That is unfortunate about Hilda's circumstances with Calvary Portfolio and Americredit. I have had similar dealings back in 1997 with this company thanks to the owners of Renton Honda at the time. Had Renton Honda did a better job with their homework they could have found us better financing since I turned around two weeks after getting this suv and purchasing a car through Ford Credit with a %2.9 percent interest rate.
I tried refinancing this car through Seafirst (now Bank of America) at the time but the car was priced way over book value to have that happen. The loan I signed with Americredit was at # percent on a Suzuki suv that probably wasn't going to survive the 5 loan to begin with. I filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office at the time on Renton Honda. Since that time, they haven't been advertising there "hard case financing" programs and have new owners as well.
At the time we signed the loan, I think Renton Honda was trying to cover up the high finance charges during the contract signing. I didn't really discover it till I got home and looked at the fine print. I learned after that experience to carry an HP business calcultor with me to run the financing program. This loan would have never lasted for the length of the car because the interest payments were so high on it.
The car was reposessed three months later. It was sold for $15,000.00. The loan was for $23,000.00 (pretty high for any Suzuki SUV). So $8,000.00 was still owed to Americredit. I didn't mention the fact that I got this loan while I was finishing paying off a chapter 13 bankruptcy that hadn't closed yet. I had a high income at the time so that may explain why the loan went through regardless.
Americredit sent me a bill for the payment difference but I ignored it. I was still under bankruptcy protection laws at the time and figured if they wanted the money, they could have filed a claim which they didn't.
A few years ago I got these bills from Calvary Portfolio about the balance owed to Americredit. I still have them sitting at home unpaid. I had a pretty good idea that Calvary wasn't licened to do business in the State of Washington anyways. I haven't seen the information appear on any recent credit reports as well. I haven't seen Calvary going after me or my ex-wife (yes this loan was one of the main decisions for the divorce). They were trying to put a lien on thier home but they backed off on it.
My advice is to take the Calvary Portfolio bills and file a consumer complaint with the State of Washington Attorney General's office. If they try to garnish your wages or bank account, get a attourney and take it to court. The important thing is, if you get any legal paperwork to appear in court, make sure you show up. You can save on getting you bank account garnished, you pay from getting garnished, and a lien on your home.
According to a Seattle Times article the federal government may try to bring into question the jurisdiction of our state laws on collection agencies thanks to new rules in the bankruptcy laws but for the time being you should be safe.
It probably wouldn't be a bad idea Hilda to tell The Seattle Times about your circumstances. I'm sure that the original article and reported can be found through archives on their website.
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