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I think I might need the services of an attorney to help deal with the debt situation my wife created before we were married. June 2010, I received a letter from Bishop, White, Marshall and Weibel, Attorneys at law, Seattle. In the letter they stated that unless I disputed the validity of this debt within 30 days, I would be sued. When we received this letter, it was NOT sent by certified mail. I responded to this letter with a debt validation request letter, sent via certified mail. The letter was accepted by BWMW and I received a confirmation slip verifying this. I received the certified mail slip on June 29, 2010. We have received no communication from this law office since the original letter was sent to us. We never received a response to the Debt Validation letter. Yesterday, we got a piece of certified mail from BWMW, inside this letter were several documents. Included in the letter: an application of garnishment, a writ of garnishment, an exemption claim form and a notice of garnishment letter. This company never fulfilled it's obligation to validate the debt when requested, and did not communicate with us in any way since June of 2010. All of a sudden it's wage garnishment? I'm not sure how to proceed, but I need help from a lawyer asap. My internet searches about this firm seem to indicate that they don't play fairly. I just had surgery on Monday and this is the last thing I want to deal with while I'm recovering  Lawyer up?
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Nov 23, 2011 19:49
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BraveUlysses posted:Lawyer up? Yes, and I really hope you kept a copy of their mail and your certified DV letter.
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Nov 23, 2011 19:51
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I have a copy of the slip from the post office confirming the delivery of the letter.
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Nov 23, 2011 19:54
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Did you miss a court date somewhere? I didn't think garnishment could happen without a judgment.
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Nov 23, 2011 20:00
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Zero communication. Googling that law firms name brings up some negative experiences on ripoff reports. Edit: don't you have to get served for the court notice?
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Nov 23, 2011 20:04
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BraveUlysses posted:Edit: don't you have to get served for the court notice? Yes but they can lie about their attempts to serve you, they don't necessarily need to have proof of service, but only make a serious attempt to serve you (in some jurisdictions) (I am not a lawyer).
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Nov 23, 2011 20:07
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Ok, i'm looking at the "writ of garnishment" and the last page states: "If you fail to answer this writ as commanded a judgment may be entered against you for the full amount of the plaintiff's claim against the defendant without accruing interest, attorney fees, and costs whether or not you owe anything to the defendant. If you properly answer this writ, any judgment against you will not exceed the amount of any nonexempt debt or the value of any nonexempt property or effects in your possession or control. Judgment may also be entered against the defendant for costs and fees incurred by the plaintiff" The "application of garnishment" states: "Plaintiff has a judgment wholly or partially unsatisfied, against the Defendant _____ and DOE I [me] and in the Cour from which the Writ is being sought. Said Judgment was entered by the above-entitled Court on October 25, 2010. Defendant made payments totaling $0.0." Never heard about a court date, never was served, never got a single piece of certified mail until yesterday. OBAMNA PHONE fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Oct 28, 2021 |
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Nov 23, 2011 20:15
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Only a lawyer can tell you this for sure, but it sounds to me like they are breaking the law with this. Especially if they threatened to sue you and have yet to follow through with the lawsuit. You can possibly sue them back for this for quite a bit of money.
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Nov 23, 2011 20:22
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The other day I pulled my credit report and found something wrong on it. I'm pissed off because it's a bogus negative and it could prevent me from getting a good rate on a condo I plan on purchasing soon. Backstory is that I had the typical bad credit in college (10 years ago) of high credit card balances, some late payments, and so on. Was able to clean all that up a few years after and have had a flawless credit history for 7 years now. School loans, credit cards, utilities have all been paid on time. There is nothing negative showing. However, I now have something showing under collections from National Credit Solutions. It is for Columbia House / BMG. Now I had an account 13 years ago and I'm 99% certain I fulfilled it. I haven't bought a CD since 1998 and I haven't been buying DVDs in a long time as well. I never received a single letter from them and I honestly have zero recollection of this. And even if I did owe something, we're talking about high school back in 1997. Anyways, I ran a Google search and I noticed this is really common (even listed in their Wikipedia!). Seems like either a scam by whoever bought them out or by the collection agency. Tons of people have had this show up with no letter and no idea they even had an account. So I guess I'm looking at what my next step should be? I was tempted to just dispute them via online (it only shows at 2 agencies) because it's completely bogus. But I've read that I should only do it via mail. Is there any negative with disputing online? Do I lose my right to dispute via snail mail later on? I was just looking for a quick way of doing this before having to send a DV to this collection agency.
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Nov 23, 2011 20:23
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BraveUlysses posted:Ok, i'm looking at the "writ of garnishment" and the last page states: Are they saying that got a judgment against you in Oct 2010? That would be the first thing I check.If they did, you will need to have that vacated ASAP. This is the point where you talk to a lawyer because if they didn't get a judgment, I'm counting at least $3K in violations here (possibly much more, and this may go beyond simple FCRA/FDCPA violations, this may be actual bad faith).
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Nov 23, 2011 20:32
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Yeah, if they are straight up sending you fraudulent documents that appear to be from a court of law, that could easily lead to police involvement and jail time for them.
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Nov 23, 2011 20:58
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Pretty certain it's a real court document...but we were never served...going to the courthouse when I can to see the affidavit of service (servicing?).
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Nov 23, 2011 21:22
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small update Just got my hands on the collection letter that was sent to my mother's house, where I lived for about two months after moving out of the apartment that the landlord is claiming I owe rent for. Now, the actual letter says it was dated October 21,2011 (several months after I moved out) and the mailing address printed on the letter is the apartment I moved out of. My mother's address is hand-written on the actual envelope and it's stamped with the landlord's PO Box on it. So, basically, at the time the letter was sent I wasn't at the address it was sent to. Does it matter if it's been a month already since this was drafted? I can't find a Canada-specific sample DV letter so is a hand-written letter saying "I dispute the validity of this debt and demand that you provide me proof" enough, or are there certain terms I need to use (i.e citing certain Protection Acts?) I want to hopefully get this written and mailed out by tomorrow so a quick response is appreciated. Still curious too if I can sue him for damages and nuisance if he cannot provide proof e: To clarify, the collection letter is dated October 21st but the physical letter it was mailed in (to the wrong address) has a stamp from the post office (not certified mail though) dated November 17th, so I should safely be within that 30 days. Still need answers re: the DV letter and suing. Robawesome fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Nov 23, 2011 |
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Nov 23, 2011 23:41
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Robawesome, send DV letter CMRR, it can be a standard off-the-shelf template, since you're not trying to say the debt isn't yours yet per se, just that they need to validate it. Do make sure that your current mailing address is on the letter, so they can't keep sending mail to a defunct address unbeknownst to you and then go all  that you didn't get anything and he sues you. Then you wait. If they try anything else without validating, then they are in trouble. If they validate, it should be easy to refute. Be ready to prove that you moved out of the apartment by a certain date. Did you give the landlord written notice? Do you have a copy of that? The next best thing is probably a rental agreement for your new place. Do you have the rental agreement from your old place, too? Might want to find that, too, just to check the fine print.
Big Taint fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Nov 24, 2011 |
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Nov 24, 2011 22:34
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I got a debt collection letter from a company representing comcast about an outstanding balance of a couple hundred bucks. The letter wound up in my mailbox way late, the letter said I had 3 weeks to contest the debt, but when I got the letter it was already past that time. So in their terms they "assume the debt is valid". What is the best way to handle this? Should I still fire off a DV even though I am past the dead line? edit: if it matters it was for service at a prior residence.
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Nov 30, 2011 06:59
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My 7k from my youthful indiscretion days have been bought by Cache and a guy from Paul Z Shine has been calling me. I'm taking classes currently and won't be working for about a month, and haven't been working the past few months. Anyways, they've sent a few letters to my old address, but I just called to request, and received a dunning letter in my email today, dated with today's date. I plan on sending a DV letter, but the guy has been calling for a few months now. I'm wondering if he's broken any FDCPA statutes, as today he called at 8 am (before 9 am), he said it was in regards to "yesterday's call" that I made for the dunning letter. Another part is that his language was very ominous and implied legal action, the last few times he's called. To set this all up, I tried to set up a payment system with him at first, as I was expecting to go back to work, but it never happened. I forgot about all this and obviously the payments didn't go through as we had arranged. He calls again a month or so later. He thinks we've never talked before and says that he set up the previous payment plan with my mother (wtf?). I'm tired at this point and just mumble along in agreement, and I've given my mom permission to act on my behalf before, so I don't think anything of it. What comes next is him telling me that my mother has committed fraud (he may or may not have used the word felony) and tells me that she or I are in serious trouble, and that we have made everything worse for ourselves. He's referred to this three times and has used inflammatory language on each occasion. Does this break the FDCPA? I tried to sell some of my possessions and come up with the money in 4 days, but I am unable to do so. I call him back and say that I can't make the payment. He then gets noticeably agitated and says that he can do nothing for me and that I better lawyer up and find 9k to pay for attorney fees. What should be my next step? WelpEcho fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Dec 1, 2011 |
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Dec 1, 2011 00:48
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ItheWelp87 posted:What should be my next step? Stop talking to them on the phone. Nothing good can come of it. Mail your dunning response CMRR, and mention that you'd like all future correspondence done in writing. If they leave you a threatening voicemail, save it as evidence. If they threaten you in a letter, save it as evidence. If you are able to record your phone calls, you can answer the phone and see what they say (how they violate), but don't commit to anything or give them any information. If you manage to collect some violations, you can wait for them to try to sue you and counter-sue, then tell them you're willing to settle for a deletion of the debt or something. Or if they really flagrantly violate the FDCPA, then sue their asses and collect some cool cash. If they verify the debt and don't violate, then they can and may very well sue you. This, based on reading this thread and many others on the tubes, seems incredibly unlikely unless it's the OC. Much more likely is they can't verify the debt. If they don't violate, then you just have to wait for it to go away. You could offer them a PFD for <50% of the debt or whatever, and see if you can negotiate that. Again, only in writing. Good luck, don't be scared, fear is their weapon. We are on your side, with moral support and questionable
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Dec 1, 2011 01:13
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I'm not allowed to record in my state, unless both parties consent, but apparently they've been taping all our calls. I've honestly been pretty panicked and worried about it until recently. I had the thought of bankruptcy and checked this subforum on a whim (I'm foolish). Thank god for goons, love you guys.
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Dec 1, 2011 01:46
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ItheWelp87 posted:I'm not allowed to record in my state, unless both parties consent, but apparently they've been taping all our calls. Remember that "This call may be recorded" is consent.
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Dec 1, 2011 18:26
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Yeah, if they're recording themselves they have essentially given consent for you to record as well. I am not a lawyer, but I've heard of other cases where this counted as a reasonable expectation that the call was recorded. But really, don't talk to the jerks on the phone.
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Dec 1, 2011 19:09
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DarkHorse posted:Yeah, if they're recording themselves they have essentially given consent for you to record as well. I am not a lawyer, but I've heard of other cases where this counted as a reasonable expectation that the call was recorded. Well, that too, but stating "This call MAY be recorded" is telling you that you MAY record the call.
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Dec 1, 2011 19:43
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Alright, further assistance needed here. I just got back the "validation" of my rental debt, which is comprised of basically a big pile of garbage. I'll try to keep this concise: It says I owe: Arrears - March 1, 2011 to April 4, 2011 - $735.48 (Rent was $650 a month, no idea how they got this #) Plus compensation: - April 5, 2011 to May 31, 2011 - $1,218.09 (again, no clue how they got this sum) Less my rent deposit ($650) and interest on that deposit ($1.94) Then it says I owe NSF cheque charges of $18 (never agreed to this), Admin charges related to NSF of $60 (never agreed to this and finally "additional costs" of 170. The "proof" he sent was my rental application which doesn't even have the landlord's name or the rental address on it. So basically none of the numbers he sent me have any explanation attached to them. He seems to be trying to get rent from March through May though I have my bank records showing he cashed a cheque on May 1st and admit having my last month rent (I moved out the last day of May) What now? Do i send another certified letter saying your "proof" doesn't even have the creditor's name or the rental address on it?
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Dec 2, 2011 01:18
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Robawesome posted:What now? Do you have the original rental agreement? With your monthly rent stated on it? Failing that, do you have bank statements that show you paying a specific amount every month to him? Did you give him a written notice that you were moving out?
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Dec 2, 2011 02:55
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Big Taint posted:Do you have the original rental agreement? With your monthly rent stated on it? Yes and No. As part of the validation they sent my "rental application", which contains all of my personal information but doesn't actually say the address or the landlord's name. Within this application is the phrase: Two months notice is needed (though it doesn't say for what the notice is needed) and the last month rent is to be paid in advance ... This is a rental application; there is no obligation against the tenant or the landlord. I authorize the landlord to verify the above information... So it's not an agreement per se. To be quick about it, at the time I rented the apartment I gave money and signed this paper with the landlord's wife, whom he was involved in a domestic incident with resulting in him not even being allowed on the property. Basically, he has no rental agreement, nothing with my name agreeing to rent that address. Big Taint posted:Failing that, do you have bank statements that show you paying a specific amount every month to him? Did you give him a written notice that you were moving out? The first couple of months, which aren't under any kind of dispute, was paid in cash. He cashed cheques from me from like November '10 to Feb '11 with no problems, I have record of those. Starting in February I was getting into arguments about his unwillingness to perform any maintenance, had stopped the cheques I had given him in advance and said I wanted to discuss a lower rent. He basically said to bring up my problems with the Tenant board and pay my rent, so I said I'd be moving out. He issued an eviction notice for non-payment that I haven't tracked down yet but basically said to get out within 30 days, and that was in April. In short, looking at my records it seems I do actually owe for perhaps March and April. May would have been covered under my last month's rent, and he was cashing cheques for up until and including February's rent. However, as mentioned above, he has no rental agreement, no real proof of when I was living there or when I moved out. Oh, and it appears he had some sort of tribunal regarding money I owe him in July (two months after I moved out) that said he was awarded compensation for rent he claimed I owe, and NSF charges. I was never invited or notified of this tribunal, nor did I ever agree to NSF penalties. So, yeah. I'm going to contact the Tenant board and dispute this document, but if he doesn't have any proof of my residency or time there how do I go about fighting this?
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Dec 2, 2011 03:57
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If all he has is a rental application, and no contract, I'm not sure what he can do. However, it does sound like you do owe him rent for two months. Not sure what your best move is here, I guess I'd just wait and see what happens.
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Dec 2, 2011 23:43
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Big Taint posted:If all he has is a rental application, and no contract, I'm not sure what he can do. However, it does sound like you do owe him rent for two months. Not sure what your best move is here, I guess I'd just wait and see what happens. I called the Landlord and Tenant board today and they looked into it a little bit. They said that the landlord would have been required to notify me about the hearing unless he said I was still living in the residence. He provided them no proof I was still living in the residence and listed the address I had moved out of as the contract address he was using, so he's basically hosed. I had to send two forms, one to review the matter and one to extend the 30-day deadline to appeal. The agent on the phone said this should be pretty open and shut considering his lack of information, so I'm just waiting to hear back now.
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Dec 3, 2011 04:30
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Apologies if this question has been asked before. If a creditor fails to verify a debt within a month of receiving a letter requesting verification, what does that mean exactly? It seems like that puts them in hot water if they continue to attempt to collect, but does it prevent them from validly transferring the debt to another agency?
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Dec 5, 2011 21:31
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Career posted:Apologies if this question has been asked before. Apparently not, I'm currently enjoying playing this game with an old verizon thing. Long story short, I moved out of the country, cancelled everything (back when moving worked to escape ETF), they decided to keep charging until the end of the contract instead and only bothered saying anything about it until they had sold it off to someone else. Verizon wiped whatever they had on me. Agency dinged my credit and was demanding crazy things, I forced a validation and sure enough a week later and now it's with AFNI doing it all over again. Debt validation already sent off, and surely they will find some new sucker to sell it to so I get to do it yet again.
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Dec 7, 2011 21:47
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So I let a Sprint bill get out of hand and a collection agency contacted me about it this past summer. I received maybe 2 phone calls about it and had paid a little bit of while I was still working. About a week ago I randomly checked Sprint's site to see if my account was still active and sure enough it was, only it was $300 more than what the collection agency asked from me. Not sure who I contact at this point or what options I have.
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Dec 8, 2011 15:55
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My girlfriend is currently dealing with ~$2000 in medical bills, ~$1000 with NCO Financial and ~$1000 with Bay Area Credit Service. She has the money to pay off the NCO debt, and we'd like to negotiate a pay for delete, but when she mentioned it over the phone, they claimed that it was impossible to delete a medical bill from your record. Has anyone heard of this, or is NCO blowing smoke up our asses? If so, where should we go from there? Bay Area Credit Service, on the other hand, says they will delete it their debt after she pays in full and then sends a letter. This sounds rear end backwards to me, as we have no guarantee they'll hold up their end of the bargain. Has this ever happened for anyone?
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Jan 4, 2012 02:44
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I have five collections accounts - all medical debt for a total of $224. My insurance paid for a lot of the original bills but the hospital took two months to get my insurance information down correctly so when they finally did get it right they did not notify me of the remaining balance in time before closing the accounts. I can't afford to have this on my consumer report for a job. Even though I live in California and a new law just took place (two days ago), prohibiting consumer report checks for most jobs, my work experience is government related. Can I just take the collection agency to small claims court and automatically win when they don't show up? They are based in Georgia or something, I doubt they will fly out here and put up a fight over $224. Would I even need to bring everything with me to small claims court? harborbomber fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Jan 4, 2012 |
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Jan 4, 2012 03:56
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My boyfriend is currently being called over a 3,2000 student loan he took out for school when he was 17 and living in Texas. He is now 23 and living in Kentucky. The loan was originally owned by Sallie Mae and the last correspondence was a MPN for consolidation from a firm in Seattle. He really has no clue what to do. Should he start documenting everything? Anyone have experience with collection agencies and student loans?
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Jan 5, 2012 00:18
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As far as I know there's no way to escape a student loan. If he owes it, they're going to find some way of getting it, usually by garnishing wages or taking it from tax returns. If he doesn't owe it, it may be worth talking to a lawyer about.
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Jan 5, 2012 02:27
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Student loans are literally money AIDS. There's no way of getting out of one outside of proving you are completely destitute and will be that way for the rest of your life.
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Jan 6, 2012 13:20
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Is there a particular number of calls per day that would be considered "harassment?" Sallie Mae has been calling me sometimes seven or eight times a day about my loan, which is not in collections but is not in good standing because I got behind earlier this year. I've made payments way over the minimum in the past two months but they seem hellbent on getting me to pay my entire past due balance right now or agree to a forbearance. I'm wary of the forbearance because as far as I could tell from the foreign lady who hung up on me because I kept asking questions, it would require me to sign up for automatic payments every month, and I'm not comfortable with that.
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Jan 7, 2012 16:48
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bleedbackwards posted:Is there a particular number of calls per day that would be considered "harassment?" Sallie Mae has been calling me sometimes seven or eight times a day about my loan, which is not in collections but is not in good standing because I got behind earlier this year. I've made payments way over the minimum in the past two months but they seem hellbent on getting me to pay my entire past due balance right now or agree to a forbearance. I'm wary of the forbearance because as far as I could tell from the foreign lady who hung up on me because I kept asking questions, it would require me to sign up for automatic payments every month, and I'm not comfortable with that. Block their numbers
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Jan 7, 2012 21:56
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Block their numbers Or start having long conversations about whatever you'd like to talk about.
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Jan 7, 2012 22:11
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Block their numbers Roger_Mudd posted:Or start having long conversations about whatever you'd like to talk about. ...so does that mean there's nothing I can do besides trying to keep a representative from meeting a quota?
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Jan 8, 2012 01:18
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bleedbackwards posted:...so does that mean there's nothing I can do besides trying to keep a representative from meeting a quota? You could try sending a certified letter stating that you don't wish to be contacted via phone. You could try having a lawyer draft the above letter. You could declare Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Edit: you could also talk to a consumer lawyer about your states fair debt collection practices act.
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Jan 8, 2012 02:54
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Roger_Mudd posted:Or start having long conversations about whatever you'd like to talk about. Or tell them that you are recording the call... SLM hates that and will get all pissy and hang up. Roger_Mudd posted:You could try sending a certified letter stating that you don't wish to be contacted via phone. The certified letter... well, it's SLM, even if you send it one of two things will happen. Either 1) They care, or 2) They don't give a gently caress. I'd suggest going to one of those free-fax things online that sends you a receipt of delivery. Save yourself the time/money, because the odds of them heeding that fax and giving a gently caress about a certified letter are basically the exact same. Don't bother with any kind of lawsuit of any kind against SLM until you are much higher standing than they are, or they will loving turn your life into hell... if things for whatever reason escalate, do feel free to investigate one Anthony/Rita Terracciano of New Jersey who live in a modest shack on the beach that has a funny history of being sold for far under real values. Do be careful though, calling them at home might get you sued for harassment. Pro-PRC Laowai fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Jan 8, 2012 |
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Jan 8, 2012 03:09
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