Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Delaware

cash loan debt

here's the situation, around dec-jan i was having problems with the man i was living with and i had to get out asap. i went upon getting 4 or 5 cash advance loans. i started to pay bi-weekly pymts to them. then i realized i put myself more in a rut. i had to pay all the loans back interest plus pay rent, etc... so basically i couldn't afford it so i stopped paying them. recently they have been calling my mother in florida and my mother does'nt want anything to do with me so see called me to tell me that they wont stop calling her and my mother told them that she does'nt know or wanna know anything about it, so this collector told her ''what type of mother are you'' is that right can they say that. my other question is that an attorney recently called me about one of these cash advance loans that i now owe then $800 when the loan was originally for $300. So i told her honestly i dont have the money to pay it. if i were to pay them how would i pay my rent? so she told me that they will be filing criminal charges on me for fraud, etc? what will happen to me. can i go to jail? what would be a good approach, i really cannot afford to pay them?

thank you for your help. greatly appreciate it.


Asked on 7/08/04, 3:28 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Guy Lewit Guy Mitchell Lewit, Esq.

Re: cash loan debt

depending upon your other circumstances, you should consider filing for bankruptcy which would wipe out most, if not all, of your debts. If not, since you have nothing that could be seized by creditors, you could simply ignore the calls. You can write to the collection agencies and tell them to STOP calling your mom and you for that matter. Send mail CERTIFIED RETURN RECIEPT RQUESTED so there is proof you sent it...keep all copies of letters. If you want to settle the matters make offers IN WRITING and only respond to LETTERS that indicate the creditors will settle. There are agencies that are there to help you...and do not take your money...avoid those! Good luck

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Answered on 7/08/04, 3:40 pm
Kevin Connolly Kevin J. Connolly

Re: cash loan debt

You have the right, under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, to send notices to the creditors telling them to stop dunning you. Once you do that, all that they can do is sue you. If they continue dunning, you can recover a penalty of $1,000 per violation plus attorney's fees and actual damages. If you go this way, you should send the notices by certified mail and start keeping a log reflecting everything that goes on: phone calls to you, to your mother, or anyone else. For the bill collector to have discussed anything with your mother beyond their need to speak with you is a violation of FCRA and possibly a violation of the Right to Financial Privacy Act.

Chin up! Bad as things look now, they were much worse when you were in an abusive relationship, and as Mr. Levit accurately points out, you can always file for bankruptcy (as long as you have not filed within the past seven years). Unless there is something going on that you left out of your post, you do not appear to have committed a crime and in America, people do not go to debtors' prison any longer.

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon unless and until an attorney-client relationship is entered into. Doing so would require signing an engagement letter and depositing a retainer to secure payment of legal fees.

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Answered on 7/08/04, 4:13 pm


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