DCA Advice Please

**di30** · 14th January 2011, 21:49:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Hi and welcome to LB

I'm sure someone with experience will post up with some useful advice for you soon, the best of luck.

**Curlyben** · 14th January 2011, 21:51:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Hello and Welcome to the site.

Do not fret we're here to help.

Well so far so good, you are doing things correctly.
You should never enter into discussions on the phone with ANY DCA as all they are interested in is a payment.

Although feel free to answer the phone when they call and tell them that you do not discuss any financial matters over the phone and require everything in writing for the avoidance of doubt.
They may not like this, but you are well within your rights, and the OFT debt collection guidelines,to ask this.

There are various times of year when debts are (re)sold in bulk deals to clear the books.
Just before the year end is a big one for the creditors.
After all any income makes them look good and they can also write off the debt for tax reasons.

So how to proceed from here.
Well time for some letters.

As they have sent a second letter I would be inclined to throw a simple Prove It at them.
There's one on post #4 in the first link in my siggie, along with alot of further reading..

Just out of interest who is the OC and DCA ?

**Concertpianist** · 14th January 2011, 21:55:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Thanks both for your kind (and quick) welcomes!! That was nice.

Cabot and Citi are the two concerned.

**Curlyben** · 14th January 2011, 21:58:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

I thought I smelt Cabot in this with the method used to deliver the notice of assignment, which, BTW, doesn't comply with statute law. Why should they let that bother them

**Concertpianist** · 14th January 2011, 22:05:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

They seem to have built up something of a reputation if these forums are anything to go by. Right I shall fire off that 'prove it' letter on Monday morning and let you know how things proceed. In writing I am not re-setting the statute barred 'clock' in any way am I?

**Curlyben** · 14th January 2011, 22:13:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Nope as the Prove It does just that.
You are asking for further information to validate their claims.

Also DO NOT sign this at all, simply use a fancy handwriting font, no need to give them more ammo now is there

Also have a read of the first link. The details have been tried and tested many times by myself and alot of others.
I enjoy making DCA's lives difficult.

**Concertpianist** · 18th April 2011, 19:57:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

OK. Time for an update. Wrote the "prove it" letter in the middle of January as suggested. Had an acknowledgement that they would look into the matter and reply within 21 days. Then....silence. Until today......

I have had a big envelope full of photocopies of what they describe as available statements on the account. Also enclosed is a letter from a Steve Birkinshaw (Head of Transaction Services at Citi).....apparently. And a copy of a Credit Agreement with no signatures on it.

I have a host of observations and questions to ask if I may?

According to my Experian credit report this alleged debt goes statute barred in a couple of weeks' time, but according to the statements sent by the DCA there were payments made into 2006. So can the DCA send those off to Experian and change the default date??? I do hope not. I've printed off a copy of my report in case there's any funny business.

Everything about the documentation is spurious - the statements of account look nothing like bona fide credit card statements to me. They contain the small error in my address which the DCA have also used since they contacted me in the first instance. The unsigned credit agreement has the term 'creditor' and 'debtor' just below the heading 'Credit Agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act'. When do such documents apply to creditor and debtor? Don't they talk about lender and borrower or such like?

But my real worry is that the DCA will use this shaky documentation to re-set the Statute Barred Clock. Can they do that??

And how should I now respond to the DCA? All I sent them so far is a prove it letter. Is there any point in sending them a CCA letter? All they will do I would imagine is say that they have already sent me an (unsigned) of the original credit agreement.

And I I type this the phone has started ringing again, after a couple of months of quiet. Answered it this morning, declined to give any personal info on the phone and hung up!

Any advice gratefully received. It's been spot on so far.

Concertpianist

**WendyB** · 18th April 2011, 21:57:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Did you actually make any payments in 2006? Because if you did, then it won't be SB till 2012.

**Concertpianist** · 18th April 2011, 22:20:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Hi Wendy,

The default date on the credit report is April 2005. Cabot have sent me 'statements' suggesting payments continued into 2006. However, on closer inspection of these statements, there is a problem with all of them. There are statements into 2006 but......at the bottom of each of the statements it says on each of them "Payment should reach your account by xx/xx/2005" giving the same date of the same month on each one since April 2005. Prior to that the dates would make sense. This is evidence of cut-and-pasting at best I would suggest, but could you argue that it is, in fact, fraud????

**WendyB** · 18th April 2011, 22:27:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Well yes, I dare say you could. But the question is, if you act now, won't that set the cat amongst the pigeons, as in if you said, "no I haven't actually made any payments since 2005", would that be seen as acknowledging the debt? You need someone more experienced than me for that one.

My thoughts, at the moment, would be to do nothing until after the debt is definitely statute barred, then you can just reply to everything in a "Go away, this debt is statute barred" sort of a way.

I would wait for more advice as well though.

**Concertpianist** · 18th April 2011, 22:37:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Thanks Wendy. I have no intention of doing anything until the SB clock runs to its conclusion and then drops off my report, and I will then write the standard SB letter. However, if a dispute subsequently arises I think I have some really useful documentation up my sleeve. It's not a question of debt avoidance for me. I save spent the best part of 7 years paying my way out of debt and then I received a demand from a DCA for an alleged debt which they try to back up with dodgy paperwork. Well....I simply won't have it!! They can't prove that I owe any money five years after a default notice, and I am even less convinced now that I owe them anything.
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
I mean 'six years'.....

**ODC** · 18th April 2011, 23:03:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

The pondlife may allege that payments were made in 2006 but the MUST PROVE IT.

I would wait for another couple of weeks and then send the SB letter. If they say its not then its up to thm to PROVE you mad the subsequent payments

**Concertpianist** · 18th April 2011, 23:13:PM

Re: DCA Advice Please

Cheers ODC. You're right of course. Play the waiting game for a little longer - not sure how long it takes Experian to remove a default notice after the default date + 6 years has passed - a day, a week , a month? I suppose they'll allege that the dodgy documents they have sent me today are proof enough of continuing payments but I think the paperwork is so lousy and a signed credit agreement remains absent, so they can whistle as loudly as they like imho.

**ODC** · 19th April 2011, 07:03:AM

Re: DCA Advice Please

WTF............

DCA Advice Please