Post Dated Checks?
I have a list of creditors that I am currently paying back to repair my credit. One creditor in particular is a thorn in my side. They will not accept my monthly payments that I’ve been sending for two reasons. One is because my payments is too low and they are asking for 3 times a larger amount, second is because they want practically a year’s worth of post dated checks of the amount they are asking for. I do a strict budget analysis every month and I know exactly how much I can afford to send to them. I’ve been sending them payments by money order faithfully for the past 4 months since the account been in collections. I’ve had bad experience with post dated checks, and refuse to have my financial situation any more uncomfortable trying to pay them what they are asking. I’m highly considering ignoring them and just continuing to send them what I’ve been sending them. Are the post dated checks illegal? and can they take legal action against me for not making an agreement with them?
Post Dated Checks are not illegal, and the government allows banks to cash post dated checks. So they could technically cash those checks ahead of time. However, in doing so they would be violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act(FDCPA). In which you had faith that they would not cash the checks until a certain time.
But you need to stop sending them any money without an agreement. Because you do not know if this is actually doing you any good, and it might be causing you more problems. So you need to send them a letter stating the total amount of the debt you are paying, the amount of each payment, and the date of each payment(ie. the 25th of each month, starting on the month after you have written confirmation that they agree) Until you get an agreement in writing that you can manage DO NOT send them another dime.
Can they take legal action against you. Yes, this is where sending them money has caused you more problems. There is the Statute of Limitations which is the period of time they can sue you. This varies by state from 2-6 years from the date of the last delinquency. However, every payment you make and they accept resets this time.