It is pretty obvious that I am in way over my head with credit card debt. I have left 2 cards recently default. One is for Juniper Bank ($1000) and the other is for Capital one ($5000). LHR has bought or been assigned the Juniper one and MRS has bought or been assigned the Capital One. I did some research online of these companies. MRS seems to be a really nasty one. I have been avoiding their phone calls due to the fact I dont want to be yelled out or mistreated. They leave these generic messages saying 'your documents have been assigned to me and I have to make a decision regarding this within 24 hours, please return the call' of course, I get these every day so the 24 hour thing is BS. I did talk to LHR but their payment plans are ridiculous. If I could not afford to make the $20 minimum payment on the card, how do they expect me to pay $150 a month? I sent them a letter requesting validation to which I got a notarized letter back. This is what it says: Affidavit State of New York County of Erie BEFORE ME, the undersigned Notary Public, authorized by law to administer oaths, personally appeared (insert name here) who, after being duly sworn says: 1. I am the director of operations of LHR, INC., doing business at (address0 and am authorized to make oath on behalf of LHR, Inc accordingly 2. I am over 18 years of age, and competent to testify, and have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein 3. In the capacity of my employment, I maintain the books and records of LHR, Inc. and have personal knowledge that the said records are kept in the ordinary course of business and it is the regular practice to record such transactions on or about the time of occurance 4. LHR, Inc. purchased a portfolio of charged-off accounts receivable from Juniper on or about 12/11/07. Included in that purchase was the indebtedness of (name) 5. LHR, inc is a bona fide assignee of Juniper Bank, the original creditor of the indebtedness of (name) 6. In the ordinary course of business, and as it is customary in the credit industry, Juniper Bank destroys all paper documents on its accounts while maintaining the true and accurate electronic records documenting the payment history and account status. 7. As such, Juniper Bank transmitted electronic data to LHR inc on 12/11/07, at the time of aforesaid purchase that sets forth all the account information relating to the claim. A true and accurate copy of the printout of the aforesaid is atached hereto as exhibit A (**Note the page after the one that said Exhibit A was blank*) 8. I affirm that if I was to be called as a witness, I can testify competently as to the facts of the indebtedness of (Name) 9. To the best of my knowledge, the defendant is not now on active duty in a branch of the military. (Signatures and notary) So, now what????? Thanks in advance for any advice sent my way
Addressing each numbered paragraph: 1. Who cares. 2. So. 3. So. 4. Why did you not include your purchase documents? 5. Where are the assignment docs? 6. Press the little print button on your computer screen and print out the docs. Ohh wait, your not the OC, Juniper has to do that. 7. Exhibit A is blank, are you sure this is the info you received, if so I'd demand my money back. 8. Where you there when the purchases were made? Did you see me make the purchases? 9. Ok.
Thanks for your responses. Like the person who did the breakdown of each line, I believe pretty much everything they sent in the affidavit was irrelevant. I sent them another letter. No, they are not suing me. Nor do I honestly think they will over a $1000 card. Now the Capital One, they probably will. I assume, since it is $5000. They have the nastiest collection agency on the planet. So, I sent them a caese and decist letter, so that will probably piss them off. Anyone here ever dealt with MRS Associates or LHR? Oh and the address of the original creditor was not listed in the affidavit, I typed here, everything on the page.
If you sent them a full cease and desist letter, they have only one option--to sue you. That's why you should never send a full C&D.
I felt that was the only option I had. I could not continue to have them harrassing me at work. And I could not send them the outrageous payments they were asking for.
What you do is send a letter asking them to prove the account is yours and an accounting of how they arrived at the balance, as well as proof that they have a legal right to collect (you never take their word for anything). In that letter, you tell them that it is inconvenient for you to take calls at any number at any time, and that they should contact you only by US mail. That way, they can still contact you, but the phone won't be ringing, plus you have a paper trail. You may not end up paying them what they claim you owe. That remains to be seen. By giving them a full cease and desist, the only way they can contact you is to serve you a summons.
Sue them! Please know your rights. Just because you owe a debt does not mean you do not have rights. It is ILLEGAL for them to contact you at work or to threaten you with lawsuits, to threaten garnish your wages, etc. LHR is a nasty company. Never give them any info no matter how loud they YELL and threaten. Here is a little info on them and all the lawsuits being filed against them for the very same reason. You can still sue whether or not you paid the debt. Check out FTC.gov for simple guidelines to the law. This is the website with some of the lawsuits against them: Here is the name of the person to sue, you can google his name and see all the lawsuits against him on docket search WAYNE BRIAN LEWIS PRESIDENT 56 MAIN ST HAMBURG,NY 14075 Date of Taking Office: 12/10/1996 Last Updated: 12/05/2007] Also- you can send them a simple certified letter stating for them not to call you again... if they do.. taa daa!!! They broke another federal law and you can sue for what ever you feel the damages are plus $1.000.00
It is NOT illegal for them to contact you at work--until you've sent the notice I mentioned above, that it is inconvenient to take calls and they should contact you via US mail. Absent that notice to them, they can call anywhere they want. If they call continuously, that may be a violation, but the mere fact that they call you at work is not a violation of any law. Before you file a suit, you must have grounds. If she has not answered the phone and has not sent a validation request, I see little to sue for. Before you go filing suit, there are certain steps you must follow. The law applies to both sides. You must also follow legal procedures. Filing a suit saying "they called me at work, but I never told them not to" is a good way to get yourself sued for filing frivolous lawsuits. Yes, know your rights. But make sure you understand them and take steps to preserve those rights.
Depending on what state you live in, it may be illegal for them to contact you at work. If you tell them not to call then another person in that same company will call. Don't be fooled, they record and notate every conversation they have with you, so it is in the records that you told them not to call you at work. Also, according to the Fair Debt Collection Act, it is illegal for them to demand the whole amount at once without offering you a payment plan. And again - as I WROTE ABOVE - "Also- you can send them a simple certified letter stating for them not to call you again... if they do.. taa daa!!! They broke another federal law and you can sue for what ever you feel the damages are plus $1.000.00." You can write written instructions telling them what times they can or cannot call you, or not call you at all. I dealt with this company who lied and tried to get me to pay an alleged debt I owed to Juniper. The amount owed was only around $200.00 but they wrote me and claimed I owed close to $1500.00!!!! I had every intention to settle the debt I owed, but not that amount. So I told them: 1. Prove that I owe LHR Incorporated a debt. 2. Give me a statement, month by month showing how LHR Incorporated calculated and arrived at the ALLEGED debt. 3. Prove that they have the right to collect it. They became very combative and threatened me, my property and well being. I wrote them a certified letter stating the above again, and I told them only to contact me via written letters. I contacted a local attorney who has represented other people in lawsuits against LHR Incorporated, got free consultation, and paid a small fee for a letter of representation. The change of attitude was amazing!! They reduced my alleged debt by $1200.00. I, of course agreed to pay the $300.00 with a smile.
I'm confused why they would send you an Affidavit like this in response to your initial request ?? "Attached Exhibit A" & Identifying you in the letter as a "Defendent"??????????????? Are you certain no Complaint has been filed yet? They could have forgotten to enclose the alleged exhibit. NOTE: I'm pretty sure NY is one of the states where a Lost Note Affidavit is enforceable. The Lost Note Affidavit must be executed by the Seller of the Debt and the Purchaser of the debt OR The Purchaser of the debt who has a Power of Attorney for the prior servicer to execute the the Document. If the POA is the case, then I'd request a copy of that document also, verifying they have authority. FYI: for those of you in other states: Some states allow the creditor to file suit via a Lost Note Affidavit. If you reside in a state where that option is not available and they destroyed the doc. then (depending on the type of loan) they may have just made it very difficult for themselves to find an attorney to file suit. ahhh......and... P.S. Don't listen to Universe
This company called me at work yesterday trying to verify my identity. I NEVER verify anything over the phone anyway, so I told him I would not. He then proceeded to tell me that he is going to list me as "not willing to comply" and turn me over to their attorneys. I told him go ahead because I had no clue who he was or what he was calling about. He then told me that he will continue to verify me. He called my office today to "verify employment" with the owner, fortunately the owner is smart and told the guy we have a strict privacy policy. LHR then said "well, just let me verify her social". My boss refused any information and told the guy he didnt want to know the social. I don't think they should share ANY personal information with ANYONE other than the client... Can anyone offer any additional advice?
What about this company contacting family members...including former family members. I received a message from my ex-husband stating that this company was looking for my mother. According to him, they fully stated that they were a debt collection agency collecting a debt my mother had incurred. He told them he did not know how to reach her. They have continued to call him pretty much daily for the last couple of months even after he got upset with them calling and asked them to stop. Needless to say...he's upset, I'm upset and my mother is angry that they are discussing her personal business with my x-husband.
What i did to one company was to tell them I'm sorry i"m not allowed to talk to strangers.The silence was great!
