Please scroll all the way to the bottom for the short version
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In 1999, my mother put my name on a Chase bank account she had been using for years. She wanted that I have access to it "just in case". I opened my own bank account with Citibank that year or the year after and asked that she take my name off but she was told that doing so would mean closing the account and she did not want to do that.
In 2002 I charged tuition to a Citibank credit card. My years long history with them up until that point was stellar, so before doing so, I called and asked if there was anything that could be done to postpone the payment date. It makes sense that I was told that nothing along these lines could be discussed at that time since the debt had not been taken on yet.
I made the charge and they refused to put me on a payment plan until a few months of missed payments had passed. The account was opened in NYC, the tuition was charged in Arizona. The following semester, I also could not afford to attend school, so I went back to NYC. Once on the payment plan, I made all payments in full and on time. When the length of the payment plan was up, the payments required went up to an amount that was impossible for me to make so I requested to be put on a payment plan again. They refused. It then got sent to a collection agency. Please note, the final payment was made in 2003, and my location at that time was NYC.
I went back to Arizona and am now an Arizona resident. In 2005, I finally opened another checking/savings account for myself there. Aside from student loans, this account was the only addition to my credit record since the Citibank credit card charge.
In 2006, I was only in the U.S. for half of the year because I was awarded a scholarship to study abroad. I went back to the states (Arizona) for one semester in 2007 but am now back overseas. When my study abroad stint ended, I decided to stay a bit before heading back. I am not employed here and (due to always having scholarships, grants, and the rest in student loans) haven't been employed in the U.S. since 2004. I have never owned a car and have no assets. I've never had a lease in my name or any other credit cards, etc.
Knowing that I would be out of the country, I arranged for all of my mail to go to my mother's address (which is in NYC). This summer, they froze my mom's bank account because my name is on it. I called the collection agency to try to remedy this and was hung up on. When I called back, I was spoken to in a very nasty way. I then used the 2005 bank account to pay my mom back for the money she no longer had access to. It is now closed and I have no bank accounts at all.
Despite my mail currently going to my mom's home, since 2004, the only state I've lived in has been Arizona. The original debt, plus interest and fees is $4,953.71. In October, my mom emailed me and told me that they had taped a subpoena to her door and that we're due in court on January 4th - in New York.
At the end of October, I called and requested to settle for a fraction of that. We agreed on $3,300. I asked to get in writing a letter saying that $3,300 would settle the amount. What I was told was that I should instead send them a cover letter confirming the conversation and a check for $3,300.
The fact of the matter is I don't have $3,300. So it was not a lie when I told the guy in charge of my case that I would be borrowing the money. In the end, my fiance (here in Singapore) will pay the settlement amount. But neither of us feels comfortable about just sending payment without a confirmation that this will end everything. Secondly, the easiest way to pay would be through a bank transfer.
After numerous attempts to get the same guy on the phone, finally we spoke and it was weird what happened. I requested a fax of the confirmation (since originally I was told he could not mail me a confirmation), he then said that he doesn't fax to third parties and that what he could do was mail me a confirmation. I told him that that's what I'd originally asked for and asked why he told me he couldn't do it in the first place and he told me it was because he did not think I was serious about paying. The funny thing is I couldn't be MORE serious because the fact of the matter is the plane ticket back to the states would be almost the settlement amount, nor do I want to drag my mom into court because of this, so it would make the most sense to pay and settle their whole issue against me.
Secondly, he would not give me bank details to make a transfer possible. I told him how the person who is loaning me the money is actually abroad and a transfer is the easiest for them. This person just would not get off of his position that only check, money order or cash would be accepted. I then pointed out how these things are not really options since it is money coming to them from ABROAD. He then suggested that the person could send the money to me and I could write them a check. I then had to point out how this won't work considering they froze my bank account and I no longer have the privilege of writing checks. Anyway, that conversation ended on the note of him saying that he will mail me the confirmation. That was week before last, there was nothing received in the meantime.
What I'm wondering now is how to proceed. Could I point out that actually, this collection agency has no jurisdiction over the state I'm actually a resident of (which is Arizona)? I don't like dealing with these people. My fiance is perfectly willing to pay them, but they are not making things easy, and actually, that's been the case for the whole history of them having my debt amongst their files.
My mom still has not mailed/faxed me the subpoena so I still don't even know what that says. I feel that it's not their legal right to drag her into court too, so I'd like to see for myself if that's the case but have not been able to. But maybe they can, due to the bank account connection. Of course, not having a legal foundation, I have no clue really what is in their right to do. Clearly, they now have the upper hand overall and have managed to get a court to see that I am at fault enough to enable a subpoena to be served against me. And I do not deny the debt either, it has merely been the similar dealings with Citibank and then these guys over the years having them always want more than I can pay (instead of trying to work with me on setting reasonable terms) that has led to the current situation. But I digress.... Is there a way to push back the court date to allow for more time for sorting all of this out?
With the situation being that 1) I am not even a resident of NY State anymore 2) I am willing to get them the amount we have settled upon 3) I cannot open a new account to write them a check to do so (I've tried, online, and can't because my credit is bad - there's this debt and a second due to my federal student loan debts, which I've already made arrangements to start paying off the spring or summer of 2009) and 4) would prefer not to hop on a plane or possibly force my mom to go to court on account of all of this, I am very appreciative of any legal insight that can be offered here. My apologies for the length of the post - I wanted to be as detailed as possible.
Thanks for your time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost 5K is owed
There's been a subpoena issued
I'm trying to settle to avoid having to attend court
CA has agreed on settlement amount but is not making payment easy
Seeking advice on how to handle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1999, my mother put my name on a Chase bank account she had been using for years. She wanted that I have access to it "just in case". I opened my own bank account with Citibank that year or the year after and asked that she take my name off but she was told that doing so would mean closing the account and she did not want to do that.
In 2002 I charged tuition to a Citibank credit card. My years long history with them up until that point was stellar, so before doing so, I called and asked if there was anything that could be done to postpone the payment date. It makes sense that I was told that nothing along these lines could be discussed at that time since the debt had not been taken on yet.
I made the charge and they refused to put me on a payment plan until a few months of missed payments had passed. The account was opened in NYC, the tuition was charged in Arizona. The following semester, I also could not afford to attend school, so I went back to NYC. Once on the payment plan, I made all payments in full and on time. When the length of the payment plan was up, the payments required went up to an amount that was impossible for me to make so I requested to be put on a payment plan again. They refused. It then got sent to a collection agency. Please note, the final payment was made in 2003, and my location at that time was NYC.
I went back to Arizona and am now an Arizona resident. In 2005, I finally opened another checking/savings account for myself there. Aside from student loans, this account was the only addition to my credit record since the Citibank credit card charge.
In 2006, I was only in the U.S. for half of the year because I was awarded a scholarship to study abroad. I went back to the states (Arizona) for one semester in 2007 but am now back overseas. When my study abroad stint ended, I decided to stay a bit before heading back. I am not employed here and (due to always having scholarships, grants, and the rest in student loans) haven't been employed in the U.S. since 2004. I have never owned a car and have no assets. I've never had a lease in my name or any other credit cards, etc.
Knowing that I would be out of the country, I arranged for all of my mail to go to my mother's address (which is in NYC). This summer, they froze my mom's bank account because my name is on it. I called the collection agency to try to remedy this and was hung up on. When I called back, I was spoken to in a very nasty way. I then used the 2005 bank account to pay my mom back for the money she no longer had access to. It is now closed and I have no bank accounts at all.
Despite my mail currently going to my mom's home, since 2004, the only state I've lived in has been Arizona. The original debt, plus interest and fees is $4,953.71. In October, my mom emailed me and told me that they had taped a subpoena to her door and that we're due in court on January 4th - in New York.
At the end of October, I called and requested to settle for a fraction of that. We agreed on $3,300. I asked to get in writing a letter saying that $3,300 would settle the amount. What I was told was that I should instead send them a cover letter confirming the conversation and a check for $3,300.
The fact of the matter is I don't have $3,300. So it was not a lie when I told the guy in charge of my case that I would be borrowing the money. In the end, my fiance (here in Singapore) will pay the settlement amount. But neither of us feels comfortable about just sending payment without a confirmation that this will end everything. Secondly, the easiest way to pay would be through a bank transfer.
After numerous attempts to get the same guy on the phone, finally we spoke and it was weird what happened. I requested a fax of the confirmation (since originally I was told he could not mail me a confirmation), he then said that he doesn't fax to third parties and that what he could do was mail me a confirmation. I told him that that's what I'd originally asked for and asked why he told me he couldn't do it in the first place and he told me it was because he did not think I was serious about paying. The funny thing is I couldn't be MORE serious because the fact of the matter is the plane ticket back to the states would be almost the settlement amount, nor do I want to drag my mom into court because of this, so it would make the most sense to pay and settle their whole issue against me.
Secondly, he would not give me bank details to make a transfer possible. I told him how the person who is loaning me the money is actually abroad and a transfer is the easiest for them. This person just would not get off of his position that only check, money order or cash would be accepted. I then pointed out how these things are not really options since it is money coming to them from ABROAD. He then suggested that the person could send the money to me and I could write them a check. I then had to point out how this won't work considering they froze my bank account and I no longer have the privilege of writing checks. Anyway, that conversation ended on the note of him saying that he will mail me the confirmation. That was week before last, there was nothing received in the meantime.
What I'm wondering now is how to proceed. Could I point out that actually, this collection agency has no jurisdiction over the state I'm actually a resident of (which is Arizona)? I don't like dealing with these people. My fiance is perfectly willing to pay them, but they are not making things easy, and actually, that's been the case for the whole history of them having my debt amongst their files.
My mom still has not mailed/faxed me the subpoena so I still don't even know what that says. I feel that it's not their legal right to drag her into court too, so I'd like to see for myself if that's the case but have not been able to. But maybe they can, due to the bank account connection. Of course, not having a legal foundation, I have no clue really what is in their right to do. Clearly, they now have the upper hand overall and have managed to get a court to see that I am at fault enough to enable a subpoena to be served against me. And I do not deny the debt either, it has merely been the similar dealings with Citibank and then these guys over the years having them always want more than I can pay (instead of trying to work with me on setting reasonable terms) that has led to the current situation. But I digress.... Is there a way to push back the court date to allow for more time for sorting all of this out?
With the situation being that 1) I am not even a resident of NY State anymore 2) I am willing to get them the amount we have settled upon 3) I cannot open a new account to write them a check to do so (I've tried, online, and can't because my credit is bad - there's this debt and a second due to my federal student loan debts, which I've already made arrangements to start paying off the spring or summer of 2009) and 4) would prefer not to hop on a plane or possibly force my mom to go to court on account of all of this, I am very appreciative of any legal insight that can be offered here. My apologies for the length of the post - I wanted to be as detailed as possible.
Thanks for your time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost 5K is owed
There's been a subpoena issued
I'm trying to settle to avoid having to attend court
CA has agreed on settlement amount but is not making payment easy
Seeking advice on how to handle
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