Dont worry Calendar Girl. There is lots you can do. Depending on what it is you want. I am assuming that you dont want to go to court and you dont want to pay.
I dont blame you. Even the original credit company didnt give you any money. They only monetized the amounts that you signed for at the stores/places of business where you used the card. By the way, those little slips of paper are worth BIG dollars to the credit card companies. They have been paid in spades long before you send them a dime. You are doing THEM a favor by allowing them the use of your signature on what amounts to a legal bill of exchange every time you sign a CC receipt at a store.
The fact that they have the nerve to ask you to pay for it, charge you interest even and then get all pushy with you means they are just as big collection agencies as the collection agencies.
Your account is in the hands of Total Credit Recovery. Did you consent to your account being transferred to them? Not likely.
The fact that they did take an account over(a 2 party account of which you were one of the parties) WITHOUT the consent of one of the parties(you) constitutes legal trespass.
Write them a letter(make a copy for your own records) and tell them that you do not consent to their intrusion into your private contract. Inform them that they have already committed legal tresspass by doing so and committed fraud by trying to extort the money from you.
It doesnt mean that you intent to pursue them in court. But they dont know that--and their legal advisors will take notice that you have expressed that they dont have your consent.
Even if they somehow miss your letter, dont worry about court either. Even the courts of the land cannot proceed against you without your consent. A lawyer cannot proceed against you without your consent.
Sadly too many of us dont know this and dont realize that silence constitutes consent. We get a legal looking letter from a law firm that says we must show up in court to contest...whatever. And we think..."uh oh---I guess I gotta go to court then"
If you do nothing and just show up in court, you have given your consent.
If however, you mail them back and tell them that you dont give them permission to make a legal determination about you--they cant proceed. And they know it.
If you do decide to show up in court. Dont expect the judge to be on your side. He may and he may not--- I know that they get 30% of all fines they levy in court....but I dont know about third claims court.
In any case, he is just a third party collector and court is not about truth but about argument.
You are the one with the power in your own affairs.
Good luck and have fun with it.