How should I handle this collection company

Are they reporting this on your credit report?
Are they pursuing any other type of collection activity?
Did they send you the information required by 15 USC 1692g(a)?
Are you ready to sue them?
Read the FDCPA to see if they have complied (from the cheap seats, it looks like you might have a couple of violations on them).

It sounds like they are punting. They might sue you or they might just ignore you and move on.

BTW, FWIW, IMO your letter is too long.

To answer your question. Don't respond to their latest mail. There's nothing more for you to say to them.

 

Start assembling your documentation for the Answer and Counterclaims. It sounds to me like they sent the first letter with the sole intention of filing suit, and since your response did not start with the words "Pay to the Order of..." they will be following up on that intention.

 

I am so appalled by the bad advice you have obviously received and acted upon already that there isn't much point in expounding on what you sent them. I wouldn't bother answering their latest bit of nonsense. I suppose that if you feel really froggy and want to hop on their backs with a federal lawsuit you could do that but i certainly wouldn't recommend it.

Maybe with a bit of luck I can keep you from making a serious mistake by following more bad advice. While gathering evidence to use against them is never a bad idea if you are willing to spend $350 bare minimum to file in federal court, trying to use it for any purpose in local courts is simply wasting time and almost certain to result in a judgment against you for your failure to pay what you owe them. You can also waste your time and effort filing countersuits against them. Most local judges will not even hear it but will just rride right over the top of it and grant them their judgment.

If you are sued you should use your 5 discovery tools starting with demand for more definitive statements instead of answering their complaint with general denials and demands they prove their case or complaints that they broke the law somehow. You should study your local rules of procedure where you will rather quickly learn that general denials are not acceptable ways to answer their complaint. Make them define each and every statement they make. They usually start off by failing to establish the jurisdiction of the court. You need to know exactly what establishes the jurisdiction of the court and how to force them to establish the court's jurisdiction and if not properly done motion the court to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction be it subject matter jurisdiction or maybe in some rare instances the court lacks geographical jurisdiction. While such motions will usually fail one way or the other they do have a detrimental effect on their attorney because it puts him in a bad light. Makes him look bad even if the court establishes it's own which it has the right and authority to do. Courts have the obligation to examine each case to determine whether or not they do have jurisdiction in each and every case and federal courts do that without fail but local courts don't bother with that formality.

Your second discovery tool is interrogatories so make the most of your demands for more definitive statements. Winning lawsuits is not about who is right or who is wrong but rather about strategy. Therefore use your second tool of discovery almost immediately after demand for more definitive statements. Demand for interrogatories is limited to a set number of questions and must be answered within a certain number of days so don't let them get the upper hand by hitting you with a list of interrogatories before you send your to them. Get there first.

Your third discovery tool is demand for admissions. You can't demand they admit they violated FDCPA or your rights because that calls for a legal conclusion and they will object on that grounds. You can use admisions to make them admit they don't have the original agreement or note or that the agreement they submitted as evidence is not a true and correct copy of the original or such things as that.

Your fourth discovery tool is demand for production of documents. That is almost self explanatory so not much need to go into that. The problem usually arises when they fail or refuse to poduce and if that happens you will need to file motion to compel you could use deuces tecum to compel. They will object to either so be prepared to file objection to their objection. They might also file for protective order to your demands and of course you can an probably should do the same to them.

It is all about strategy and proper use of court rules and procedure, not about who is right or who is wrong.

 

In my opinion you may want to consult an attorney; based on your original post, it sounds like they are a law firm ready to file suit. This does not mean they have a clear winning case, but they may have the advantage here.

Check with your state's Bar Association Referral system, they will give you a list of attorney's in your area that specialize in these areas. The cost is minimal, and usually covers the initial consultation.

Stepping into court is not a smart "DIY" thing, there is so much you have to know, and any missed detail can cost you everything.

Personally, I am troubled by the amount of posts similar to this one lately on this forum. Yes, there are some very knowledgeable members regarding the legal proceedings, but...none are attorneys (which they will openly admit and disclaim), and each court has different proceedings, laws, etc. So, if in doubt, consult!

 

While I am not an attorney and would probably be ashamed to admit it if I were, there actually are attorneys who actively participate on this board. I happen know of at least 3 of our posters who are practicing attorneys but they never admit it. The reason they don't admit it lies in their code of ethics and what can be construed as advertising. They are severely limited in the ways they can advertise and posting on message boards isn't one of them. Some attorneys are here and on other message boards for the sole purpose of learning what we know so they will be better prepared to deal with the likes of us in court and they just lurk but never post.

Over the years I have had many attorneys who have become students of mine for the simple reason that they have run into financial problems themselves but FDCPA and debtor law is not their specialty. They practice in other areas of law such as corporate law, tax law, oil and gas leases, medical malpractice, criminal law and other areas of expertise. Some of them never see the inside of a court room so have no idea about courtroom procedure.

I have also had a number of students who are members of various government agencies such as the FBI, CIA and members of the military from generals on down. Now why would those kinds of people come to me? The answer is simple. In order to keep their jobs in government they must keep a very clean credit report or they cannot pass their next security clearance. If they can't keep their security clearances they get fired no matter who they are or how important their job might be. In many cases they have to live in areas such as San Francisco or Washington DC where real estate and apartments as well as other costs of living are extremely high and heir salary just isn't enough to cover it all so they end up in the hole and geting judgments against them. They have to cure their problems or lose their jobs and their pensions.

I have a situation in Colorado right now where the lady has an attorney who has filed a federal case against a debt collector. The attorney does not practice in local courts and is not a member of the Colorado bar so he can't practice in Colorado courts so he only practices in federal courts in Colorado and nowhere else. He is a member of the bar in some other state, Montana if I remember correctly. The lady has filed in federal court against the attorney who got a judgment in Colorado and the attorney she hired to file in federal court don't know all that much about FDCPA and he freely admits it. Both are consulting with me to help them win the case. The Colorado attorney hit her with garnishment and she didn't answer so the court issued an arrest warrant for her for contempt of court. She fled the state and even went overseas for a while. Therefore when she was supposed to show up in Denver for deposition on the federal case she was afraid to do so because she just knew the attorney would call the police and have her arrested if she showed up for the deposition and she would lose if she didn't show up for the deposition. I had to convince her to go back to Colorado and face the music in the local court. I showed her how to take care of the local court problem without getting thrown in jail and she did that and then went to the deposition with no problem at all.

Finding an attorney and consulting with him is no problem at all. They are everywhere. Finding an attorney who is experienced and qualified io act on behalf of debtors is another matter entirely.

 

I have no doubt that there are practicing attorneys who engage in these forums, but my reference was to the advice given many times.

In my opinion, Cap1sucks seems the most knowledgable about not only the laws, but the processes involved in cases we discuss. Yet, he is the first to promote taking the advice as a reference only viewpoint, even going so far as to add do not believe anything you read on the internet.

My main point is that going into court with any case is such a risky proposition, that even attorneys do everything thay can to "settle" before court. If the "pros" want to avoid court, then why would an amateur want to go in? I feel it is dangerous ground to go to court as a "DIYer". I admit it can be done, but it seems that the true work involved outweighs the cost of retaining an attorney.

In brief, I'm taking the position of " a little bit of knowledge is dangerous", and some things are best left to the professionals. Attorneys always take their raps, but I've found that a good attorney is always well worth the money.

I consider myself fairly educated about these topics and laws, yet I would never go to court (either being sued, or to sue) without an experienced attorney. Just my opinion.......

 

Disclaimer to previous post:

I sincerely hope no one is put off by my post above. This board, and its numerous members share great advice and knowledge. There seems to be a great increase in the number of postings regarding lawsuits, judgements, etc. and all of the advice shared is a wonderful thing. The wealth of knowledge posted here is amazing, and I am constantly learning about this credit industry, and I hope it continues.

But as others have advised, it must be taken in the proper perspective. Education is a tremendous tool, but if you find yourself in a situation where legal action is underway, seek the advice of an experienced attorney that you feel comfortable with.

Again, I hope no one takes my opinions personally, and keep the experience and knowledge coming, but keep it in the proper persepctive.

 

Cap1sucks is one of my students and he learned most of what he knows from me. Granted, he has gone on to learn more and more over time and has done amazingly well. He uses what he has learned in his work and has never had a judgment against him and has excellent credit. He has no need for what he learned from me in his personal life.

I have one student who has filed a great many lawsuits against debt collectors and has lost only one. He got his start learning from me but has gone on to expand that knowledge greatly. Far beyond anything I ever taught him. I have another student who first came to me about 4 years ago because he was being sued in an American court by an Ameican debt collector because he failed to pay Mexican income taxes while employed in Mexico by an American company. They wanted about $3700 from him but when the case was over and done with they up paying my student about twice that much as well as losing their case. The way he beat them in court was by making them prove that the court had jurisdiction in the case which they didn't have because no American court has the authority or the jurisdiction to rule on tax liability owed to foreign governments. Then he sued them in federal court on FDCPA violations and they ended up paying him about twice what they originally demanded from him. He has since gone on to win several other lawsuits against debt collectors. He has gone on to learn far more on his own than I ever taught him. Not only do they learn from me but I also learn from them from time to time. If you look at the overall picture through the years, I have learned far more from my students than I ever taught them.

The whole point of what I do is not to make money off of the hard luck of others but to teach enough people to fight back against our corrupt and politically driven court systems so that sufficient pressure can be brought upon the system to at least change it from where debtors and their rights are not ridden over rough shod as though they were nothing but parasites and dirt under the feet of debt collectors and judges. No single person can effect so great a change. It is going to take an extremely large number of people who are willing to learn and fight back against injustices of the debt collectors and their cronies who sit on the benches of American Courts to bring about change.

The only way to do that is through the actions of enough people fighting back to bring the court system to it's knees if that is what it takes. I know of one case I would dearly love to get involved in but can't.

I know of a Vietnamese woman who was correctly charged with shoplifting. She speaks no English at all and her husband only very broken and limited English. She was thrown in jail, released on PR bond and brought to trial. She asked for an interpreter and a public defender, both of which demands were denied. Even if the police read her her rights she could not possibly have understood nor would she even have known it if they did read her rights to her. That judge denied her civil rights under the law on the grounds that the small town didn't have any Vietnamese interpreters nor could they find a public defender to defend her. That's no excuse for denial of basic rights. All I can do is advise her find an attorney who speaks Vietnamese and sue the pants off the city. Take them to federal court. She can do it in Forma Pauperus because the family is on welfare and SSI because he is disabled. Their total income is about $600 a month and they have two little children. The judge fined her $600 and gave her a month to pay up or go to jail. What kind of justice is that? She claimed she had no intention of stealing anything but the way she was caught makes her guilty as sin but that is no excuse for the way they treated her.

It is the same in debtor courts. We may be guilty as sin but that is no excuse for the way they treat us.

 

I applaud and commend your mission and its passion, and there is no doubt that injustices are everywhere. Education is the key, and I feel there are many actions taking place that will change the landscape of the debt collection industry and its practices.

My opinion is one of strategy and execution. I would not enter into any conflict unless I felt I was matched to my opponent. For those that have been successful in their pursuits, that is wonderful. But again, this can be a dangerous terrain, and as Tsun Zsu states, "all battles are won before stepping onto the field".