Ok So EQUABLE ASCENT FINANCIAL, LLC purchased an account and then had a Debt Collector called United Recovery Systems send me a letter. I sent in a validation request letter to the debt collector and a week after it was received it was reported on my credit reports as EQUABLE ASCENT FINANCIAL, LLC. From my reasearch on them in the internet they claim not to be debt collectors but the Original Creditors so they claim they dont have to validate or be subject to FDCPA. I have disputed with the Credit Reporting agencies and am waiting to hear back to see if I should take them to court for Violation of FDCPA. Do you know if their tactics will work? On the debt collection letter it says they purchased the washington mutual account.
It makes no difference what they claim. There can be one and only one original creditor unless the original creditor was acquired by another lender while the account was still in good standing. Anybody else is a 3rd party debt collector.
I would tend to think so. Most banks are either chartered or they are N.A. banks. Nationally Associated banks cannot be corporations under federal law and most state banks are chartered by the state they are domiciled in and can't be corporations under the laws of most states. That is true for most states and banks but then there are also credit card banks which is an entirely different animal. Most credit card banks are N.A. banks as well but again a few of them are local only and are state chartered. There was a patriot theory going around the net for a while saying that a bank can't sue because they are not chartered or incorporated in your state therefore have no minimum contact anywhere except under the state in which they are domiciled. Of course that was just another dumb idea that didn't work.
They are doing everything they can to get away from being bound by FDCPA Law. I dont think they have been put to the test in court. If my credit report dispute comes back verified I am def taking them to court. I have also already filed a complaint with the NYC Department of Consumer affairs and the NY state attorney generals office.
How do they get away from the law? If they bought the account/debt, they're a 3rd party collector. Period. You should do all you need to do per the FDCPA. If they don't keep up their end of the deal (per the FDCPA), they can tell it to the judge when you sue them in federal court.
