YIPEEEE!!! I have been posting about a CA that has repeatedly called me and harassed me for over the last few months. I have, thanks to this board, documented everything. Including photos of the caller ID after I sent the C&D letter. This is going to be sweet. I just called the attorney, who I found off the NACA board, and he said that this was the best documented FDCPA case he had ever seen. I could have done this in small claims, but knew I had a bigger fish than that. He said he wants to file it in Federal court. What does this mean far as the award goes, ie monetary rewards? I would post more specific, but I dont know if the CA is lurking. I will keep everyone updated. BTW- I only pay the filing fee of 150.00 and he will do the rest...
Quigs, You need to find out the financial arrangments. The lawyer won't work for free. Ask what the contingency percentage will be and, be sure you have an understanding if that will include all expenses or, is it to be contingency plus expenses.
BTW He wants to put your case before a jury and go for puntitive damages. These kinds of awards for blatent and willfull disregard have been ENORMOUS lately. Half the people on the jury have been bugged by a debt collector. Six figures maybe. Good luck.
I must admit my knowledge is limited to small claims and not really federal court. Can you get pain and suffering, emotional distress, and all that good stuff in federal court on a FDCPA claim? The offenses are frequent in nature and show the CA was very malicious. I don't know where I heard it, but I thought in order to file in federal court your claim(damages) have to exceed 70k. So if that is true he must have a plan intact. We didn't get to specific, but he said the only upfront fee would be the filing fee, so I guess he will be working for a contingency. I will for sure keep everyone posted.
First of all, there is no high or low dollar limit in damages to file a suit in Federal Court. You may choose the Federal venue for a lot of reasons. Your state may not require discovey for small claims court. You may request discovery in Federal Court. A federal Court has the power to order deletions or other remedy. A local small claims court is usually bound to award dollars as remedy and nothing else. You can sue for a dollar amount over the limit that is imposed on smal claims court. And finally, Federal Judges are more apt to follow the law more strictly than a small claims court judge. Punative damages are just what they say. THey are designed to be large enough to really punish a defendant.
Butch, It's ok if I don't sue for major damages but I would like to get what they put on my credit report off ....even the part about them canceling the card that I really own. What do you mean "actionable case"??? Are you meaning I might not have any case at all?? Can they get away with just changing someone name on an account when they didn't sign any thing at all?? Lady
Unless there is a federal question (as in the case of the FCRA which are federal statutes), there is a dollar figure you must be asking for before you can sue in federal court...I thought it was 50k, but could be wrong on that. Not all cases are appropriate for federal court...but we are fortunate in that what we are dealing with in this forum cannot even be questioned as to whether or not it is appropriate for federal court. L Edited: Maybe there isn't a dollar amount (always listen to keepmine...lol) Grabbed this off my local US District Court's website. â?? Is it a civil rights case? â?? Is it a case based on a federal statute? â?? Is it a diversity action (which means you live in one state and the defendant lives in another)? â?? Is it an employment discrimination case and you have obtained a decision from the Human Rights Commission or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission? â?? Is it a Social Security appeal? â?? Is it a petition for a writ of habeas corpus from a federal or state conviction? These are cases that are appropriate for federal court.
