I got two dunning letters from them at the same time for two different account a couple of weeks ago, and sent out my first two DVs since begining this credit repair. Well... while scouring all the credit sites I could find, I searched to see if they were licensed in NY state....and guess what... THEY AREN'T!!! What does this mean I can do??? But, on a sad note, the one's that are suing me... W&A, they are licensed...
Really not much unless they sue you in their name as plaintiff or as assignee of the plaintiff. In the event that happens you can complain to the judge that they are not licensed and let the judge take it from there. Your other option is to complain to the NY state Attorney General. If you do that you will find that you will have shot yourself in the foot because they will simply attempt to force them to get a license which they very well might do. You have no right of relief from their action because you are not the injured party when the debt collector has not complied with state law regarding licensure. The state is the only injured party in such cases. That is actually the same way it is with failure to obtain a driver's license and get into an accident. The other party is not the injured party because you failed to get a drivers license even though they well may be the injured party in the accident. The state is the injured party in the matter of no drivers license. Therefore your complaint to the AG will only net you the satisfaction of saying to yourself, "AHA, I gotcha" and that will be all there is to it as far as you are concerned. On the other hand, if you just keep what you know to yourself and tell it to the judge you will probably get a lot more satisfaction although the judge probably won't dismiss their case as a result of your complaint but it sure will cause them and their attorney a lot of embarrassment and grief. Judges usually don't take kindly to their coming into court unlicensed when the law says they must be. So complaint to the AG isn't going to do you any good at all while saving it for the judge might. There are some other very interesting side notes about licensure of debt collectors as well but it is much too lengthy to go into here.
Wolpoff has filed suit against you? That's interesting. I take it then that you live in or around Rockville, MD. Is that correct? Why are they suing you? Is it to confirm an arbitration award? If so what are you presenting as a defense? Just because a Wolpoff & Abramson, sues you does not mean that they are automatically entitled to a judgment. They still have to prove their case, and you can have a trial, even a jury trial. The key is to answer their letters and arbitration threats and/or lawsuit in a timely manner. If you answer in time you can successfully defend your case. You may win, and have a judgment in your favor entered stating that you owe nothing. There is No Contract: Consumers can choose not to contract with Wolpoff & Abramson for arbitration in accordance with Hale vs. Henkel, 201 U.S. 43 (1906) and can reject any and/or all correspondence, claims, or any other documents implying they have contracted with them for arbitration in any manner, shape or form. Any contract that may exist is between you and the entity and when they closed the account it no longer existed as an open account. Neither can it qualify as a written agreement. According to the Virginia Attorney General's office and others it is no different than any other debt you might owe. Any arbitration conducted by Wolpoff Abramson and the National Arbitration Forum is in violation of many of the laws, statutes, acts, codes, rules, constitutes a willful and intentional commercial injury to the consumer where the National Arbitration Forum is legally liable for. The National Arbitration Forum cannot provide proof that the alleged â??claimâ? is in compliance with the Code as filed and said â??claimâ?, as filed, further lacks several key elements required by law. If you check, even on their own web site you will find many cases where they were sued by consumers and lost. They don't seem to mind admitting that fact in the least. Strange but true.
i don't want to sound like a jerk. but why don't you just pay the bill? if you owe the money pay it. in my mind it seems ridcoulous that you are trying to get new credit and not pay your past obligations it boggles my mind.
It is indeed a violation but you have no right to bring action or complaint against them for that violation. All you have a right to do is to inform the proper authorities who have the power to enforce state law. You have no right to become a private attorney general in such matters as you do in FDCPA. You also have an obligation of sorts to report such violations to the proper authorities but there is no real definition of who or what constitutes proper authorities. It so happens that a judge is a "proper authority" and has the right to bring whatever action is within the scope of his authority against violators of the laws of the county and state in which he has authority to act.
No it does not. Two wrongs don't make a right. You have both a legal and a moral obligation to pay what you owe. They have both a moral and a legal obligation to be good citizens and obey the law too.
I wasn't aware that NY State required a license of debt collection agencies. Everything I cn find indicates that it is only required in New York City. Can you link to the relevant info?
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dca/html/licenses/license_check.shtml ugh...ur right woops...im an idiot that gets too excited sometimes, it is NYC...im going to keep searching though Mag, I understand what you mean. I am not trying to get out of paying what I owe. But, have you read these boards at all? I am not dealing with a collection agency in any way. They are dirty and underhanded. I don't owe them anything, I owe the original creditor. And I am trying to get new credit just like everyone else to make life a little easier. I am paying past obligations to the ORIGINAL creditor, just trying to do that in a way that will best benefit me. I have paid dearly for my past credit mistakes when I was young, believe me... it has been yeeeeaaars of 17% interest on my car note thats about $400 a month, and deposits for cell phones and being turned down for apartments, plenty of embarrassment from these mistakes. So, I am not trying to get out of paying what I owe, just not dealing with these collection snakes. Thanks for your help and input Cap. No, I don't live in MD. I know that W&A are there, but I received a summons from them last year, responded, received a letter from the courts(that I assume they and I both received) stating that they had 15 days to respond(it was a letter to fill out stating that a-an agreement had been reached or b-they were dropping the suit), if they we didn't respond, the court would set up arbitration automatically. I have heard nothing from the court since then(that was in Dec.). Then, about a week ago, I got a letter form W&A saying they wanted to settle. During this time, I disputed their account on my CR, and it has been deleted by all three CBs. I live in NYS. Now I don't know if I should settle or what... I mean yes, it is only $350(what they would take for settlement), but I just lost my job of 15 years, and I am working as a temp, making no money... $350 is alot for me right now
the problem is that you do owe the collection agencies. when you were not able to pay on the account the original creditors sold it off to the ca. to them it's over. so yes you do owe the collection agency in the sense that they now own the account. having the mentality that you don't owe the ca's anything is going to make your journey to better credit a tad more difficult.
so instead of dealing with them and setting up an agreement for repayment you'll let them sue you, obtain judgment and garnishments, just because you read bad posts online? are you serious? with that type of attitude you deserve to be in court over it.
At the very severe risk of sounding like I am somehow supportive of debt collectors, I must agree with Magnus to a certain extent. Teaching that debtors do not have to deal with debt collectors is typical teaching put out by such dangerous teachers as Bud Hibbs and many more. But the fact is that the money owed to a creditor is his asset and he can legally do what he pleases with his asset including selling or assigning it to someone to collect for him which he is also allowed to do in the original contract or agreement. So like it or not debtors clearly have little choice other than to deal with 3rd party debt collectors. Thinking otherwise is simply sticking one's head in the sand hoping the problem will go away which it sometimes does for one reason or another. It is not a question of whether or not debtors must deal with debt collectors but rather a question of how debtors will deal with them. Refusing to answer the phone is not the most desirable way to deal with them. Neither is throwing their letters in the trash. Another foolish way to deal with them is to send cease & desist letters believing that such letters will force the debt collector to leave them alone. The correct answer lies in facing the facts and learning how to deal with the problem in an aggressive manner. Making arrangements to pay what one owes and doing it is one way but there are several pitfalls in doing that. That sounds easy and it is the morally correct method but unless one takes proper precautions it can and often does lead to disaster. Debt collectors are not known for their honesty or moral responsibility either. They won't give receipts for your money unless forced to do so and often sell the debt to some other debt collector after it has been paid. Since the debtor didn't get a receipt for his money he can't prove he paid it years later. He can be sued years later for the debt he paid and that is happening with ever increasing regularity. Most people who aren't surfing these boards think that if they do the right thing and pay their debts that will somehow improve their credit scores or will somehow clean up their credit scores only to find out later that it actually lowered their scores. They do get a beneficial increase in their scores because it lowers their total indebtedness but on the other hand any tradeline that reeks of collection activity does far more harm than lowering overall indebtedness does good. Debt collectors are in the habit of providing false and misleading information to debtors about how the tradeline will be worded.
Okay guys... you can lay off of me now... treating me like I'm some kinda awful person that doesnt know what is up or down... I've been reading constantly on a daily basis for 3 months, this site and creditboards... and I'd say 90% percent of the posts about CAs is this...DONT DEAL WITH THEM, don't talk to them, don't answer them... ignore them... rarely ever have I read to negotiate with them... I am not trying to not pay these past bills MAG! But when the original debt was $500, and now its $2500 after whatever the CAs have added onto it(and the original is listed as $500 on my CR by the OC), it makes me want to try and find a way around these guys and just deal with the OC. Does that not sound reasonable? Jeeze guys, go easy on me! You honestly do sound like collectors! I've suffered for years because of these debts, and my stupid mistakes as a kid...I'm just trying to clean my report up any way I can! And if that means paying them, then I will... but they have already done some dirty things to me... playing really unfair! such as... Okay, now to W&A--- so you know the story, cause you guys don't know the whole story... as stated above, I had not heard anything since December. Well, I had never heard of these people, or this debt before I received the summons. They had mailed it to an old address, and it was eventually forwarded to me, 2 months after the 20 day time limit I had to respond. Alas, I took this with me to see the clerk, and put all of this in my answer... While I was there, I checked the file to see who, and when and where I was supposedly served this summons... to an address of the street where I previously had lived. There is no such house number or person that they listed they spoke to. Anyway, I called today to the clerk of courts office to see if there had been any updates, and they told me that yes, there was a judgement entered against me and my answer to the summons was not allowed to be entered because it was late. If a judgement was entered, what happened to the arbitration? why did they mail me an offer to settle last week? And yes, it is W&A representing Centurion Capital from MD. So, I have not been able to involved in this case at all, only entering my answer that was late, because of what they did, and now I have that judgement... I would have settled with them to keep it from going to judgement! I'm just asking for a little understanding guys... I know what the right thing to do is... My momma raised a good boy... I just haven't recovered since digging myself into debt, and I don't what I'm doing with this credit repair thing... I don't read Bud Hibbs, cause yes, he sounds like a crazy man to me, just wanting attention... I've just read advice on this site and the other one... In everything on these two sites... is the first piece of advice in the newbies section- call the CAs and pay them?- No, it's start the disputing process... all of the success stories on these sites, the majority of them are not from paying their CAs, not that I can tell... I'm trying to wear a black hat sometimes, and white hat too I guess. I am gonna do the right thing, but admittedly, if I can find a loop hole and understand the move a CA is gonna make next, then I'm gonna do it, and if that makes me a horrible person, then so be it. This site to me, mainly helps me not get crapped on by these guys, and try to understand my rights. Yeah, that means I'll give 'em a kick in the nads sometimes, but hey, they started this dirty game.
see what happens when you ignore them dont deal with them dont pay the account.............................great advice you've read huh?
I've told you, I don't know these collectors, never heard from them before. How is it, that I am not the victim here? At least give me a chance before you enter a judgement against me! I mean come on "collectman", 20 years on my CR for $500???
If process was fraudulently "served" then that might be a reason to vacate the judgement, and maybe also sue the server for your legal costs resulting from his sewer service. You might want to review this with an attorney with experience in consumer debt collection and FDCPA litigation. They might still then serve you, and get another judgement. Is the original debt legitimate? Is it your account? Is the amount they sued for in accordance with the original contract?
Yes ontrack, they never gave me chance by actually serving me... they "served" it to a fake address and listed the person they spoke to as "Miss Johnson" saying she wouldn't give them her first name... tell me that doesn't sound fishy... why would you give your last name, but not your first? I physically drove down the street, and there is no house with that number. I'm going to the post office I guess this week to see if they can give me proof that the address doesn't exist. I don't dispute the original debt... I don't remember how much it should be, but it doesn't sound way off, I just wanted a chance to negotiate before I had a judgement against me. If we go through the process again, I might be able to settle before a judgement goes against me. And I had forgotten about this debt because I lived in NC when I incurred this debt, and the SOL for NC is 3 years, so I thought I could worry about other stuff instead of that one. But I guess because I live in NY now, it goes by the 6 year NY rule? The original debt is legit, it is my account, and I'm not sure if what they are suing for is the right amount. Thanks for helping me understand, and not crucifying me for making stupid mistakes Ontrack
If it passed SOL in NC before you moved to a new state, it is possible that that SOL applies even if you move to a state with a longer SOL. That may depend on NC and NY state law, and you would need to seek the advice of an attorney to determine whether that is the case.
