I'm now getting calls from a law firm

Well, if you got the lady recorded saying that then yeah, she basically lied to you. Send out that DV CMRR and if you can, record the calls (be sure you are in a one party state, or be sure to include in the letters that all calls are recorded). Start keeping track of the violations they make and try to keep a meticulous paper trail so that they have no wriggle room and if push comes to shove..you will slam them into the ground.

Wrote up the letter today. Will send it out tomorrow since I cannot send it out today due to Veterans Day. They did call me again to say they are sending me a settlement letter. Of course that offer only stands till Nov 28th. I looked at my credit report and it says that it was purchased by another lender. The lady who I spoke with stated that they were hired by them. So wouldn't that be another lie? I have over 16k for my debt and I know about 5k is from late fees from them, so I think they are offering 10k. Which I will decline. I'm thinking half of what I originally owed would be suffiencent which was 11K. So I'm thinking around 5k. I will send them a letter for much less but see where I can start.

Well, before you consider any of their so called offers, make sure they properly validate. Especially with a copy of a signed contract that states they can tack on these extra 'late fees' you were talking about in your last post. They can only legally charge you either your state's interest rate, or what is stipulated in the signed contract. You also want a full accounting with all statements.

If the account was sold by the OC, then yeah, she lied again but by now I bet you are not too surprised eh? It may be further back in the posts, but refresh my memory...is the lawyer representing a CA or are they the ones doing the collecting? If they are acting on behalf of another company, I would DV them too and make sure they prove they are either collecting on behalf of the OC like the lawyer said, or they have documentation to prove the sale if they did in fact buy the account.

When you do get to the settlement phase, take into account how old the account is (the date of last payment, or 60 days from that date (I think). A good rule of thumb is the older the debt, the lower the settlement. You also want to have this agreement in writing, and make sure it states that this settles the account in full, no reporting to the CRAs, and no selling off the account.

The Lawyer states they are the ones doing the collecting. The debt is really old. It's about over 2 years old. I'm going to be heading to the post office in a few to send the letter. Thank you for the tips on the settlement letter. Once I start that phase I will keep up with you so you can help me out through all this. I really appreciate it. You were so right these CA's love to bend and break rules. It's funny because I would be running scared if it wasn't for people like you on this site. With just a little knowledge how you can help yourself and how they break the law.

Well good luck with it and keep us informed! We will help you out as much as we can along the way. This site has helped me tremendously and through it motivated me to research all this and to give back all the help I was given when I first came here.

It is a sad fact that many, many CAs simply break the law left and right and they like to scream that it is a stall tactic to demand validation, but in all honesty it is their own fault since if they would not act in such an illegal fashion, people would not have to protect themselves so vigorously. I have not had a CA yet who has been able to come back at me when I say that.

I ended up having to get a lawyer and it is costing me 750.00 to deal with these scum bags. I sent the lawyer that signed the paper an e-mail that I wanted to have a pre-trial conference and she never did call back, but some flunky from the office called me back and asked me if I wanted to offer a settlement I told her no and asked her what she did with the settlement letter that I faxed to her back in July? "Well I'll have to see if it's in your folder" yeah right, it is in file 13! They are counting on me not showing up for court. I'm waiting to hear from my lawyer to see if he can deal with them. The sad thing is, I never used the card it was a balance transfer from 6 years ago and I am sure I paid for it 3 times since then.

Can they set up a court date and not notify me? Just curious for future reference. Also Any phone call they have had with me could I request a copy of them. I'm going to start to record my phone calls with them. I have had only 2 so nothing to serious just yet.

I wrote up the DV today and also made up a Cease and Desist letter. From What I have read these guys are classic for not validating. I know this is just starting and want to slam dunk these guys. Glad I have everyone on here to help out. Lets score one for the good guys!!

From What I have been reading WWR tries to have you default and get judgement against you. They will send you letters to wrong addresses. How could I keep up with them and make sure that I'm notified of any summons or Judgement is waiting for me. I live in San Diego. They are based out Cleveland. What court system would they go through? Have to cover all bases.

They have to sue you where you live. That means San Diego. Standard procedure is that they hire a lawyer in your state to sue on the case for them.

Is there a way to look up online of local courts that I could look up info to see if they try to sneak one by me?

Some courts have online searches available, some don't. You should goto the website for your county and see.

Try this: http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/portal/pag..._schema=PORTAL

the case type would be a civil suit correct?

yes it would be a civil suit. Also, dont forget to check small claims as well, since a lot of CA's have taken so small claims courts to get money out of consumers. I dont know the amount they claim you owe, but thats something to keep an eye on as well.

Something struck me on the first page--they said to you:



They said "since youre represented by an attorney..."--thats a violation right there. if they really thought you were represented by an attorney, the conversation should have ended right there with "please give us the contact info for your attorney". fdcpa doesnt allow them to call you at all once they learn that you have hired an attorney, unless they cannot locate or have been unsuccessful in trying to contact that attorney. They thought you were represented by counsel, yet continued to call you and demand payment. Thats against the law. It would be a good idea to keep a log and write down word-for-word what they say to you each time they call, and also the date and time of the call. You live in a "two-party" state, which means that you cannot tape record any phone calls without getting permission from all parties who are a part of that phone conversation. Most often, if you tell them you are recording the call they will hang up, but you can still try it if you like. Get a recorder and hook it up to the phone, then when they call, say "this call is being recorded, by remaining on the phone you are giving your consent to be recorded today." If they stay on the phone, I would be surprised, but you never know.