I'm being sued by JDB. I answered their summons and they are filing for summary judgment. I argued in my counter claim that they don't have a license to collect in my state and that they broke state laws governing collection agencies. They say in their most recent correspondence that they DON'T have a license to collect in my state, but they don't need one since they are not really a collection agency, but a debt buyer. They also say they (and their local attorney) don't have to adhere to state laws governing collection agencies since they aren't one. Will this hold up in court, do you think?
No, it probably wouldn't insofar as debt purchasers are considered debt collectors in most states. However, you will need to file an opposition to the MSJ to flesh that out for the court.
Seems to me you shot yourself in the foot trying to file a counter claim for their failure to get a license. That isn't a cause of action since such state laws do not give the private citizen the right to act as a private attorney general. The problem is that the state is the injured party and not the citizen. In such instances the citizen has suffered no injury and has no cause of action. I'm not saying that you have no right to complain because you can raise it as an affirmative defense instead of as a cause of action. The judge would be more likely to give them an extension of time than to dismiss their case. What action the judge takes is probably a matter of judicial discretion. Let them tell that to a federal judge and see how far they get. There are two ways to find out how true that is. One is to file a complaint with your attorney general and the other is to file a federal lawsuit against them. If I had some debt collector trying to foist that nonsense off on me I'd file a federal case against the both of them.
Thanks. I just wrote a long post under a new thread. Their correspondence and docs in the exhibits say: "This is correspondence from a debt collector"
Sorry, I'm more together in the papers I filed than I am here. I raised the license issue in my affirmative defense. My counter-claims had to do with them contacting third parties w/details of the case, continuing to call me personally after I had an attorney, etc.
Have to disagree with you on that one, Apex. It is commonly said that if a law gives the private citizen the right to bring suit for violation of a statute then he is acting in the capacity of a private attorney general.
