It is ironic that you may drown yourself deeper in debt when all that you may be trying to do is to get out of debt with the help of a debt settlement agency. The danger of enrolling in a debt settlement program without the help of a qualified bankruptcy attorney cannot be overemphasized.
In a recent case in New York, a consumer enrolled in a debt settlement program offered by a debt settlement agency to clear his credit card debts. He owed about $32,000 in credit card debts. The debt settlement agency set up a special account for him and asked him to pay $ 423.40 a month into that special account for 48 months or 4 years. The total amount to be paid into the account by the consumer at the end of the 4years was to be about $20, 323. The debt settlement agency in this instance made it clear to the consumer that they will only strike a deal with his creditors when this New York consumer’s payments reached an unspecified amount to pay off his debts. This meant that the consumer’s creditors could still garnish his wages and bring lawsuits against him while the consumer was paying into that special account and waiting for 4 years to reach a specified amount.
The agreement between the settlement agency and the consumer also provided that the agency would take 15 percent of the total debt as service fee. This service fee therefore totaled about $4,890. That was not all. The consumer also had to pay $40 as monthly service charge. Furthermore, the consumer had to pay $9.85 each month to the bank maintaining his account.
Adding all these fees and charges, the consumer would only be left with about $13,040 out of his total contribution of $20,323 to pay for his debt of about $30,000. This should alert all New York City consumers out there that the debt settlement agency in this instance and in most cases do not have the intention of helping the consumer to pay off his debts. They are just around to take advantage of your situation and milk you dry.
In this particular case, when the consumer realized that he could negotiate directly with his creditors and therefore decided to opt out of the debt settlement program, the agency told him that since he had decided to cancel the contract after more than 30 days had passed, he was only entitled to the money left in his account after all fees had been deducted and there was to be no refund. Shockingly, the debt settlement agency told this consumer that he had only $19 in his account after he had paid $1693.60.
Yes, it is unbelievable but it happens. The debt settlement agencies use the services of lawyers who carefully craft their contract. Why shouldn’t you, an individual also seek the services of a qualified New York bankruptcy lawyer before you enter into such a deal? The consumer in this instance was lucky because the court declared the contract illegal. You may not be that lucky. Your creditors might get to you first. Your creditors may drag you to court first before you realize you are being cheated by a debt settlement agency. You might be forced into bankruptcy and besides, there is all that stress in trying to get your money back from the debt settlement agency.
Before you seek the help from a debt settlement, debt negotiations or debt resolution company or agency, please seek the advise of a qualified bankruptcy lawyer near you in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn or any other part of New York City.
The economic recession has forced many people in New York City to lose their sources of income and have led many to bankruptcy. These desperate and debt-ridden people are often enticed by any advertisements and offers from debt settlement agencies in New York to help them get out of debt.
If you are one of those burdened with debts and seeking help from a debt settlement agency, then you have to be careful because there is a chance that you may end up worse off than you were. The settlement agencies usually charge between 15% to 20% of a consumer’s credit card balance as fees. It has been estimated that consumers rarely get out of debt settlement programs with their debts cleared. In most situations, consumers get out of these debt settlement programs worse off with severely damaged credits, continuous threats from collection agencies and lawsuits from their creditors.
The first thing the settlement agencies tell you is to stop making payments to your creditors and rather make the payments into a special account that they will set up for you. They do their best to assure you that you will have nothing to worry about once you start the program. They tell you once you manage to reach a certain amount, they will strike a deal with your creditors to cut your debt by half and pay the debt off. This debt settlement program usually has to last between 2 and 3 years.
All this information that the debt settlement companies provide to consumers can be best described as fraudulent if not deceptive. This is because after you start the program, you will soon realize that your participation in the program does not necessarily stop the calls and threats from your creditors and collection agencies. When you start getting calls from your creditors and debt collection agencies, you will immediately call your debt settlement agency thinking that they have you covered. The usual response from them will either be that you do not yet have enough money in your account to cover the debt or that they have no control over the actions of your creditors and collection agencies. What will shock you even further will be the realization that you only have about half of the money you have been paying so far in your special account. For example if you have managed to pay about $3000, you will find out you only have about $1500 in your account. When you ask why, your debt settlement agency will tell you they used the about half of your money to cover administrative fees. Meanwhile, the calls and threats of lawsuits from your creditors and collection agencies will be forcing you into bankruptcy.
Before you sign on to any debt settlement program, please contact your qualified Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and other New York City bankruptcy attorney for counsel. Do not make that choice without a bankruptcy lawyer and drown yourself deeper in debt.
Many people who file for bankruptcy in New York have fears about other people getting to know that they have file for bankruptcy. They hide this fact from friends and members of their family. This is because the perception here among some people is that it is shameful to file for bankruptcy though I have had to explain over and over that there is nothing shameful about filing for bankruptcy. Others get so scared that their employers would find out that they filed for bankruptcy. They get afraid that their employers might fire them from their jobs if they ever get to know. They try as much as possible to hide their filing for bankruptcy because of this sense of insecurity.
Here is news for you. Federal law prohibits your employer from discriminating against you or from terminating your employment solely because you filed for bankruptcy. The reality now is that a great number of people in New York City and possibly someone near you in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan have filed or are filing for bankruptcy. Businesses cannot help it but have a good percentage of that number in their companies. It’s a reality that everyone is facing and so companies would rather not do anything that would appear to be discriminating against their employees.
Besides, you’ve got the law on your side. Your employers would rather have you working than you suing them for huge sums for discrimination.
The law protects you from collection agents when the means used in collecting debts are improper.
Before a debt collection agency starts pursuing you for unpaid debts, it must first give you notice of the debt and also provide you with an opportunity to either confirm or deny the debt. Every person who has a claim against another must give that other person notice of the claim and a chance for that other person to contest the claim or debt in court. This is known as service of process. The service may be faulty if the debt collection agency fails to properly investigate or find the actual residence of the debtor and serves process at the wrong address. Don’t succumb to pressure from these collection agents. If you have not been given proper notice as explained here, call your NY bankruptcy attorney now.
The most common unfair debt collection practice is where the debt collection agency or lawyer harasses or scares you, the debtor through continuous phone calls to the debtor’s home or cell phone. If a debt collection agent calls you at odd hours, for example late in the night or at dawn, with the intention to force the debtor to make payment, please call your NY bankruptcy attorney now for immediate help.
Another way the debt collection may be improper is when the debt collection agency fails to investigate, (especially where the agency was not the original creditor) whether you, the debtor in fact owed the amount as claimed by the original creditor.
Furthermore, the debt collection agent needs to prove that the original creditor has duly and properly assigned all right, title and interest in the account or debt to it. This will be the basis for pursuing any claim against the debtor. If your debt collector has no proof of assignment of the debt to her, call your NY bankruptcy lawyer now.
The law seeks to protect the most vulnerable members of the society who may feel intimidated just at the sight of a letter signed by a lawyer. In instances where such abusive means is used by a debt collection agency or agent, the court usually protects you by dismissing the complaint of the debt collection agency. Your lawyer can have the court set aside a default judgment which was given in favor of the debt collection agency if you did not have a chance to set aside the debt. Don’t just wait for debt collection agencies to drive you into bankruptcy.
Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to stop abusive debt collection practices. One way to stop this abuse by debt collectors is the requirement of a validation notice and period in collecting debts.
If the debt collection agency does not follow this requirement, you can let your New York lawyer seek an order from the court to get the debt discharged and even get damages against the debt collection agency.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, all debt collectors are to send a written notice to the debtor setting forth the debtor’s right to dispute the debt, among other things. This notice must be sent within 5 days of the debt collector’s initial communication with the debtor. This is called the ‘validation notice’.
The debtor then has 30 days from the time of receiving the validation notice to send the debt collector a notice disputing the debt. This period is known as the validation period.The debt collector is free to go on with her debt collection activity during the validation period if the debtor fails to dispute the debt.
However, the debt collection agency must not do anything that might overshadow or be inconsistent with the debtor’s right to dispute the debt or request the name or address of the original creditor. For example, in NY, it is wrong for the debt collection agency to serve a debtor with a summons and a complaint within the 30-day validation period without accompanying communication assuring the debtor that her rights under the validation period remain in force and are not affected by the service of the lawsuit. The courts have this requirement because most Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and other NY state residents might get confused and understand the service of the lawsuit as a termination of their rights during the validation period.
To prevent such confusion, the best practice is to provide an explanation in both the validation notice and the summons and complaint clarifying the rights of the debtor and explaining that the starting a lawsuit does not override the debtors rights.
