Admin Edit:"It's a FAKE comment!"
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i did the same. i've settle many debts. you have to actually follow the chain of title, not just ask hsbc who they sold it to. Yes they sold it to a agency, who then sold it to an agency then sold it to another agency. if you follow the chain of title you will finally end up at the legal holder of the note. Also make sure to request a letter stating the arrangements when setting payments. Be careful I've received civil judgements for wopping amounts of money for defaulting on a sears card, and it wasnt sears or the financing company that sued. It was a collections agency !
You don't have to do any of the above. Just insist that the agency attempting to collect provide *written* documentation of the debt. If they can't or won't it's game over for them (it probably means they are scammers trying to trick you into paying money you don't owe).
You don't have to do any of the above. Just insist that the agency attempting to collect provide *written* documentation of the debt. If they can't or won't it's game over for them (it probably means they are scammers trying to trick you into paying money you don't owe).
The shilling in this thread is either giving the collector unqualified thanks and praise or trying to frighten the reader with visions of courtrooms and unbreakable judgments. We've seen this kind of smokescreen before, though this is a new smoke color. That the Shill of Many Names would ally himself with criminal enterprises like Midland Funding and LVNV/Sherman is humorously telling. The shill keeps yammering about "chain of title" and talks as though a creditor judgment is locked and done before you can blink twice.
Let's clear some air. Chain of title in junk debt is pretty much nonexistent. A JDB can maybe show you it paid for an account portfolio but will have ZERO proof anyone named in the files actually owes. Lacking proof or any way to obtain it, JDB collectors are trained to bully, bluff, and abuse people until they give up fighting and cut a check, maybe for something which was never owed.
It's true that doing nothing in response can get you sued and racked on a court judgment. Your local court dockets are full of people who sat quietly and took the beating. You don't have to be quiet. You have state and federal laws to help you, the same ones this outfit appears eager to violate.
Official-type material on US federal collection law:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ... bt%20Collection
You don't have to "follow the chain of title" or any of the other things this shill suggests. The creditor does. And they have to give you the evidence validating the debt IN WRITING if you request (which you should).