Creditors Interchange Sent me a letter warning that Erin Capital intends to sue Ripoff Buffalo New York

Bill,

First of all, proper terminology is absolutely essential. There is no such thing as a "cease & desist" letter as per the FDCPA. The exact verbage of the FDCPA is CEASE COMMUNICATIONS.

A cease communications request should only be sent if they are harassing you by phone. This letter usually provokes them to file a lawsuit in retaliation.

And, the FDCPA is in no way connected to bankruptcy laws. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

I would think you would want to send a DEBT VALIDATION request. Do NOT sign anything you send to any debt collector, or your signature could end up on a contract.

In this letter DEMAND to see the original signed contract, as well as a full account history and itemization of charges. Also demand proof that they have legal right to the debt such as a sale contract and proof of payment as well as a full chain of title back to the original charge off.

They would need all of this in court to beat you, and once you request it, all collections action must cease until it is provided.

Send this letter by certified mail, return reciept requested, and BE SURE to put the CERTIFIED# on the LETTER ITSELF and keep a copy for your records. This proves EXACTLY what you sent.

The amount of time it takes for the letter to arrive is dependent on many factors, but mine are usually signed for withing 3-5 days of mailing.

Have fun with these morons!

GO TO BUDHIBBS.COM

Other Offices:
Bruce H. Gray, President
Tom Wilcox, Director of Marketing

Appletree Business Park Ste 9
2875 Union Rd
Cheektowaga, NY 14227-1465
Fax: (716) 614-7546

8550 Erie Rd
Angola, NY 14006-9612
Phone: (800) 693-3455
Fax: (716) 614-7611

2700 W. Cypress Rd Ste 100
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33319
Phone: (800) 963-3455
Fax: (716) 614-7611

23355 Mercantile Rd., Suite 9000 A
Beachwood, OH 44122
Fax: (216) 464-0600

Bud Says...

These dirt bags have a history of not being able to control their collectors. Below is the results of an action taken against them last year in Minnesota;

CREDITORS INTERCHANGE INC Lic# CA20157551
Against: Collection Agency
Action: Cease & Desist/Consent
Signed: 2/2/2004 $10000 Fine
File # CA 2303834 KRJ
Allegation:
Respondent allowed collectors to threaten actions they had no intention of taking and allowed unlicensed collectors to contact MN residents.

We have just recently received another interesting piece of information about Creditors Interchange. The State of New York is fed up with the unlawful practices of these knuckle-heads. Because of complaints from consumers about Creditors Interchange they were forced to sign a Assurance of Discontinuance to the New York AG. In other words; "We promise not to break the law again". I have attached a copy of the court document in .pdf format. If anyone has problems with this guys please send a letter to the New York AG office, I'm sure they can make sure you are heard.

New York Assurance of Discontinuance against Creditors Interchange.pdf


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August 1, 2003 BUFFALO, NY - Creditors Interchange, Inc. has announced the acquisition of its business operations by two Chicago, Illinois-based private equity firms; Prairie Capital, LP and Caffery Capital Partners, LLC.

Creditor's Interchange is located in (where else) Buffalo, NY, however they have a large collection operation across the river in Canada (ayhh!) where the wages and worker benefits are even smaller. CEO David Young must have gotten one hell of a bonus for pulling this off.

VERY aggressive debt collectors who will lie, threaten and do any illegal act imaginable, just to separate you from your money. These are nasty, desperate conmen, and con-women that should NEVER be trusted. They have posed as bankers, lawyers and other professionals to scare consumers into believing something bad would happen, if monies were not immediately forthcoming.

In reality, these low-life's of the collection industry are nothing but a fraud! Any debt collector from Buffalo, New York is desperate, however Creditors Interchange apparently is hiring the WORST of the WORST! Stay far away from this ship-wreck of out of control rats, they are desperate and dangerous.

budhibbs.com

*** NEVER SIGN THIS LETTER - YOUR SIGNATURE CAN SHOW UP ON DOCUMENTS YOU NEVER SIGNED ...******

*** SEND THIS LETTER CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED. PUT THE CERTIFICATION NUMBER ON THE LETTER ITSELF AS FURTHER PROOF THIS IS THE DOCUMENT YOU SENT *****

It will take only a couple of days to get the collection agency. Put the green confirmation receipt you get back from the mailing with the letter you sent


Your Name
Mailing Address
City, State, Zip

Date

Name of Collection Agency
Mailing Address
City, State, Zip

CERTIFICATION NUMBER: ---------

Re: Dispute of Collection Action: Case # ________

[If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency and/or identify the creditor by name if you can.]

To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]:

On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt]. This individual is collecting on behalf of [name of creditor]. [OR] This individual would not tell me for whom you are supposed to be collecting.

[OR]

On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached.

This is to inform you that I dispute the debt because [insert reason for dispute, e.g. the agency has confused you with someone else or the debt was paid. Include copies, not originals, of any correspondence that proves your point]. I am hereby requesting that you confirm the fact that I owe this debt as required by any applicable state and federal laws. Please contact the creditor to obtain verification.

In addition, under the provisions of state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and related consumer statutes, I am hereby instructing you that you are to cease collection of the debt while efforts are made to obtain verification. Until you resolve this error with the creditor, you should neither contact me nor anyone else except the creditor about this collection.

Furthermore, any reporting of this matter to a credit reporting agency is premature. Until you have investigated my dispute, you should not relay negative information to a credit reporting agency. If negative information has already been reported, you will need to notify the agency to remove said report until the investigative process is over so that my credit report remains accurate, or at the very least, my credit report should be updated to reflect my dispute.

Your next contact with me should be either notice that the creditor has failed to provide verification of the debt and that the matter has been closed or that you believe that this debt is valid and are providing proof of my responsibility. If the former, please confirm that I am not being held responsible for the debt in writing and also that if the account has already been noted on my credit report, that you will contact the bureau(s) in question to have the account removed. If the latter, I expect that you will provide me with an explanation as to why you have decided not to remove this account from collections and a copy of all documents relevant to the debt such as the application, bills, records of communications and payments, and any other data that indicates my responsibility.

I am instructing you not to contact any third parties such as my employer, neighbors, friends or family members. In addition, you may not contact me by phone at work or at my home about this collection activity. All future correspondence should be sent to me in writing.

I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter].

Sincerely,

TYPE OR PRINT YOUR NAME - DO NOT SIGN
Your name

Your posting does not indicate whether you had filed bankrupcy or are just disputing the debt.

NEVER TALK TO A COLLECTION AGENCY -- ALWAYS COMMUNICATE IN WRITING ....

So lets go with some general information.

Make the collection agency validate the debt ..
the burden of prrof is on them.

Ask collection agencies to provide you with information concerning their basis for claiming that you owe a debt ("verification of the debt").
Such things to ask for in the letter include:
COMPLETE PAYMENT HISTORY, A COPY OF EACH AND EVERY CHARGE SLIP WITH MY SIGNATURE FROM THE OPENING OF THE ACCOUNT; EACH AND EVERY STATEMENT FROM THE OPEN DATE OF THE ACCOUNT; CERTIFIED COPY OF THE ORIGINAL ACCOUNT APPLICATION WITH MY SIGNATURE

Collection agencies purchase debts from other companies (usually at a discount) and then go after the debtors - the people who owe the debts - to try to get the debtors to pay the full amount they owe on the debt, plus interest and any late fees or penalties. You may also use this letter to ask collection agencies to stop contacting you. This letter only applies to collection agencies, NOT to creditors- the people who directly sold you goods or gave you credit or loaned you money. While the collection agency must stop contacting you, they can still file a lawsuit against you based on the debt. Often on small or disputed debts, the collection agency will not take further action.

What does a debt collector need to provide as debt validation?
Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt. (Bob is legally entitled to collect this particular debt from you.) This is basic contract law. It is very difficult to get a judgment without a direct contract between collection agency and the original creditor.
At a minimum, some account statements from the original creditor. If you really want to get sticky, you can pin them down on the amount of the debt by requiring complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. (How the heck did Bob calculate this debt? What fees/interest Bob has tacked on to this debt and how he determined these fees?) This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004..
Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. However, account statements from the original can fulfill these requirements.

When a creditor hires a collection agency, the debt has been assigned to the collection agency. If a collection agency is successful at collecting the money on the account, they usually keep a percentage of what is collected as payment for services.

Original creditors sometimes sell debts in large portfolios to collection agencies. This is starting to be the norm, and several of these companies, called Junk Debt Buyers (JDBs), are now being traded on Wall Street.

The companies do not spend much money at all for these debts, sometimes paying less than 1 cent on the dollar. Even if the debt is not a large debt, they often hire attorney to send out mass form-letters to debtors in the hopes of collecting. As you can see, even if they get a small percentage of the debtor to pay, profits are enormous. For more on JDBs, you can read our article here.
Continue to treat any collection agency, junk debt buyer or law firm who says they own the debt as a collection agency subject to the FDCPA. You can still request validation and proof of the purchase, because if they can't validate it, the collection agency can't prove you owe the debt. Often a JDB will tell a consumer that since they purchased the debt, they are not subject the the FDCPA. It's simply not true


HOW DEBTORS ARE PROTECTED
FDCPA prohibit debt collectors from engaging in certain practices, and give debtors some protection during the debt collection process. In general:
Require debt collectors to clearly identify themselves and the nature of any debt at issue in their communication with consumers
Prohibit a broad range of actions by debt collectors
Establish a consumer's rights to limit the type, frequency and location of a debt collector's contacts with the consumer
Establish consumer remedies, including statutory damages, if debt collectors violate the requirements and prohibitions of either Act What Debt Collectors Must DoThe debt collector must disclose in any written or telephone communication to the consumer:
Its identity and business address
The name of the person making the telephone call
The identity of the person or company for whom the debt collector is attempting to collect the debt. In addition, under FDCPA, debt collectors must follow up an initial phone contact with a written communication within 5 days containing the following information:
The amount of the debt
The identity of the person or company for whom the debt collector is attempting to collect the claimed debt
A statement that the consumer may make a written request within 30 days that the debt collector identify the original creditor, if different from the current creditor (this provision is intended to identify the original source of the debt if it has been sold or assigned to a collection agency)
A statement that the consumer may notify the debt collector in writing within 30 days that he or she is disputing the debt, and that the debt collector must furnish the consumer with documents verifying the disputed debt or a copy of any judgment against the consumer
A statement that if the consumer does not notify the debt collector within 30 days that she or he disputes any or all the claimed debt, the debt collector will assume that the debt is valid.


Debtor's Rights
Consumer-debtors are given several legal rights upon being contacted by a debt collector.The debtor has the right to dispute the existence or validity of the amount of the debt. The debtor must be informed of this right by the debt collector. The debtor who wishes to dispute all or any portion of the alleged debt must notify the debt collector that all or part of a claimed debt is disputed. The notice about the disputed debt must be:
In writing
Postmarked or delivered in-hand within 30 days of receiving the follow-up notice from the debt collector A disputed debt could be:
A debt that you believe that you do not owe, or that you believe that you do not owe the amount stated
A debt that you have already paid
A debt related to being hospitalized. If you informed the hospital that you could not pay for the care, the hospital should have considered payment under a charitable care policy
A debt the collection of which you believe is barred because too much time has passed
A debt that was previously discharged in bankruptcy.


What Debt Collectors Cannot Do
A wide range of collection activities is specifically prohibited. Generally these prohibited activities fall into two categories: actions designed to intimidate, harass or annoy consumer debtors; and actions that are unfair, misleading or deceptive.
The use of obscene or abusive language and threats of violence is prohibited. The FDCPA also forbids any threat of criminal action or harm to the consumer's person, property, or reputation. Debt collectors have even been held liable for the use of ethnic slurs, curse words, insults such as "liar," "deadbeat" and "crook," and for threatening to "ruin" credit ratings.
Debt collectors are prohibited from contacting consumer-debtors at unusual times, or times known to be inconvenient to the consumer. The FDCPA actually goes as far as specifying that calls placed before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. (in the consumer's time zone) are generally improper. If a debt collector knows, or has reason to believe, that odd hours are not inconvenient for the consumer (such as if the consumer works at night), then the consumer may be contacted at other times.
Debt collectors may not telephone the consumer-debtor repeatedly or engage the consumer-debtor in endless telephone conversation.
Both the State Act and FDCPA state that debt collectors may not contact consumer-debtors at their places of employment under certain certain circumstances:
o Under the State Act, a debt collector may not call a consumer-debtor at his or her place of employment if the debtor informs the debt collector that he or she does not wish to be contacted there.
o Under the State Act, even if the debt collector is not told to refrain from calling at a place of employment, the debt collect may, at most, place one telephone call per month to the debtor's place of employment.
o In making a call to a place of employment, the debt collector may not inform the employer of the reason for the call unless asked by the employer.
o Under the FDCPA, a debt collector may not call the consumer-debtor at work if it is known that the employer prohibits the employee from receiving such communications. In effect, this provision allows a consumer-debtor to inform a debt collector that his or her employer forbids incoming personal calls and requires the debt collector to respect such a notice. NOTE: One narrow exception to this prohibition exists. A debt collector who has been unable to locate a consumer-debtor may send one letter to the consumer-debtor's last known place of employment.
A debt collector may not communicate with anyone other than the consumer-debtor, his or her spouse or the parents or guardians of a debtor who is a minor, about the debt unless the debtor expressly agrees to permit the "third party" contacts. The State Act further limits contacts with spouses, parents, and guardians to one instance for the sole purpose of locating the debtor when the debt collector has been unable to locate the debtor for at least 30 days.

A debt collector is prohibited from continuing to write or call a consumer-debtor once informed that the consumer is represented by an attorney or other representative (such as a credit counselor).

Debt collectors are prohibited from publishing the names of debtors in any medium (such as a newspaper or magazine). They may not advertise the sale of debts (to so-called "factors") in order to embarrass or humiliate debtors through public exposure.

I meant they intend to sue me in court. Please edit the original title to remove ripoff. I never meant your page is going to be sued. My apologies! I have read bad things about CI here and I wanted to protect myself just in case.