In 2008, I was in the market for some furniture and wanted to build up my credit. I decided to go to Rooms-to-Go. After picking out a set I liked, I sat down with the salesman to negotiate the terms of the loan. I explained that my current budget wouldn't allow me to go over $80.00 per month and he said he understood. I signed my name and the furniture was promptly delivered to my home. A few weeks later, I received my first bill. It was about three times as much as I could reasonably afford. I immediately called Rooms-to-Go and requested to speak to a manager. I explained the situation, what the salesman and I had spoke about and figured there must have been a mistake. The manager was less-than-helpful. I then decided to reach out to the company that my loan was actually through; TD Financial. I explained to them I was unable to make this payment and asked the payment to be reduced. They told me the terms were set and could not be renegotiated for six months of on time payments. My pleas fell on deaf ears, they didn't care about my financial situation or my credit score. I paid the first payment, to avoid being charged with credit fraud and didn't give another dime.
Rooms-to-Go and TD Financial screwed me. They lied to my face, ignored my objections and refused to help me. The furniture itself began deteriorating nearly as soon as I got to use it. The seams split, the springs poked out and the recliners gave up on working without a hard jolt. Eventually, I ended up having to wire the recliner in the closed position, as it started popping open intermittently.
So, for 6 years and 6 months I've dealt with this stain on my credit. As you may know, at 7 years it drops off. I've steadily built my credit up with cards and a better financial situation but this blemish was about to drop off. Then I got a letter in the mail. A very conveniently timed letter from Velocity Investments, LLC, saying that I was being sued for the debt.
I was livid. How dare they try to come BACK to screw me, when I have just a few weeks before this whole issue would be forever behind me. I read articles and watched videos and researched as much as I could.
It turns out that buying debt is a multi-faceted (and very scammy) business. Companies that write off loans sell the debt for pennies to collection agencies. The collection agencies will attempt to collect for a time and, when it goes uncollected, it will be resold. Over and over, changing hands until it reaches one of the bottom-of-the-barrel collectors. Velocity Investments, LLC is one of these bottom feeders.
i love clark howard. www.clarkhoward.com
Their entire business model is as follows:
Buy old debts that are nearing their 7-year drop off.
File lawsuits against every name on their spreadsheet.
Try your damndest to get a default judgment against people.
How do they accomplish getting a default judgment? Easy. The first summons is basically formalities. Nothing will be done, unless either party doesn't show. I went to my first summons and Velocity Investments, LLC was not there. The Judge asked me if I wanted to throw out the lawsuit, I said yes and that was that.
Why didn't Velocity Investments, LLC have representation then? Because, they aren't interested in litigation or fighting for the money. They let everyone who's going to show up to the meeting, throw it out of court. Anyone who missed their first summons will likely miss the second and Velocity Investments will get a default judgment against all these individuals, garnishing wages and securing money from almost-seven-years-old debt.
Below I've added a few links that back up my claims and tells others' stories.
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/324059-i-won-against-velocity-investments-llc/#comment-1299215
http://www.clark.com/know-your-rights-when-dealing-debt-collectors