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I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 9, 2006, 12:38 PM

Long story short.

A little over a year ago I sued someone (Mike L.) who owed me money for a website and won. I think it was a $4000+ settlement.

At any rate collecting this money is another matter. Shortly after the guy is sued got his phone number disconnected and evicted. In other words I had no way to find him.

A couple of weeks ago through a funny coincidence he tried to hire a company that I do worth with for another project and wrote them a bad check (obviously trying to pull a fast one on them).

So now, I have the following information:

A photocopy of a check that he wrote to someone.
His new business address
His new phone number
His business websites (more than one actually)

So rather than trying to get him in court again I was wondering if I could get a collection agency on him. How do they work? Do they buy the settlement off you for a small percentage or do they take a cut when they collect the money. I have heard of both but found no definite answer.

Are there better ways to get money from him?

turtle777 · Mar 9, 2006, 12:42 PM

Huh, I have no idea if you can just "hire" collection agencies.

But keep us posted, sounds like an interesting venture...
Good luck.

-t

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 9, 2006, 12:50 PM

I think past due VISA account collection agencies buy the balance owing for 10% of value.

Dakar · Mar 9, 2006, 12:54 PM

Awesome.

wdlove · Mar 9, 2006, 01:15 PM

I had something similar happen. Getting a conviction is the easy part. It's the collecting the money that causes all the problem. I never got a penny of mine.

ort888 · Mar 9, 2006, 01:24 PM

I have the opposite problem. My criminal scumbag landlord from 4 years ago sold my name to a collection agency and now they won't leave me alone. The real kicker here is that he never took me to court over anything, because he knew if he did he would lose. So rather then drop it, he sold my info to an agency. Is that legal?

turtle777 · Mar 9, 2006, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

I have the opposite problem. My criminal scumbag landlord from 4 years ago sold my name to a collection agency and now they won't leave me alone. The real kicker here is that he never took me to court over anything, because he knew if he did he would lose. So rather then drop it, he sold my info to an agency. Is that legal?

What is the agency doing to you ?
Can't you sue them for wrongful something ?

-t

Corpse of Chewbacca · Mar 9, 2006, 01:34 PM

I am a bit of a layman expert on the credit collection issue.

GO to www.creditboards.com and check out the forums. It's *THE* resourse on the web. Check it out NOW!

ort888 · Mar 9, 2006, 01:35 PM

We're in the process. We sent them a cease and desist letter. The problem is that he sold our names to about 3 different agency and they are all shady and use a ton of different names. This guy is a grade A screwball and is just out for revenge.

He's mad at us for helping the state to prove that he was engaging in illegal practices. He was doing all sorts of shady stuff and we had no problem telling them everything. Our actions resulted in him getting fined and in trouble. He started getting crazy so we decided to leave and he is trying to get us to pay him a full months rent ($650) because we only gave him 28 days notice before we left. The stupid thing is that 2 months before we left, he offered us, in writing, $500 to move out.

He was sending his cronies into our house without warning, and doing all sorts of insane stuff. It's not worth getting into. Needless to say, we didn't feel safe, and we left. We gave 3 days too little notice and he didn't say a word until months later when we got a nasty letter saying that we owed him a months worth of rent. I told him to take me to court and he never did. A couple months later we start getting calls from collection agencies.

Corpse of Chewbacca · Mar 9, 2006, 01:37 PM

dp

+1

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 9, 2006, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Corpse of Chewbacca

I am a bit of a layman expert on the credit collection issue.

GO to www.creditboards.com and check out the forums. It's *THE* resourse on the web. Check it out NOW!

Thanks I'll have a look. The information on it might be different from Canadian ones though.

wdlove · Mar 9, 2006, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

I have the opposite problem. My criminal scumbag landlord from 4 years ago sold my name to a collection agency and now they won't leave me alone. The real kicker here is that he never took me to court over anything, because he knew if he did he would lose. So rather then drop it, he sold my info to an agency. Is that legal?

I wish you all the best. It seems that the innocent ones get into all the problems. Your landlord is evil. With proper documentation you should be able to prove to the agency you innocence. Definitely should give them a cal.

Corpse of Chewbacca · Mar 9, 2006, 01:48 PM

For some specifics, check this out (if you are being harassed by a collection agency).

http://creditboards.com/forums/index...howtopic=92460

Note: I have sued two collection agencies for harassment and illegal collection practices. One gave me a tidy sum of money and a signed agreement to leave me alone. The other is pending.

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 9, 2006, 02:00 PM

Ok another related question. I am rather eager to put up a website that details my personal dealings with this scam artist. I would only mention the details between the two of us.

Is this legal or can he sue me? As far as I know as long as I stick to personal experiences and don't like he can't touch me.

turtle777 · Mar 9, 2006, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

Is this legal or can he sue me? As far as I know as long as I stick to personal experiences and don't like he can't touch me.

Why not an anonymous blog ?

-t

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 9, 2006, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Why not an anonymous blog ?

-t

Well people won't take it seriously. I want to get into gritty details so if someone does a search for his name of business' a story of this scammer will come up.

tooki · Mar 9, 2006, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

A little over a year ago I sued someone (Mike L.) who owed me money for a website and won. I think it was a $4000+ settlement.
...
So rather than trying to get him in court again I was wondering if I could get a collection agency on him. ...

Are there better ways to get money from him?

So wait... did you settle (that is, reach an agreement out of court), or did you go to court, have a hearing and win the suit?

If it's the former, you might have to go to court. But if it's the latter, you already have a court order requiring the defendant to pay. All you need to do is have the court clerk garnish his wages or seize assets to enforce the court's decision.

tooki

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 9, 2006, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

So wait... did you settle (that is, reach an agreement out of court), or did you go to court, have a hearing and win the suit?

If it's the former, you might have to go to court. But if it's the latter, you already have a court order requiring the defendant to pay. All you need to do is have the court clerk garnish his wages or seize assets to enforce the court's decision.

tooki

I took him to small claims, he never showed up or disputed so I won by default.

alligator · Mar 9, 2006, 08:18 PM

I had a judgement entered once for us from small claims court. If the guy didn't pay, you turn it over to the sheriff who then goes into his premises and siezes his goods to pay off the debt. Good fun!

tooki · Mar 10, 2006, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

I took him to small claims, he never showed up or disputed so I won by default.

In that case, the court should be able to take actions to enforce payment.

tooki

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 10, 2006, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

In that case, the court should be able to take actions to enforce payment.

tooki

Oh geez I don't know how to go about this from this point.

dreamryche · Mar 10, 2006, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

Oh geez I don't know how to go about this from this point.

Call the court. Inform them of the details of your situation and ask what can be done to collect on the judgment.

tooki · Mar 10, 2006, 11:24 PM

Go to the court clerk and get a garnishment. Talk to the court clerk, they should be able to at least tell you what you need to do!

tooki

ShortcutToMoncton · Mar 10, 2006, 11:48 PM

I once worked for a collection agency for 5 months, back when I was a young whippersnapper. I made $5800 the last month I was there...pretty good money!

Yeah, you should be able to get a garnishment on his wages. A lawyer would know how to do it, but then you'd be paying fees. I suggest tooki's option – talk to someone there who'd probably know what's your best option.

greg