jamiedude:

A person with no money can absolutely sue! There ARE lawyers who will work on a "pro bono" or "contingecy-C" basis. In my opinion, the ones who work on contingency-C are the best and work the hardest because if they don't get you moneym they don't get paid.

Hey joe if you read the posts you'd see that I had a settlement letter and already settled but Natale is still trying to collect money that I don't owe. I"ve dealt with it by going to the original debtors. I'm sure Natale will keep phoning for a bit but I know now and have proof I owe no money. This just shows that they play the numbers and try to scare people into paying money they don't owe.

I would get a settlement offer letter first before handing over any money.They can fax it to if you like.

Hey ChrissyG25,

Nicely Done!!

Are you going to get this settlement agreement in writing?
Also make sure you keep an eye on your credit report as debt settlements usually take a harsh toll on them.

Hopefully this takes some stress off.

Just got off the phone with Wells Fargo. Informed that they did accept our cash settlement and that we no longer owe them any money. She is drafting and sending out a letter to that effect. Also told me that if Natale Law Office contacts us again then to give him her phone number and also give him the contact at ARO to speak to to verify this. Such a relief and now I just hope this is the end of it.

Unbelievable. Did Natale really buy this debt? It's beginning to sound like 5 Star Mortgage all over again.

Yes Jamiedude everything is true. That's why this is so hokey. I still have a copy of the letter with the settlement offer as well as the envelope it came in. The letter was dated May 10 the postmark on the envelope was May 15 and I received it on May 23. Immediately upon receiving the letter I contacted Peter at NCO and told him we'd be settling. He was upset though that we had our own lender arranged as he had someone "just down the road" that specialized in our situations with home equity loans. I can't help but wonder if we dealt with this friend if the situation would be different. I don't know why Deanna Natale has these numbers and even though I sent Warren a copy of the letter as well as a copy of the cheque he still insists we owe Wells Fargo 13000 which is the number he told us on the phone but the number on the letter is 13799.19. BTW nowhere on the settlement offer letter that Peter sent does it say without prejudice. I also have the bill that came from NCO after we sent in the payment that reflected the new amount owing. I don't know where or from whom natale bought this debt but it's wrong and I have no intention of paying it.

If you're a chicken in trouble don't go to a fox for advice.

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/guides/ReplyingClaimJun06EN.pdf

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/guides/AfterJudgmentJun06EN.pdf

Now with respect to the Punjabi brothers over at Pomer and Boccia, 4110 Steeles Avenue West in Toronto: Before you pay anything or try to make any settlements with them, it's well worth noting the following:

You live in Ontario and so I'm including links on "How to Reply to a Small Claims Court Judgment When You Are in Default" and also the "Guide to Getting Results After a Judgment." See the section on wage garnishments. Because of your student loan for (gasp!) $70K, you'll likely need to ask the Court for a hearing to modify any wage garnishments filed against you. See the "Wage Act" link for garnishment rules and appeals.

But before this, there's the matter of the default judgment itself. You obviously didn't reply within 20 days and you're right in concluding that since the defaut judgment was obtained almost exactly 2 years after your last payment, they must have filed a Statement of Claim quite a bit before that period was up. There is a 2 year limitation period but it refers to the time when the creditor knew or should have known the account had gone into default and when they file the Statement of Clain (Form 7A) in Court. Even though you're out of luck on the S.O.L. period, all is not necessarily lost.

If you could have shown the Court that you were improperly served, you could file a Motion (Forms 15A, 15B) to Set Aside the Default Judgment because you didn't learn about it until the garnishment notice arrived. However, this requires that you demonstate that none of the documents arrived at your last known address. Did the plaintiff file any returned documents or letters with the court etc?

Even if you can convince the Court that you were not at fault for not being properly served, you still have to give the judge a good reason as to what your defence would have been had you been able to respond. That's why the web guide says that you have to file a Statement of Defence (Form 9A) with the court also. Or at least give the judge a half decent outline of some reasonable defense.

What to use? Well, a lawyer will tell you that one valid defence is to claim the actual amount owing was a lot less than what was awarded in the original default judgement after prejudgment interest is factored in. The problem is that this will probably fail since the judge will likely have the copies of all the credit card statements contained in your file before him.

What to do? Well, all is still not lost. Explain your desparate situation to the judge. It's important what type of impression you create, trust me. Because the judge can do almost anything he wants, he may, at this point, set aside or greatly modify (in your favour) the garnishment that was obtained and make a separate order for payment. It's impossible to say since every case and every judge is different.

Of course, if even this fails and the judge dismisses your motion outright, you can still request a hearing (after you leave the court) at a later date on your wage garnishment to be reduced. It's impossible, as I said, to give a definite answer as to what will happen, but I can tell you, if a person presents a good image (as opposed to someone who gives the impression that he is only trying to screw the Court around), they will get terms far gentler than they would get with any collection agency. I saw one lady that owed the same credit card amount as you get off with spreading payments over 30 years with no interest! That's not bad! And that was when all the above steps had failed for her! Try getting that with those collection agencies Pomer and Boccia.

By the way, those guys at Pomer and Boccia are gross liars just like all other collectors, so if you deal with them, go in with a polygraph under your arm.

Ray

angella, do you honestly think your comments were of any help? Sue a collection agency or a creditor? Then you woke up! The lady couldn't afford to pay her loan off, how is she to source the money for a lawyer. Come on......

ChrissyG25, you say you paid NCO $4,955 from the original $12,000 -- a settlement of just over 40%. This more than likely a below perimeter settlement offer which would have to be approved by the client, in this case Hilco Receivables or Wells Fargo.

What I find interesting though, is that the agency set the deadline for the first of the month -- each agency has an end of the month quota they need to reach, and having you payout at the beginning doesn't make much sense, but what ever.

So, you're sitting in the lenders office, on May 31 (when the settlement was due on June 1) and you have the collector on the line. The lender informs the collector the funds will not be available by tomorrow. So the collector asks for the lender to fax him a copy of the cheque, which was done. I as a collector my self can confirm this should be sufficient for a client to warrant the agency the commission. NCO then sent a currier to the lender to pick the cheque up (instead of having it automatically deposited into their trust account at their bank). The funds take a whole week to come in (whether it was the lender who wouldn't release them for the week, or the currier took a week).

At this point, the agency accepted the $4,955 and you didn't hear anything back from NCO, the funds were never returned to you, or the lender. Then a collector at NCO starts calling you again, stating that the remaining 60% is due, because the funds were got received on time, EVEN THOUGH he had received a faxed copy of the cheque? At this point, he was to email the client to review, and you never heard back from him.

NOW, you are being contacted by the legal department of Global Credit for $13,000 ($1,000 more than the original debt PLUS the $4,955 you had paid to NCO apparently was never credited)?

Even if NCO and Wells Fargo did not accept the settlement because the payment was late, the $5,000 already should have been credited, and you should have received a letter from NCO as a statement of receipt.

And I know this is probably going to sound terrible, but if you did not receive a settlement letter, or a letter stating you're $5K would be accepted as a settlement, there is no proof of the claim, and Deanna Natalie’s law office is legally collecting the remaining $7,000.

And BTW, if you DID get a settlement letter, they all state on them "without prejudice" so it wouldn't hold up anyway as a contract.

Good luck and let me know if something went over my head ;)

Tape record Peter's comments. It will help to bolster your claim that you were told it was OK if the payment was a week late.

If you still have the original letter where they offered that settlement, keep it.

Keep your receipts.

Once you have all this, sue NCO and Wells Fargo. Your settlement was a contract that was agreed to by NCO and, as NCO was apparently acting as an agent for Wells Fargo, agreed to by Wells Fargo as well. I figure if you sue them for the 7k for breach of contract and harassment (harassment will work as you no longer legally owed them money... they agreed to settle). And, while you're at it, you may want to consider calling the law society about Ms. Natale's involvement as well.