Hi all, My friends, family, and I have been being contacted by Frontline Asset Strategies Llc over an old debt. The first time they contacted me they told me that were in the process of deciding whether to sue or not. The debt is about $1,400. I faxed sent them a limited cease and desist saying that they may only contact me by mail or by email. This was on december 29. They have called me several times since then. I can prove that they received the fax because it was sent via a internet fax service which keeps a full record of the faxes and the images of the faxes sent. I also know that they received it because in one of their messages to me they say that they had sent me a email and this is the only time that I had ever given them my email address. However, the fax wasn't signed because I had sent it via and internet fax service. I have saved all of the messages that they left me on my voice mail and all of them have a date and phone number stamp. How should I proceed further?
Not to be critical - but letters sent CMRRR have a greater value of proof that they actually received the letter, than a fax - especially a fax not sent out by/through a UPS or Fed EX shop. When one of these shops sends it out you will at least have a cobirmation # once received by the recipient. As far as the debt is concerned demand a complete validation in writing and send it CMRRR.
I do have a confirmation number provided by my fax service. I also requested validation in the letter, which they have not provided. Should I send out another letter stating that they are in violation of federal law? How should I word it and what should I include in it? How might I be able to use this to my advantage?
What's your goal? Whenever you are contacted by a CA, before you say or do anything, you should send them a letter (CMRRR) that: a) disputes the debt in its entirety b) asks for validation pursuant to the FDCPA c) informs them that it is inconvenient to take any telephone calls about this debt at any number at any time. You MUST do this within 30 days of the first time you became aware of the debt to preserve some of your rights under the FDCPA. (not all are governed by the 30-day window). You could have some fodder for an FDCPA lawsuit: - not sending you the required information within 5-days of first contact - third-party disclosure - continued collection activities without validation - threatening (or implying) legal action that they don't seriously intend to pursue But you'll have to file it yourself and you'll have to keep all the necessary records. The AG might write them a letter and ask them what's the story (to which they'll provide a very polished answer) but unless you're the 4,303,229th person to complain about this company, it's unlikely they'll do more than that. Also, these days, you'll actually have to file a lawsuit and serve them papers to get them to put up or shut up. Just Sabre rattling (i.e. writing "intent to sue" letters) barely raises an eyebrow, anymore. What you DON'T want to do is tell them they can't contact you by phone (i.e. C&D, limited or otherwise) because then they HAVE to sue you (or go away). Using the wording from item (c) above is a better way because it aligns with the wording of the FDCPA. It gives them the option to communicate with you in writing but calling on the phone would be an FDCPA violation. (Full disclosure: I haven't seen any case law that supports this, however, so YMMV).
What I told them is that they may not contact me or anyone known to me by phone however they may contact me directly at by mail or by email. Is this something that I ought not have said? In my next letter should I reitterate that I had advised them that it was inconvient to contact me by phone and to only contact me by mail or email?
What ccbob is trying to tell you is that the FDCPA says they may not call at any time or place they know to be inconvenient. So you need to use the term "it is inconvenient for me to receive calls at any time at any number" and then ask them to communicate only in writing. I wouldn't even say e-mail. Make them use the US Mail. The postmark will show when it's mailed.
Before your next step, you need to figure out where you want to take this. i.e. Ready, aim, fire, as opposed to Ready, fire, aim. Also, you need to decide how far you're willing to take it. If you are trying to get them off your credit report and out of your hair, you will likely have to file a lawsuit to accomplish that. Are you willing to do that? They might take you to court over the debt? Are you ready to defend yourself? Is being sued something that will cause you to lose sleep? lose money? or is your attitude "Bring it on, suckers!"? Are you ready to face some unforgiving local judge who will ask you a) is this your debt? b) when do you plan on paying it? and not be willing to hear anything else on the matter? These are just a few of the possible outcomes you might face when dealing with any collection agency. It's not that any of them will happen or that are any of them insurmountable. But it's always good to know the shape of the battlefield before you go charging off into it. In my limited experience and from reading the experience of others, your letters are simply ignored, for the most part. You're either in the active collections pile or not. If they're still calling you, you're still in the active pile and my guess is that the only thing that will get you out of that pile is an FDCPA lawsuit filed in federal court. You can write all the letters you want but to the CA, life is simple and binary: Are you suing them or not (letters don't count). Are you in the active collections pile or not. Are you still worth talking to, or not. etc. Reasoning or a middle ground don't seem to be too common, from what I've seen, so I wouldn't waste the effort. In any case, if you haven't asked for validation, you still have time. If you have and they haven't responded, then I'd look at filing a lawsuit. If you file it, they WILL have to respond. Then, at least, you have THEM on the defensive.
