I RECEIVED THIS LETTER FROM A REAL ESTATE COMPANY I WORKED FOR PART-TIME ......IT'S MY OFFICE FEES FOR ABOUT 4 MONTHS (IT WAS SUPPOSE TO BE AROUND $4-5000.00!) .I"LL HAVE THE MONEY SOON (HOPEFULLY). (MY OLD BROKER IS GOING FOR MY THROAT!!) BUT WHAT DO I DO? HE SENT THIS LETTER TO MY 'REGULAR' 40 HOUR A WEEK WORKPLACE!!!! (IF THEY "FIND OUT" I DO THIS ON THE SIDE I COULD POSSIBLY BE FIRED!!!) HOW CAN I DELAY THIS GUY? HOW LOND BEFORE HE CAN GARNISH MY WAGES? HOW CAN I STOP HIM FROM CONTACTING ME AT WORK? CAN I GET "HIM" FOR VIOLATIONS? THANKS A MILLION!!!!!!! Law Offices of Mr. Attorney 2312 Hometown Attorney Lane Youâ??ll Live in Fear, MD 24242 (410) XXX-XXXX TeleFax (410)XXX-XXX Attorney at Law Administrative Mr. â??Stress 4 Youâ? Attorney Sally P. Paralegal- Assistant Kathleen A. Law - Accounting September 18, 2003 Baycity c/o Your Place of Work Your Boss Will Open Get Ready to be Fired Re: Evil Empire Realty Dear Mr. Baycity, This office represents Evil Empire Realty which has a claim against you in the amount of $8,500 for services rendered. You are advised that unless payment is received or an understanding entered into with this office within one week from the above date for the payment of this claim, I will be compelled to institute legal proceedings in order to secure collection. You are entitled to certain information that sets forth your rights and our obligations under the law. The law provides that (a) Within five (5) days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, we shall, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a written notice containing (1) the amount of the debt, (2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed, (3) unless a consumer, within thirty (30) days after receipt of this notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by this office, (4) if the consumer notifies this office in writing within the thirty day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed this office will obtain verification and a copy of such verification will be mailed to the consumer by this office, and (5) upon the consumerâ??s written request within the thirty day period, this office will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor if different from the current creditor. (b) If the consumer notifies this office in writing within the thirty day period that the debt, or any portion thereof is disputed, or the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, we shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until this office obtains verification of the debt or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification, or name and address of original creditor is mailed to the consumer by this office. (c) The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under the section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. I, again, stress to you the importance of either paying this debt within one week, or contacting this office to arrange a payment schedule or legal action will be instituted against you. Very Truly Yours, Mr. â??Stress 4 Youâ? Attorney
1st off they cannot file suit until the 30 day period is up. This is outlined in the FDCPA, the debt cannot be assumed to be valid until after such time. Second, they threatened legal action which by law they cannot take. You have a FDCPA violation. Third, I would wait another week or two then send a validation letter. Reason being, if they file the suit before the 30 days is up then they would be breaking the law and something called the "doctrine of unclean hands" as an affirmative defense. unclean hands n. a legal doctrine which is a defense to a complaint, which states that a party who is asking for a judgment cannot have the help of the court if he/she has done anything unethical in relation to the subject of the lawsuit. Thus, if a defendant can show the plaintiff had "unclean hands," the plaintiff's complaint will be dismissed or the plaintiff will be denied judgment. Unclean hands is a common "affirmative defense" pleaded by defendants and must be proved by the defendant. Example: Hank Hardnose sues Grace Goodenough for breach of contract for failure to pay the full amount for construction of an addition to her house. Goodenough proves that Hardnose had shown her faked estimates from subcontractors to justify his original bid to Goodenough. So if you can trick them into filing, you might could get the suit tossed which would buy you some time to pay them off if neccessary, and cut down on the amount owed.
One other thing, I'd send a cease & decist notice to them telling them not to contact your place of work tomorrow. If they do, and you get canned, you will have some great actual damages in the form of lost wages. Probably enough to pay them off, and take a nice vacation. Drop me an email. I'd like to discuss this with you further in private.
You CAN'T be fired unless it is a conflict of interest... I CAN NOT GET A SECOND JOB AT TARGET...IT WOULD BE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST...BUT I COULD GET A SECOND JOB AT BURGER KING OR WENDYS
????????? They can file suit in the 30 day period if he hasn't disputed. http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/04/fdcpaadvisoryopinion.htm Federal circuit courts that have addressed this issue recently have arrived at the same conclusion. In a 1997 opinion, the Seventh Circuit stated that "[t]he debt collector is perfectly free to sue within the thirty days; he just must cease his efforts at collection during the interval between being asked for verification of the debt and mailing the verification to the debtor." Bartlett v. Heibl, 128 F.3d 497, 501 (7th Cir. 1997) (Posner, J.). In the most recent federal appellate court pronouncement on the subject, the Sixth Circuit stated, "A debt collector does not have to stop its collection efforts [during the thirty-day period] to comply with the Act. Instead, it must ensure that its efforts do not threaten a consumer's right to dispute the validity of his debt." Smith v. Computer Credit, Inc., 167 F.3d 1052, 1054 (6th Cir. 1999). Is this what you are talking about? (c) The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer.
You could have a violation - he's told you twice to pay it or make arrangements in one week. Its called overshadowing. Do you and your broker have your desk fees in writing? $2K per month sounds like a whopping huge amount - even at 100% commission. Did you have listings? Were there advertising fees included maybe? You need to send validation now - make note NOT to send you mail to that address, to C & D them only to writing, and to a specific place, etc.
I, again, stress to you the importance of paying this debt within one week baycity ================= This is a $1000 violation. It's called overshadowing THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""'''
This debt looks like it is from a business or, commercial transaction. The FDCPA doesn't apply to these sorts of debt. Unless, you've a state law that says differently.
And we have a winner. Legal action will ensue WITHIN ONE WEEK! I knew this guy was a genius when I saw that he included 809 (c) in the letter. That's not required. lol
I don't think we are giving this poster the best possible advice. The poster was obviously a real estate salesperson and was charged a proportionate share of some of the office expenses. The amount - approximately $2000 a month - seems excessive. First, is this charge legal in your state? I know for a fact it is not legal in New York, and is legal in Arizona. Second - have you been given any accounting to verify how the amount claimed was arrived at? Third - does the Broker owe you any commissions that have not been paid to you that you can offset against this? Fourth - are there any other counterclaims you can assert? Fraudulent representations? How are the Brokers' oter sales associates handling this rather large nut? The poster may be able to fight this, but I suspect FDCPA is not the answer. In my experiuence, the harder the lawyer pushes, he weaker the lawyer's case.
Re: Re: Attorney On MY BACK!!!!! That's why I asked the questions I did. My desk fees were fixed $40 mthly, but I had a 50/50 commission split. At 1K a month it sounds like he keeps all his commission (Remax ish), but $2000 per month seems excessive, unless this might include advertising fees in various publications, membership dues such as NAR and MLS, etc. E & O insurance premiums. Did he return company signage? Other company property? Even though Keepmine has a good point that FDCPA may not apply, this lawyer THINKS it does. I would play his game and validate, and see what they are charging him for.
First, is this charge legal in your state? I know for a fact it is not legal in New York, and is legal in Arizona. Second - have you been given any accounting to verify how the amount claimed was arrived at? Third - does the Broker owe you any commissions that have not been paid to you that you can offset against this? Fourth - are there any other counterclaims you can assert? Fraudulent representations? How are the Brokers' oter sales associates handling this rather large nut? Flyingifr ++++ ++++ ++++ The court has all ready resolved these issues found for the plaintiff and rendered a judgment against Bay City THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""'''
Be careful. This attorney may be just green enough to convince the OC that it's time to file suit. Although you are allowed 30 days in which to receive validation, the attorneys representing the OC can certainly file suit in order to get the litigation ball rolling. And since it's $8500, in most states it won't be small claims. It'll be a higher court. They're usually a little less lenient on pro se parties, and even less lenient in terms of collection matters against individuals. Unless you have docs that prove you owe less, you might wanna consider negotiating a settlement agreement with this guy.
