Anyone ever heard of this guy? Called me, Claims to be an attorney for a company named QAR that is a debt buyer.
Look him up in your state bar association. If he claims to be an attorney and he's not, that's another violation. Either way, if he works for the debt buyer/CA, you sure as heck don't want any of his legal advice!
If the company that called you is QAR, LLC, then they are a junk debt buyer based in the Buffalo, NY area with a branch office in the Atlanta area. Here is a link to their "Contacts" page: QAR - Contacts This agency is listed among other bad boy debt collectors in a blog posting at Stop Putting Up With Endless Harassment From Collection Agencies... There is no "Mark Lavin" listed as an attorney admitted to the NY State Bar, at least according to information provided by the NY State Courts website at https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/attorney/AttorneySearch - there are, however, 17 attorneys listed with some variant spelling of "Mark Levin", so be careful in case you misspelled this attorney's last name in your original post.
The blog at Stop Putting Up With Endless Harassment From Collection Agencies... has some interesting information but it also has some misinformation that can bite the unsuspecting reader... For example, his sample letter is as likely to get you sued as it is to get them to stop calling you. If you ask them to C&D, per the FDCPA, their only options become, go away or sue. I guess that's one way to tell if they are serious, but that's sort of like using Russian Roulette to see if a gun is loaded. You can say you won't deal with the CA but you can't enforce that (and they know that). If they own or are collecting on an assigned debt, they have every legal right to sue you to collect. The law is on their side unless you defend yourself. They can (and will) get a judgment while you stand there saying "I don't acknowledge you!" and you'll still be stuck paying them (plus court costs, attorney's fees, interest, and anything else they can tack on). Worst case, your "personal policy" will just be used against you to show how you're being belligerent which will just piss of the judge when the CA goes to court to sue. Why give the CA any more ammunition against you? Telling them to "cease collection activities" sounds all tough and "legal," but there's no legal requirement to do that unless you've disputed the debt and asked for validation within the 30-day window described in the FDCPA. It's better to apply the FDCPA where it says they can't call you when it's inconvenient. If it's ALWAYS inconvenient (and it always is), tell the CA, then the FDCPA forces them to stop calling or be sued by you. All you need to say in your letter to get your point across and to stay on the good side of the FDCPA is: That's all. No need to get all "in their face" and throw a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo (e.g. USC citations, precedent-setting cases, etc.). That just shows you copied your letter off of a web site.
ccbob, I didn't take the time to read that blog as carefully as I should have. Thanks for pointing out the big problem with the advice in the blog. ;-)
If it's out of buffalo then it's probaly goon connected check with the new york state attorney general they have many lawsuits pending with these goons and butt-sniffers.
Thanks for the help, guys. I asked him to spell his name, and Mark Lavin is how he spelled it. I also looked him up on the internet, cannot find him listed as an attorney. I plan to call the New York Bar Monday morning, as the call came from a 716 area code, which is Buffalo. I am convinced it is this QAR,LLC company. I definitely dispute the amount of the debt I owe because I never owed an amount as large as they say. When I receive something in writing from them (I hav enot yet, even though they were able to tell me my address), I will be sending them a validation request.
I've heard the name i believe him and him and wife are in this together i believe it's under her maiden name which i can't remember
I called the NY Courts Attorney licensing this morning. No record of an attorney named Mark Lavin. Surprise. Possibly a paralegal? I guess my next step will be to wait to see if he calls back.
