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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I see my account activity?
You can see your account activity on our client support site. https://clients.thedebtsolution.com.
How can I keep from being sued?
The only sure way to prevent a creditor from suing is to settle the account before the creditor decides to take legal action. You can speed up the process by increasing the monthly amount you are putting into your settlement account or by finding alternative sources of funds. Such alternative sources can be family, friends, home equity, etc…
Am I going to have to pay extra for the legal advice?
Yes. It is your responsibility to obtain any legal advice you may need during your settlement program. If you have a legal situation, our Customer Service staff will refer you to national legal service provider. This company has agreed to provide legal advice to our clients at discounted rates. You do not have to use this service if you don't want to. You may retain counsel on your own. The advantages of using this national provider are that they are very inexpensive and they are familiar with our program and the kinds of issues that come up for our clients. The fees for legal services through this legal service company or any other law firm can be paid from your settlement account if necessary. Please keep in mind that any funds used for legal services reduce your ability to settle.
If an account goes legal will an attorney represent me?
TDS does not provide attorney representation for legal issues. If you want to be represented by an attorney it is up to you to retain an attorney. If you elect to do so, you are responsible for all attorney fees.
What is the Signature Card and Power of Attorney for?
Both of these documents are required to open your settlement account at Bank of the West. Whenever you open a bank account the bank requires that you sign a signature card so the bank can identify you. Without the signature card, they cannot open an account for you.
The Power of Attorney serves two purposes. It is your written authorization for us to act on your behalf in settling your debt. It gives us the right to obtain information from your creditors about your accounts and to negotiate settlements. It also gives us the right to obtain the balance and transaction information we need from the designated bank so we can tell when you have accumulated enough funds to settle.
We need your original signatures on these forms so we cannot accept faxes. We need you to sign them and mail them back to us right after you enroll in the program.
What happens when a creditor rejects an offer?
If we make an offer to a creditor and they reject our offer, there are several things that could occur.
We can counter with an offer of more money than our original offer, but still less than what they're demanding. This process will go back and forth until we get an agreement or until our negotiator sees that we cannot go higher due to the amount of money you have available to settle with. If we get an agreement then we proceed with finalizing the settlement and paying the creditor. If we cannot go higher we tell the creditor that and the negotiations end at that point.
If further negotiations are not possible we wait until we have more funds (a month or two later) and we make another offer and attempt to complete the settlement at that time. This is the most common thing.
Once in a while a creditor will reject the settlement offer and decide they are not willing to wait for us to make a new offer in a month or two and they initiate legal actions against a client. If you are going to have enough to complete the settlement in a month or two, we should be able to settle the account before any suits are filed or arbitrations started. IF you aren't going to be able to come up with sufficient funds to settle with before the matter goes to court we will continue to work with the creditor's attorney or the court to settle or make monthly payment arrangements while the legal process continues. We frequently settle accounts during the legal process, even if the settlement occurs after the creditor has been awarded a judgment by a court or arbitrator.
Though some of the above may sound frightening to some people, the important thing to keep in mind is that we can and do settle these accounts every day whether a creditor has taken legal action or not.
Am I still required to pay fees if a settlement defaults?
If you default on a settlement after you have already approved the settlement and agreed to have the funds to make the payments then failed to do so, you are still required to pay the fees. If there are extenuating circumstances contact Customer Service to see if an exception can be made.
Why can't TDS report to the credit bureaus that the account has been settled?
We can make these reports to the credit bureaus, but because we are not the original grantor of credit or the collection agency collecting the account, they have no obligation to accept them. You can always send copies of the settlement letters from the creditors to the credit bureaus yourself as we settle the accounts. This will not get derogatory information removed from your credit report, in fact it may serve as confirmation that you owned the account, owed a certain amount of money on it and settled for less than the balance due.
Why do I have to send in a statement from the new collection agency why can't I just give you the information over the phone?
The main reason is that information taken over the phone can frequently be misunderstood or copied down incorrectly. If this happens and we discover it two or three weeks later, you will likely have destroyed the settlement or the letter by then and we will have no way of correcting the mistake. Sending us a copy of the statement you receive from a collection agency will not prevent typos or data entry errors, but it will give us the document on file which makes correcting those kinds of human error an easy job.
Why can't I make a deposit at the designated bank rather then having to submit the request to you?
The regular monthly deposits to your settlement account are handled electronically through our computer systems and the bank's because this is the most efficient method of managing these transactions. We encourage our clients who want to send in extra money to handle these transactions through our Customer Service department in order to keep the bank costs for their settlement accounts down as much as possible and because this helps to ensure our systems are always up to date and synchronized with the bank. You CAN make extra deposits directly to the bank by mail.
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