DiscoverCard & Integrity Financial Partners-Are They One Of The Same?

[maddie6]

Hi!

I had this debt with DiscoverCard that was assigned to Integrity Financial Partners. Integrity had sent me a collection letter for the debt on 8/15/2009. I had sent Integrity a debt validation letter on 9/1/2009.

In response, I had received a letter of acknowledgment from DiscoverCard to my debt validation letter on 10/6/2009. DiscoverCard said they will inform me of their findings on my account.

Today, from Discover, I had received a packet in the mail of every single credit statement they had ever sent me for the life of the account. Discover also included a letter dated 10/19/2009, stating that within 30 days from the 19th, they were expecting payment in full. (The packet was postmarked 10/26/2009. I had received this packet today, 10/28/2009.)

I have copies of my credit report from the 3 credit reporting agencies, and Discover had charged this debt off.

My questions are:

When I settle, who would I be dealing with, Discover or Integrity Financial?

And,

What is my next course of action?

I do have concerns because this balance was not the original amount that I had owed on the account. There was lots of additional interest tacked onto the balance that I have big problems with.

Another concern is that I am unemployed! There is no way I can pay anything out to these people if I settle! I am going to settle, eventually when I get work. In the meantime, I don't know what to tell these people!

I will post this first. I have another situation with AMEX and the law offices of Mitchell N. Kay too. This AMEX-Mitchell Kay situation is similar.

Thank you for your time and attention to my posting!

Sincerely,

Maddie6

[Amerikaner83]

Couple things...

It seems like this "Integrity" company is simply a CA for Discover. That would explain why Discover sent you the paperwork directly. Discover just hired them to collect, didn't sell it or anything.

Whomever you pay when you settle is completely dependent upon who owns the debt at that time.

Re: interest...do a bit of math and figure out what your State's max allowed interest rate is (usually found in your state statutes) and take the balance they have and figure out the interest...sometimes it's more than legally allowed. Ammo for later

If you are still unemployed when you end up settling, tell them that. Can't pay when you aren't working, can you?

Oh btw - welcome to CIC!

[maddie6]

Hi Amerikaner83!

Thank you for your response. I truly appreciate the information, especially concerning finding out the amount of interest Discover can legally add to my balance.

Again, thank you! : )

[Amerikaner83]

you're welcome


In many cases you can find state-specific laws that can help you more than the FDCPA (case in point - you're in California...search this forum for "Rosenthal"..... you'll be happy

[maddie6]

Hi Americaner83!

I had a few other questions in regard to my situation.

Where would I find the statutes for my state in order to figure out what the max allowed interest rate is?

And,

Have I pretty much reached the end of the DV route with Discover?

And, forgive me for sounding so ignorant, but,

What will happen when I tell Discover that I can't pay them back yet because am not working at this time?

Like I'd mentioned, I want to eventually settle with Discover. I just can't do anything yet because I am not employed yet. What could happen at this point? Would this start a settlement process? What can Discover do? What can I do? Can I, for now, stall the settlement process with Discover?

Thank you for your attention to my post!

Sincerely,

Maddie6

[Amerikaner83]

The Statutes for your state should be on the web, do a search for "california state statutes" in Google, and find the official ones (ends in .gov). There once you get the hang of how they are organized you will be able to find anything you need

I googled "California State Statutes" and after a few clicks.... http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html


It seems to me like yes, you have reached the end of DV with Discover...since Discover seems to have the account back now, they would most likely be your point of future contact re: settlement...

I can't even pretend to tell you what discover will do when you tell them you're not paying them ...they could sue you, they could try and settle or they could sell the debt out...your guess is really as good as mine.

I think the best thing to do at this point is to call them up and explain the situation. you want to settle this account but you're not employed at the moment.

[maddie6]

Hi Amerikaner83!

Thank you again for your response!

Last night, I was busy looking at all of the correspondence I had collected for Discover. (I keep files for each of these credit card accounts.)

Not once did Discover ever try to approach me with an offer to attempt to settle the account I have with them. All I have ever received from them have been reminders to pay, with a tally of my current balance with interest.

I was going to include AMEX with Discover as the two accounts that have not tried to attempt to settle with me.

But, I had received a settlement letter from Mitchell N. Kay for AMEX last month.

And, last week, I had received a 2nd letter from Mitchell N. Kay/AMEX, requesting that I contact Mitchell N. Kay to discuss payment plans with them. In this 2nd letter, there was no mention of the settlement letter they had sent me previously.

(According to my 3-day old credit reports, AMEX has not reported me a being delinquent on my account with them. It will be a year next month that I haven't paid them Anything on my account with them.

Given that, I am wondering why they haven't reported me as being delinquent? Mitchell N. Kay sounds like the CA for AMEX just like the relationship of Integrity to Discover. But, I did receive that settlement letter from Mitchell N. Kay?! Wouldn't Mitchell N. Kay now own the account? )

Looking at these two letters, I had gotten the impression that it this is a "one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing" kind of situation. The timing with offering the settlement, and then the urging to establish some sort of payment plan in the 2nd letter with no mention of the previous settlement letter seemed a little off to me.

As far as Mitchell N. Kay goes, I will send them a DV.

With Discover, : ( , I will call or write to them like you had suggested, explaining my situation to them.

All of these things have brought up a ton of other questions concerning my situation:

Amerikaner83, is there a specific forum here where members have shared stories telling the OC that they can't pay because of unemployment, and what had happened after that?

And,

Is there a forum on here that addresses obtaining employment even though you have bad credit? I am wondering what would I be able to get by way of work given my credit history now.

Amerikaner83, I am looking for support. I truly feel alone going through this situation. I don't know who to physically turn to out here for moral support. I know that I am not as bad as some people experiencing credit situations, but, my face is on the floor. This situation is really bothering me.

I was working as an administrative assistant. I was obtaining work through temp agencies, and I had one permanent, part-time admin job that I was laid-off from last October.

Again, thank you Amerikaner83, for your responses. I truly appreciate your advice.

Sincerely,

Maddie6

[Amerikaner83]

There are a LOT of jobs that do not check credit history. Focus on your resume and all of that jazz

There IS a subforum for debt settlement in general, but not one for employment. Browse through the debt settlement and the credit repair forums though - you may just find things that can help you in those two as well...


And even though Mitchell and Kay sent you the letters, same as with Discover and "integrity"...they do not necessarily own the debt. AMEX typically sends the debt out to a few CAs while retaining ownership before selling their debts...usually to Zwicker and Accosiates irc...

[maddie6]

Hi Amerikaner83! : )

Thank you for your response!

I took a breather from obsessing over my situation, and did some delayed housekeeping. I concentrated on taking care of other things I've been neglecting, other than biting my fingernails to nubs over my delinquent credit situation.

I did send Mitchell N. Kay a DV letter this past Monday.

Amerikaner83, thank you for telling me that there are alot of jobs out there where your credit history isn't checked. You don't know how bothered I am about the employment/credit history relationship! This tears at my guts in the sense that in order to climb out of this situation, I need work in order to help me out. And, if I can't get work because of my credit history, well...

This just starts looking like a Catch-22 situation to me.

Amerikaner83, do you know when it became kosher for employers, or potential employers, to pull your credit history? It just seems so unfair, and an invasion of privacy to me that, in order to be considered "hire-able", a potential employer can look at your credit record to judge you on that. And, this would have nothing to do with what you normally do for a living. : ( Ugh.

Amerikaner83, I appreciate what you had told me about lots of places not looking at your credit report as a part of their hiring process. : ) I am scared to look, thinking that I will be disqualified immediately, if my credit report is seen.

I will dust myself off, and restart looking again. : )

I will browse through the sub forums for debt settlement and credit repair like you suggested to see what I can come up with.

And, I guess as soon as Mitchell N. Kay receives my DV, and gets all of those AMEX statements together, I'll probably get another book of previous statements headed my way eventually. : *

Thank you again, Amerikaner83! This has been a great intro for me to get my feet wet, participating with you on this forum. I will post on the other sub forums as time goes on for sure. Thank you again! : )

Sincerely,

Maddie6

[vokrupmif]

In response, I had received a letter of acknowledgment from DiscoverCard to my debt validation letter on 10/6/2009. DiscoverCard said they will inform me of their findings on my account.
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