Debt collector is chasing me...

[Junior]

Of course...blame the banks. It's always someone else's fault. It depends on whether you were raised to have a sense of values.



Ausnick's case is a good example of our taxes being spent unwisely.

I never said it's the banks fault. But Ausnick's situation is not uncommon, I'm simply recognising that we live in a credit-soaked country (highest private debt/gdp ratio in the world??)...of course the individual needs to take responsibility for the debts they incur, but our major banks should also accept a portion of the blame, for regularly loaning funds to individuals who cannot afford to repay them.

Everyone makes mistakes, especially males aged 18-24. There's nothing to be gained in taking the moral high ground here, the damage has been done, and he's trying to work out how to rectify the situation. I'm guessing there's already been punishment in the form of sleepness nights and a ruined credit rating.

 

[Calliope]

Geez you're direct. By that I mean incredibly rude.
And reading the rest of your posts - let's open up on the Babyboomers shall we... a babyboomer are you??

Your logic escapes me.:dunno:

 

[BradK]

Your logic escapes me.

No doubt.

 

[todster]

What about another overseas holiday maybe they will forget this time.
You made the mattress on the floor now you must lie in it.

 

[ausnick87]

It is indeed my mess/my mattress.. my hole that I've dug myself into.

Yup, my credit rating is in ruins, this whole situation has caused a lot of unnecessary stress but I'm trying to make things right. I've started to apply for part-time jobs so that I can start making repayments.

Live and learn.

 

[macca]

It is indeed my mess/my mattress.. my hole that I've dug myself into.

Yup, my credit rating is in ruins, this whole situation has caused a lot of unnecessary stress but I'm trying to make things right. I've started to apply for part-time jobs so that I can start making repayments.

Live and learn.

OK at present it is a stuff up, find some sort of job and arrange a repayment schedule with Veda. They will usually do this for anyone but when the debtor has no assets then it is almost certain they will agree.

If you stick to the schedule, make it small enough so you can, say $10 a week, then eventually the act of meeting the repayments on time will help to restore your credit rating. You are actually establishing a record of repayment within the agreed guidelines, get it

In time, someone will accept that Yep ! he has learned how to meet obligations and they will give you credit, may be small but that first step is the hardest one, do it and you will soon be back in the flow.

 

[disarray]

i worked collections for 3 weeks and these people are the absolute bottom feeding scavengers of the capitalist system.

a few things -

1. if you just avoid them for 5 years the debt goes stat barred and they can't collect anymore. if you make a payment it resets the 5 year stat bar time so seeing as your credit rating is already in ruins you might as well just tell them to go fk themselves, hold out for 5 years and the debt will be closed. after 12 years your credit rating gets reset anyway.

2. when they call you, don't answer their questions. they'll want to confirm your name, date of birth etc. just don't answer, or give them false details. next time they ring just say "nah not his phone any more mate" and they'll go back to skip trace. then anytime they ring you and try to confirm date of birth just lie and give a false one.

3. if you do want to pay out of some misguided "moral" sense against the system that doesn't give a single solitary fk about you and creates imaginary money to jam down your throat with endless marketing and lax lending standards to turn you into a modern day debt serf, then negotiate extremely aggressively with them.

tell them you can only pay back $5 a week, take it or leave it. demand a stop be put to interest accrual (make sure you do this! interest is still ticking over at whatever bullsh1t rate they flogged the loan off to you at). or save $1000 and say i'll pay $1000 to close the debt out now, take it or leave it. most of the time they will be happy to take the cash so the minion hassling you over the phone meets his kpi's and the company only paid cents on the dollar for the debt anyways.

seriously i once had to chase a 55 year old aboriginal living in the middle of the desert with no job for a $35,000 loan that a big 4 lent him. how the hell did he get the loan in the first place???

remember they are only able to call you 3 times a week at reasonable hours, and if you get the slightest feeling you are being harassed or bullied in any way go straight their management and lodge a formal complaint and kick up a stink with the financial services ombudsman and scream bloody murder and they'll probably just let the debt go just to shut you up.

i understand some of the "pay your debt back" sentiments floating around the thread, but after seeing how these cretins operate i wouldn't cross the road to p1ss on them if they were on fire. why not game the hell out of the system like all the rich pricks do to avoid their own liabilities and responsibilities.

 

[Knobby22]

Disarray is so right.

What profession goes bankrupt the most - barristers.

It doesn't effect them raking in the money and it means they can avoid taxes.

Don't be a loser and pay it all off just to please some diehards here.

 

[ausnick87]

@ Macca: Cheers

@ knobby: That's an interesting fact about barristers. I know this article is ancient but is worth a read. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s252926.htm
"Some of these barristers have been declared bankrupt more than once, but because bankruptcy is no bar to practising in NSW, they continue to earn 6-figure incomes, with assets held in family trusts or under their wives' names."

@ disarray: Great post. You made some really good points. T

The thing is they know my homephone (which belongs to a shared residence) and my mobile... they have a recording of me acknowledging the debt from when they called me last week and can potentially take me to court... plus if I just ignore them/give them false information and try and wait for a few more years then how can I even begin to repair my credit rating? =/

The debt collector also said if I ever stopped communicating with her she would simply call my homephone and use my family members to get through to me... she said this in a threatening tone which I didn't think was appropriate. So after speaking with the ACC/ASIC I put a complaint through baycorp and she's now stopped contacting me, but once the complaint is resolved (takes about 30 days) I suppose they'll start making contact again.

I'll definitely make them an offer with whatever pay-out figure I can afford, if not I'll just stick to weekly repayments...

 

[todster]

It is indeed my mess/my mattress.. my hole that I've dug myself into.

Yup, my credit rating is in ruins, this whole situation has caused a lot of unnecessary stress but I'm trying to make things right. I've started to apply for part-time jobs so that I can start making repayments.

Live and learn.

Keep a sense of humour it's only a few K
If nothing else you started a good read.

 

[Junior]

Disarray I immensely enjoyed your post. I also have some personal experience in this area I share some of your sentiments regarding debt collectors....but I toned down my posts for this forum.

 

[Calliope]

Disarray I immensely enjoyed your post. I also have some personal experience in this area I share some of your sentiments regarding debt collectors....but I toned down my posts for this forum.

Yes. Just like I toned down my posts on debt defaulters. I guess the pro debt defaulters have won the day. As a matter of interest what is your opinion on renters who refuse to pay rent and trash the house? You needn't answer. I guess I am just one of Knobby's "diehards" with an antiquated sense of right and wrong.

 

[sval62]

I believe six months in one of our Gaols would cure you, forever.

You are a leech upon the system which depends upon the honesty of the participants.

I more than dislike you, you putrid mass of debt.

I could not give a tosser as to your future, whether a court appearance or a visit from your local Bikie Club. The latter may serve justice better.

gg

gg

One of your best quotes yet gg, a $1000 a month sounds reasonable to me,for petty theft.
Also Junior and Disarray I bet if he owed you $6k you would be choppin at the bit to get your money back and the first ones to whine and moan if he dudded you like you suggest he duds others.

 

[suhm]

I'm pretty sure the general consensus here would be that he should pay his debts and that he should pay them in full.

The thing is that the debt has been written off by the bank so he could probably get away with paying only a fraction of what he owes or nothing at all if he was quite aggresive about handling the debt. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is up to your own judgement.

For me the former course of action is a practical solution and given the original owner of the debt will not benefit if he pays extra. Trying to escape from the debt scot free to me is morally abhorrent.

Giving a 16k credit card limit to a kid in his first job unless they are earning >100k seems absurd. Sounds like one of those pre-approved credit card deals and is equally irresponsisble.

I'm not knocking all the financial institutions I don'teven have a problem with the even higher interest rates that CCV charges for smaller loans because the people that they provide credit for aren't serviced by the major financial service companies and the cost of providing these loans are much higher. They also don't provide endless rollovers so that a smaller debt like the OP become something absurd.

Interesting read though and I'm sure everyone would like to know the outcome.

 

[prawn_86]

Out of interest, as far as i am aware, the OP has done nothing illegal, just immoral.

All those members saying he should go to jail etc do you all try and minimise your tax? One could argue that is also immoral as the government needs that money...

 

[IFocus]

I think sometimes it's better to seek out more information before you reach such conclusions. Firstly, what gave you the impression I'm studying mickey mouse course? The courses I'm studying are assistant nursing at TAFE (Aus does suffer from a shortage of AINs) and at uni I'm majoring in a psych course that's accredited with the Psychology board of Australia (meaning it's a degree that has practical value, whereas others don't).

Their are a number of ready made clients on this thread waiting for your services once you qualify........

 

[moXJO]

Years ago there was a way of clearing your credit rating by changing your name and doing something else. Cant remember what the second part was though now

 

[barney]

Their are a number of ready made clients on this thread waiting for your services once you qualify........

LOL ..... We won't ask you to name names "IF"

Good thread Ausnick!! FWIW .... I'm old fashioned .... "If you do the crime, you should do the time" .......

For the small amount of money you are talking about; negotiate your best payout figure; get another loan (the banks would loan Ned Kelly more than that amount !!) ... Pay the debt off; restore your credit rating asap; and get on with your life without this unecessary hassle.

Good luck with it anyway.

 

[Smurf1976]

Banks are in the business of taking a risk by lending money. That it's high risk is one of the reasons why most banks charge ridiculously high rates on credit card debt - it covers them for the debts that turn sour.

Any bank that hands out a $6K credit card to a young person with no real credit history is taking a risk and they know it. No need to feel sorry for them.

When I got my first credit card, there was no way the bank would offer more than a $500 credit limit until I had established a history of repaying debts, after which they offered to increase the limit. And that was despite having a permanent job. How times have changed...

 

[prawn_86]

When I got my first credit card, there was no way the bank would offer more than a $500 credit limit until I had established a history of repaying debts, after which they offered to increase the limit. And that was despite having a permanent job. How times have changed...

And yet last year when we applied for a credit card Westpac only offered me a 5k limit as i have never had an account with them and never held a card previously with anyone else. Despite the fact that i earn 3 - 4x my wife they offered her 20k as she had an account with them about 6 yrs ago (just account, not credit card).

Banks credit matrices make no sense. The were willing to offer her approx. 35% of her salary, yet only less than 5% of mine