Douglas
“Dear Steve,
My mother received a collection letter at her home of which I have not lived for a number of years. The letter stated that a sheriff would be sent shortly to serve a complaint. The collection letter said that they are not a law firm, that they were just trying to collect a debt. The letter says CACH vs [redacted].
The only thing I can think of is that I was in a debt settlement program when I was about ready to settle a debt with Washington Mutual when CACH bought the debt. CACH would not settle on an amount. I then wrote them a letter to cease and desist all collection activity until they sent me the required information.
They did not send me the required infornation and I have not heard from them since March of ’08. I then get this letter sent to my mother’s address. The letter listed a case #, but no amount was listed. Do you think this a scare tactic? I know CACH is an aggressive collection agency and they are not kosher in some of their collection practices.
What should I do about this letter that the collection agency sent to my mother’s address.
Douglas”
The Answer:
Dear Douglas,
First thing I would do is to advise you to not panic. I know that is easier said than done but let’s get some facts first. And yes, it is a scare tactic, and it almost always works to scare.
CACH has a notorious reputation of bullying, intimidating and maybe even bending and breaking the boundaries of collection activities. I would not first assume that you are being sued, but I also would not disregard the letter.
I think the first thing you should do is to get a copy of your consolidated credit report. It is very important that it is a consolidated credit report and the one linked to is the one I use and love.
The consolidated credit report will show you if there are any outstanding collection items out there.
Next, if you do have outstanding debts that you owe we need to come up with a plan on how to deal with those.
Get your consolidated credit report, come back to CACH Letter Says a Sheriff Would Be Sent Shortly. – Douglas and post what you find in the comments section and let’s deal with it.
Does that make sense?
Steve