Help with broker sending collections after me

DK001 · (#1 (**permalink**))

Does anyone have experience with a broker that did a margin call and now says you owe them money. I told them it was their fault for not cutting the trade in time. They sent collections letters and were calling me a few times a day for the last 4 months. Now they stopped calling me and sent lawyers after me. I told the lawyers I would split the bill 50% with them and they told me - no way. I havn't checked my credit report, but can they mess up my credit without taking me to court? Will they take me to court for a $400 bill? The broker has really taken advantage of me with all the money I had in my account and now they want more.

Any advice would be appreciated.

DK

ernest8fingers · (#2 (**permalink**))

If u signed up w/ a Broker that doesnt offer Margin protection(u know-that tiny little micro script hidden at the bottom of webpage disclaimer) u are going to eat that 400. bucks. Who is this POS Broker anyways? I have had this happen to me(only for a few dollars though)

DK001 · (#3 (**permalink**))

I don't want to give out their name so I will just give initials. Its GFT.

ernest8fingers · (#4 (**permalink**))

Sorry to see those initials-YOU HAVE BEEN ROBBED! You will be responsible. One of the all time greatest thieves of Forex. This is the same POS bucketshop house of horrors that reverses winning trades days after the customer closed them out! You should have used your deposit as toilet paper-woulda been money better spent!

Pharaoh · (#5 (**permalink**))

Always read the fine print. Some brokers margin call you at about 20%, and cover you even if you leave positions open over the weekend. Some brokers at least offer zero balance protection. Some brokers prefer to see if they can try to grab even more than your initial balance.

Make sure to leave a review to let everyone know what a fine job your broker is doing at protecting their profits at your expense.

DK001 · (#6 (**permalink**))

I have had a few margin calls with GFT prior to this and they always hit it early at around 20%. This was not over the weekend. I was trying to get out of a trade before some important news came out. They locked up my trade and I did not know if it filled. A few minutes later I saw the spike as the news hit and it came right back down. Sure enough GFT Margin called me as high as the spike and the price came right back down. GFT was playing alot of games that month. If this happened over the weekend, I could see why they might be entitled to the money. This happened during regular trading hours. I was helpless to do anything - They lock up your trade and wait to see where the price will go.

I just wonder what their next step will be for them trying to get the money. Will they take me to court?

Pharaoh · (#7 (**permalink**))

They will probably threaten to take you to court. For $400, it's probably not really worth it for them to do so.

The other option they have is to turn it over to a collections agency. The disadvantage of that is that it will show up on your credit report. The advantage is that sooner or later, the collections agency will settle for less money, since they bought the debt for a very small percentage of face value.

Since this happened during the trading day, I'd suggest reading the service agreements VERY closely to see if they've broken them. If so, fight them just as hard as if it was 4 million dollars at stake. Show them that people are sick and tied of getting ripped off.