Expert: Creditwrench - 8/23/2009

Question
1) I own a time-share in FL; I was late paying my yearly HOA fee, but they accepted my payment in full & at the same time, a collection agency (Aspen) came after me for a late payment FEE of about 50% the original HOA yearly fee I had already paid & had been accepted. Do I still owe the collection agency the late fee, even tho' the HOA accepted my payment in full?

2)My 15 yr old daughter, who is Spec Ed, took a $10 necklass at Nordstrom's,but was caught & returned the item before leaving the store. Nordstrom's billed me for over $400 "penalty" for what my daughter had done; I thought that was ridiculous & refused to pay. They turned it over to a collection agency (Faicollect) who threatened my credit, so I've been making payments of $25 (which is all I can afford), but their interest rate is so high, it's taking forever. Aren't there laws against "Usery" or something? Should I file a Small Claims against Nordstroms & the collection agency for the outlandish amount they hit me w/ considering the value of the original item my daughter took & they got back in the first place?

3) My husband's ex owes him a judgement for $1,700.00 w/ 10% interest.  It's been 6 mos. & she's only paid 2 payments of $10.00; what's the best way to enforce she pay & does 10% interest mean $170.00 added on per month?

Thank you for your advice. I really appreciate it!
Juliette

Answer
  1) I own a time-share in FL; I was late paying my yearly HOA fee, but they accepted my payment in full & at the same time, a collection agency (Aspen) came after me for a late payment FEE of about 50% the original HOA yearly fee I had already paid & had been accepted. Do I still owe the collection agency the late fee, even tho' the HOA accepted my payment in full?----------------------------------------------
Yes, you owe it according to them and if you don't learn how to fight them and win they may take you to court and get a judgment. Will they do that? I don't know. I'd just tell them to go fly a kite.-----------
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2)My 15 yr old daughter, who is Spec Ed, took a $10 necklass at Nordstrom's,but was caught & returned the item before leaving the store. Nordstrom's billed me for over $400 "penalty" for what my daughter had done; I thought that was ridiculous & refused to pay. They turned it over to a collection agency (Faicollect) who threatened my credit, so I've been making payments of $25 (which is all I can afford), but their interest rate is so high, it's taking forever. Aren't there laws against "Usery" or something? Should I file a Small Claims against Nordstroms & the collection agency for the outlandish amount they hit me w/ considering the value of the original item my daughter took & they got back in the first place?
The answer to the above is almost the same as the first answer. You need to learn how to fight these kinds of people and win. I can't teach you how to do that here but that is what I do.
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3) My husband's ex owes him a judgement for $1,700.00 w/ 10% interest.  It's been 6 mos. & she's only paid 2 payments of $10.00; what's the best way to enforce she pay & does 10% interest mean $170.00 added on per month?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's $170 a year, not per month. The only way to force her to pay more is to get a garnishment and go after her wages and any other assets she might have. At $10 a month she is just playing with him.Ten bucks a month won't even pay the annual interest so she will never pay the judgment at that rate.