First of all, I am being sued by people who claim to be lawyers but actually seem like a collection agency. I can't figure it out. What is happening is I have old credit card debt in the amount of $2300. The original creditor was First North American National Bank. I am being sued by Howard Lee Schiff supposedly on behalf of their client Midland Funding.

I do not dispute that I owe money to FNANB and I want to pay this debt, but I never agreed to pay it to either Midland Funding Or Howard Lee Schiff, and from what I have read, they are both pretty nefarious outfits. As I said, I want to pay this debt but I am terrified by these guys. I have read horror stories about people harassed and hounded by these guys for years, even after they paid their debt.

In what I realize to be a mistake now, I spoke to a representative for Schiff. I stated I did not dispute the debt owed to FNANB and wanted to pay it but that I would first need verification that they in fact have legal right to collect this debt. I was told that the summons I received was the proof. I disagreed and repeated I needed written proof and was told that wasn't going to happen. The fact that they sent me letters asking me to pay the debt and the summons are the proof.

At first I was mortified by the prospect of going to court over this and hoped to avoid it, but now I think I'm better off going to court. They seem to want to avoid court as well as I was told if I pay them $150 per month I wouldn't have to go to court. I don't believe a word they say and have absolutely no idea what to do and am freaking out. Having read what other people have experienced at the hands of these "lawyers" makes me extremely reluctant to just start sending them money. I was really stupid to let this go for so long. It seems like there is no way out of this mess. Is there any way to straighten this out? The hearing is in one week.

Will a judge enter a judgment without proof they own this debt? If they don't have proof, will it go away for a while only to haunt me again later?

Yes, this is exactly what I want to know. Trying to talk to these people is an exercise in futility. They repeat the same nonsense over and over and refuse to answer questions. I don't want to go to court but don't see how I can avoid it if they won't answer these questions. I don't want to send them this money each month and hope there's no nasty surprises. Do you think it's better to send them the money and hope for the best rather than go to court?

They have the right to continue to add interest to the loan as the original contract most likely explains.

I would try contacting the original creditor, then midland, and then begin paying if everything seems legitimate. However, if they refuse to answer any questions then I'd go to court and explain to the judge that you want to repay the debt... but simply want the terms of repayment in writing. And they have refused to even offer any explanation of how you can receive any proof indicating how much the debt is declining each month.

Wouldn't anyone expect to know such facts before making payments? Your fear is that you will be taken advantage of and that you have a right to know how your payment is being applied.

I didn't send a validation letter within thirty days, so it's too late for that. I spoke to another representative from Schiff today and still didn't get many straight answers. They will be charging me interest but cannot tell me how much until they get a judgement. Apparently, each state has a certain amount of interest they allow, but she either wouldn't say or doesn't know, which seems strange since their office is in my state. I guess I will find out on Friday. They are supposedly sending me the stipulations in writing, though I don't know how without knowing what the interest will be.

I certainly won't get myself into this kind of mess again. I know a lot of people try to get out of paying or settle for a lesser amount. Personally, I am taking full responsibility for the entire amount even though they offered a settlement. It's pretty crappy when they paid next to nothing for the debt and now will collect the full amount plus interest. I'm in this stupid situation in part because I am owed tens of thousands in back child support. Maybe I should retain Howard Lee Schiff to get it for me.

So I went to the hearing. The courtroom was packed and Midland Funding was the plaintiff for probably 90% of the cases. Anyway, you could either contest the claim or not, which I didn't because I want to pay this and had already come to an agreement for the most part.

The part of the agreement that I don't agree with is the interest. These guys buy junk debt for almost nothing and collect the payments and gouge you on top of that. They had previously offered to settle for a lesser amount and I chose not to because I feel morally responsible for paying the entire thing. If I had my way I would pay back the original creditor rather than these extortionists, but it's too late for that. I suppose I could have made an issue of the interest in court today, but I would have had to go to mediation then a hearing, and since most people were contesting claims, it would have taken at least all day and I would most likely have to go back another day. Plus, trying to communicate with these people is completely ridiculous and I already knew this from trying to have a reasonable conversation over the phone with Quanisha. They refuse to answer any questions and just continue to demand their money. It didn't seem worthwhile.