Where do I start?!

[cupcake68]

Not normally the person to avoid paying their way but circumstances are now as such that I cannot pay my minimum payments on huge credit cards and am desperate to save my family and home.

 

I am constantly searching for a way out!

 

I have come across a website (linked to a program I saw on panorama last year) that is offering to buy my credit cards debts (if taken out before april 2007) for £349 plus 10% of outstanding debt.

 

The craziest of this crazy thing is they allow you to pay them by credit card then include that debt into their sale!!

 

Am I so bogged down with desperation that I am being fooled here?

 

Please please help!

 

Thanks

[PGH7447]

Hi and welcome to the Cag

 

Your right you are being fooled, who in their right mind would buy a big debt of thousands for £349.

 

The only way to sort this out is to let people on here help you, at no cost to you except for postage and stationary and some time spent researching and reading.

 

if you list what your debts are and to whom, then people can point you in the right direction.

[AA99]

Please don't panic:) Read as much as you can on here first, the sections relevant to your own creditors:) When you feel ready, post your own threads:) You will then get a lot of sound advice:)

[cupcake68]

Thanks so much!

 

They tell me they are so sure they can wipe off my debt they are prepared to buy it! I do have to sign to say that any money they can claim back n unfair charges becomes theirs but hey if this is a quick and easy way to get some sleep at night and they do all the work they can have it!!

[Viano]

Do they tell you what will happen if they can't wipe out your debts?

 

Take the advice posted above, it works and you will be able to sleep

[cupcake68]

Here is the agreement they want me to sign! This_is_what_you_need_to_do_READ_THIS_FIRST-1.pdf

 

I hope that has worked!!

 

I am currently in the process of remortgaging my home, it's taken a long time to find someone willing to loan and I don't want to rely on it until it is complete, therefore I don't want to mess with my credit rating at this moment. I have just enough money to pay my minimum payments on credit cards this month should I be paying them or not?

 

Thanks again!

[Docman]

DO NOT TOUCH THIS OFFER WITH AN EXTRA LARGE BARGE POLE!!

 

This is the company that was set up by Mr & Mrs Rankine from Birmingham. They tried to get out of their debts and boasted about it in the press and on TV. When Panorama looked at debts a few weeks ago, up popped this pair.

 

Basically, the judge threw out their case and screwed up the law for everyone using the CCA as it was intended by Parliament - as a consumer protection measure.

 

There are several threads that make reference to this case. Please read them before throwing your money away - for that is what you will be doing.

[cupcake68]

Thanks so much for all this advice.

 

Our debts are to credit cards all but one was taken out before April 2007.

 

Do I need to post a list of which cards and how much to get advice?

 

I have read so much and I don't know what is right and what is wrong!

 

Thanks again

[bazaar]

You can start a new thread for each card if you wish, (IE Barclaycard in the barclaycard section of the site etc.) this'll give you some reference for your paperwork. First thing to do is to CCA each of the card companies. its £1 for each request, go to the templates section for the CCA letter and amend it to suit each card, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING.

come back and holler if you need more help.

[cupcake68]

Thanks bazaar!

 

Should I be making this months payments in the mean time? I can't see how I will be able to pay next months anyway!

 

Am I likely to succeed with them if they are from before april 2007 or is that just rubbish i've been quoted?

 

How long does this process take?

 

Thanks again!

[bazaar]

Hi Esile,

Not many here would advocate not paying for the sake of not paying.

However, once youve issued a CCA and after 12 +2 Working days , they maybe havent complied, you can then send a notice letter to them for default and then put the account in dispute. This means that youre not obliged to pay anything until they produce the correct paperwork or decide to start proceedings This will be a long slog, so get yourself prepared by reading some of the threads relevant to your cards, ask questions, so you can get a feel for what youre up against. But always remember, we are all here because of pretty much the same thing as why you came here in the first place.

When you realise that youre not alone, it'll get easier.

[cupcake68]

Thanks!

 

So am I right in saying if they don't reply to CCA in 12 + 2 that means they have no chance of getting any money out of me?

 

I find this incredibly scary!!

 

The offer I got from the company I should not touch with a barge pole was offering to take all this stress/pressure off of me!

 

I am no expert in law so I find it unnerving having to do it myself and not know what the probable outcome will be!

[PGH7447]

Thanks!

 

So am I right in saying if they don't reply to CCA in 12 + 2 that means they have no chance of getting any money out of me? - No it means that until they do produce the proper paperwork you an stop paying, however if in future they do come up with it then it starts again

 

I find this incredibly scary!! - so did we all at the start, nut it is so much fun when you get going

 

The offer I got from the company I should not touch with a barge pole was offering to take all this stress/pressure off of me! By putting yourself in charge you also remove the stress and pressure.

 

I am no expert in law so I find it unnerving having to do it myself and not know what the probable outcome will be!

- 99% of the people on here are not experts either but many have won in court, I myself am in the middle of a court case and find it daunting but fulfilling

[gizmo111]

If you stop paying your cards next month then your credit rating will show this.

If you are remortgaging - is it at a better rate than you have now?

Wil ly ou be able to afford this new mortgage and your other debts?

 

PS the offer to buy is not a good one..... they wont make your payments and you will be defaulted.

[cupcake68]

Thanks PGH7447 (good luck to you) and gizmo111

 

We also have a 2nd charge at 12.1% (I have another post about this one!) that we need to get rid of so remortgage will put us in a much better position but not solve the problem of the credit cards!!

 

The company said they legally buy the debt so it's not ours any more, they give us sample letters to send to credit reference agencies and each credit card to say that we no longer own the debt and in future they should contact Momentum. We pay them £349 plus 10% (which I could add to the credit card debt they were buying!) and they pay us £1 to say they have legally bought the debt. It then becomes theirs to do with as they will. What worried me about it is they said as long as it was taken out before Apr 07 they were convinced they could get it written off but from what I read on hear it's not all pre Apr 07 debt that get written off.

 

I spent all night reading this site and have got my head around it a bit more I think!!

 

Can I just ask a couple more questions?

 

Once you request the CCA do they stop you using the card?

 

If they can't find the agreement and they suspend it (until they do) does it show as a debt on my credit record?

 

Thanks again!

[PGH7447]

If you are requesting a cca you are in essence disputing that the card agreement is valid, so I would cut the card up

[gizmo111]

It will show as a defaulted debt on your credit file. The bank will not give a monkeys hoot that you have paid this company to sort out the enforcability of this debt they will pass it on to debt collectors and you will be the ones chased for the amount owing.

[cupcake68]

Please excuse me because before tuesday I had no idea about any of this!

 

I thought if I couldn't pay the minimum payments on my cards I would be out on the steet within 3 months so I may appear really stupid!

 

I am now thinking the best way to go is ask all my credit card co's for CCA and take it from there myself. My only concern is when to do this!

 

The company that offered to buy my credit card debts is part of the Rankines company but from what they told me it was only last week that they started dealing in this way and it is because they are so convinced that all pre 2007 can be wiped they are now prepared to legally buy the debt.

 

As my original post implied I have no idea if this is legal and if by signing their agreement you have truly sold it to them and they can not give them back.

 

I do however think this offer is a new route to the problem, I think there will be a lot more people asking the same question as me and although I know there are sharks out there if someone with the knowledge could look at the contracts they wanted me to sign (attachment in previous post) it might help people in the future know if it is a good step to take.

 

I am so impressed with this site and the knowledge I have gained in the last three days is amazing and I truly thank everyone for making it what it is!

[BankFodder]

We've seen this offer. We don't know much about it but it seems very unlikley doesn't it.

Firstly in most loan contracts the lender reserves the right to pass the debt on but the borrower is prevented from doing so.

Secondly, what do you think will happen if the debt collector comes to the door and you show him a piece of paper saying that the debt is not yours any more. You think that he will say "OK, sorry to have troubled you?".

You think that the debt colectors won't then put a default on your file or that the CRAs will refuse to accept the default or will later on agree to remove it?

Finally, even if you can sell on debts to a third party like this, you can sell the rights under the contract but not the duties. This is why you can still claim your bank charges back from your bank even though they have sold the debt on.

In fact you won't be able to reclaim your charges from the new owner of the debt. You will be obliged to collect them from the orginal debtor/creditor.

 

If you want to get yourself in serious trouble, believe that you have sold your debt on, stop making any payments and wait and see what happens.

 

You will be under seige from debt colelctors, harassing phone calls, court actions, charging orders, repossessions, bailiffs.

Your credit file will be blighted for the foreseeable future. You wil lose your home, family security. You will have given away everything for a lousy £349 or whatever you receive. A mess of potage or 30 pieces of silver or whatever mixed up inappropriate token that you want to settle for.

In short. Don't do it.

Wait until someone else does it and comes back and tells us all that I was wrong and that it really is just a brilliant idea and that it is amazing that no one ever thought of it before and that this scheme has revolutionised the idea of a free lunch.

Geddit?

[Rooster-UK]

If you want to know more about the Rankine's case and see what a pig's ear they made of their own action, this is a transcript of the case.....

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2826&d=1212697560

 

You would let these people have anything to do with your finances?

I wouldn't.

 

Toooooo Risky!

[cupcake68]

Bank Fodder

 

They aren't paying £349 for the debt! They are paying £1 and you are paying them £349 plus 10% of the outstanding balance!!

 

I'll say no more about it but I do think there will be lots of people like me in desperate circumstances who will not believe what they are offering but want to know more!

[BankFodder]

Bank Fodder

 

They aren't paying £349 for the debt! They are paying £1 and you are paying them £349 plus 10% of the outstanding balance!!

 

I'll say no more about it but I do think there will be lots of people like me in desperate circumstances who will not believe what they are offering but want to know more!

Sorry, misunderstood. It gets worse and worse, then.

 

I can imagine that it will attract many people. But I expect that they will all run into trouble because of it.

 

Don't get me wrong. I would love it if it worked but I owuldn't want to be the first to try.

 

Basically it is a claims management scheme.

We'll deal with your creditors and get them off your back in return for percentage.

Nothing wrong with this.

The only part I take issue with is the idea that you can sell your debt and walk away.

 

Let me say, that I haven't read the agreement. I have only glanced at their site. I am going on what others have told me.

If I find the time I may go and look for myself.

[cupcake68]

I'm new to all this can someone please hold my hand (as it were!)

I am trying to sort a very complicated financial situation. I am under extreme pressure and at this point want to do all I can to get my family in a secure position once more.

My main problems are a 2nd charge with a sub prime lender (and a very bad reputation!) and some 20 credit cards between myself and my partner.

Due to the current mortgage market we can not remortgage 2 properties which we converted last year into 4, therefore we cannot raise the money we require to clear the debts we have built up whilst doing these conversions.

We have almost been successful in remortgaging our own home it should be going through within the next couple of weeks (fingers crossed!). This means the 2nd charge will be paid off and we will have a more reasonable (but large) personal mortgage on our home.

Unfortunately that will not help with the credit cards. We have used all our savings, sold all our shares and anything else we could to have got this far but there is no money left in the pot after this month.

The credit cards have all cut our limits and increased our rates over the last year. The average rate for these cards is 34% now and the minimum payments amount to about £4k each month!!

I stumbled across this site this week when I was looking for information on a credit card killer company that was offering to buy my card debts from me.

I have been told (in no uncertain terms) that this is not the way to go.

I have learnt a lot since registering but I do not feel confident in what I'm doing yet!

I think what I should be doing is sending all the credit card companies a CCA request.

I know I need to do it quickly but I'm scared to do it until our new mortgage is through.

Do the credit card companies inform each other once I request CCA's?

Do they 'mark my card'?

Once I request it and if they then supply it and it is enforceable do they then carry on being awkward?

I need to know what the consequences for my actions are likely to be.

Also, I have another post on here to do with the sub prime lender and the contract I have with them (a blank space where a date should be) but I would like some other information about that too.

Their contract is very small print and I do not really understand what it says. We took it out through freedom finance.

Some things I have read this weekend make me think they didn't do things quite as they should have.

Should I have been given a key facts letter (like the normal menders give)?

Should I have been told about a 14 day cooling off period?

If I pay off the 2nd charge with the remortgage can I then make a claim against them if I go on to find they behaved incorrectly?

Sorry for the long post but I would really appreciate anyone's advice.

[Muffintop]

subbed to u 4 support with the others.

[cupcake68]

Sorry

 

What does subbed to you mean?

 

I am new to this and have no idea!