can, or I should expect a subpoena in 7 to 10 days.
I would like to know has anyone actually been sued by UCB?
My income after taxes is about $1200 a month, of which $500 goes to pay my rent, $140 to my car and the rest to various utilities and other debts that I'm trying to manage. I was actually considering filing for bankruptcy before this phone call, and I did the means calculator and found out that I'm a candidate for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
I told Mr.incuntro that I was a candidate for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and he laughed at me saying:
Student loans are exempt from bankruptcy, and I replied that I knew this and intended to pay them back. He then laughed again and said no lawyer would ever represent someone for $10,000 in credit card debt. I reminded him that if he was awarded a judgment, his account alone would be nearing $10,000, and that I had other cards I would file for as well, nearing $20,000. He said that this idea was ridiculous and that any attorney, which "you should have hired yesterday" would never represent me. Also in filing for chapter 7, I would not be able to refile again for many years, and "If I wracked up medical debt you would have to eat it." (Sounds almost like a threat.) I told him if I filed for Chapter 7 I would never want another credit card again, to which he then laughed one more time.
The call was ended with telling me to borrow the money from my parents or a judgment would be issued against me.
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