Dorsey Thornton & Associates...law firm or collection agency?

I spoke with a gentleman from the above mentioned "firm" the other night. Apparently he skipped calling me directly and went straight to my parents and my uncle to get me to call this guy back.

I called him back and he said that he had an account from a PDL that was initially $300 and has now grown to over $1,000 with interest & fees from 2006. He stated that the client had sent me 14 letters of written communcation (apparently it was from loanpayday.com, which doesn't seem to exist), called me several times about the transaction, and now because the amount due is over $1,000 they are claiming it's a felony and that I will have to go to court over it. No mention of me getting arrested or anything like that, but I have a feeling that was what he was implying based on the messages he left with my family.

I can tell you that they do not have my current mailing address, nor do they have any information about me other than my current phone number and my old mailing address.

To be honest, I don't know whether I owe this money or not. There was a time when a lot of money was being taken out of my checking account fradulently, and while I did have a PDL at the time, I don't know if this was satisfied or not. My account had closed so if this alleged creditor tried to get money from there, the transaction was rejected.

When I inquired with the guy from DT&A, he asked if I did this on purpose. I told him no, however I was not comfortable giving him any personal information over the phone for fear of more fraudulent activity. I asked him to send me something in writing, as I felt that logically, anyone from anywhere can call me saying that I owe money and they can turn out to be another scam artist. He e-mailed me a copy of a "settlement letter" on their letterhead (which, ironically had a gavel as a watermark in the background) before the holiday yesterday. He just tried to call me now, but I wanted some feedback. He told me on the phone that I am unable to dispute the amount owed because it's now in their hands and that I had a chance to do that previously.

Can someone confirm that with me? Do I still have a right to dispute this letter? I want to be able to send it out tomorrow morning via overnight mail so he gets it on Monday.

Also, I did ask him to stop communicating with family members and only call the contact number they have for me going forward. So are they a collections agency or an alleged law firm? Can I still send them a dispute letter?

Thanks!

A simple search of Dorsey Thornton & Associates will give you a lot of fishy responses. Ask them to validate the debt first. As per the FDCPA, they should send you a collection letter within 5 days of initial contact.

They haven't sent me a letter yet in the mail, but they did send one in writing as a "settlement letter". No where in the correspondence does it say I have a right to dispute the letter, or have 30 days to respond or anything like that. They refuse to send me anything that states so.

In fact, here is the verbiage from the letter I received:

Lender: Loan Payday.com
Amount Due: $856.52 ***(personal note: This was apparently on a $300 PDL)***
Date of Notice 11/24/10

Dear _________________

Our Office has assumed the responsibilitiy of obtaining a final decision regarding the above mentioned account.

Per our conversation, we are authorized to accept the following terms of a one time pay-off of $856.62, good for 11/24/10 on your account. This is an opportunity for you to uphold your legal obligation in respects to your lender. If for any reason you do not take advantage of this settlement offer by 11/25/10 then the offer becomes null & void and further colleciton activities will proceed. One the account has been satisfied all collection activities will cease and your account will be considered paid in full.

To speak with Agent David Allen, please contact this office at 404-935-9349.

Thank you in advance.

Send them a debt validation letter now. As per the FDCPA, they are required to validate the debt if you ask them to. If they do not comply to your request, file cases against them with the FTC.

Will do! Thanks!!

You are welcome 'rockinkiwi'. I hope you get more replies from other members too. And do keep us posted.

Howdy! Just wanted to give everyone an update on my issues with DTA. I received the e-mail from DT&A (mentioned in a previous post), and sent out a debt validation letter to the address shown on the letterhead on 12/2/10. I did not hear from them for the next few weeks. This past Friday (Jan 21) I received a phone call on my cell phone from them. They left a message. I immediately sent them an e-mail stating that they were not to call me anymore based on my letter from 12/2/10, and that they must validate the debt per my request.

Instead, I get the following e-mail about 10 minutes ago. Can you call this harrassment? I need to get a phone number for the state of PA's office to lodge a complaint and find out my rights.

DTA INVESTIGATIONS
January 23, 2011
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY, IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW.


(((NOTE TO READERS: THERE IS A LARGE PICTURE OF A DUDE WITH HANDCUFFS PLACED HERE IN MY E-MAIL....I couldn't get it to paste in for effect)))

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

DTA has been hired to determine your liability in a check fraud case in reference to a returned check you wrote. We are assuming your innocence regarding this matter, however we must speak with you to make a final determination. We have been authorized by your bank and original creditor to pursue all permissible means to resolve this matter. Please click on link to see your state laws pertaining to bad checks. http://www.ckfraud.org/penalties.html. Contact our office immediately at 404-935-9490 between 9am-6pm Monday-Friday and ask for the check fraud department to give your statement. We are scheduled to process 3600 claims, don't let your case be one of them. If we do not hear from you we can only assume your guilt and we will proceed forth wit. Govern yourself accordingly.


CHECK FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS
****If you live in Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Georgia, please contact you District Attorney's office. You case has already been processed through us.****
This is an attempt to collect a bad check debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. This communication is from a debt collector. Bad Checks are not subject to the provisions of the FDCPA.



Dorsey Thornton and Associates
DTA INVESTIGATIONS



It does give me the option to unsubscribe from their e-mails. I don't know what to do, but i need to make some serious phone calls in the AM. If anyone can direct me on who to call I'd appreciate it. I don't have a lawyer, and I can't afford one. I live in CT, but the alleged debt was from the State of PA. They can't tell me how much I originally owe, the real name of the vendor, etc.. But I cannot deal with assumed threats of arrest and whatnot.

I cannot imagine any "official" or legit company would do this. Sounds like BS to me. According to stuff I see, PDL's are not legal in neither CT nor PA.

Connecticut -- http://www.paydayloaninfo.org/state-information/14

Pennsylvania -- http://www.paydayloaninfo.org/state-information/46

If it were me...I'd lodging complaints against the DTA company for threatening your in regards to an illegal debt.

I received the exact same email yesterday out of the blue. I have never received any letters from this company stating debt. Today, the company called my job! Any advice? Does anyone know the laws pertaining to this in Texas? Any help would be appreciated.

well to rockinkiwi file an immediate AG complaint.you can forward that piece of garbage email as well then you reply to that by stating this.

dear losers.
i just received that ridiculous email,and was moved to file an AG complaint and forwarded that wonderful threat.i'm done dealing with you,and all calls will be recorded,or logged.also any further stupid emails will be forwarded as well.since you want to break the law and be the true criminals here.i'll treat you like it.

sincerely.......

anyway that is how i would respond.only after really filing the AG complaint.

I submitted a complaint to the AG of PA and CT last night and said that I would be happy to forward my e-mail correspondence to them for review. I received confirmation from the BBB and the FTC this morning that they received my complaint. Hopefully I'll be hearing from the AG of either state soon. I now live in CT, but PA is where they state I took out the loan as it was done in 2006, which was my state of residence at the time.

I do know that online PDLs are illegal in CT and in PA, and I do have a number for a woman that I spoke with in December. Unfortunately that number is at my office and I'm home today. I will be giving her a call tomorrow to advise her of the status of my situation. Thanks for the feedback.

Oh, and Paul, my e-mail would be more, um, strongly worded if I could get away with it. LOL They do give me the option to unsubscribe in those e-mails, but I don't want to do that yet. I'm going to wait this out to see how it plays....

well try to be better than they are.so to speak as they do push don't they?glad you filed them complaints,and part about the calls was in case you are in a two party state as you must inform them.cover your bases,but in reality i wouldn't respond if i where you.just keep forwarding to your AG,and ignore ther sorry a$$e$.

Update:
About a month ago I filed complaints with the BBB in Atlanta, GA, the PA State Attorney General's office, and also with the FTC. The PA AG's office has been in contact with me and asked me to keep them updated with any future communications that DTA has had with me. (They have continued to call, the last call being only 3 days ago.) The BBB received a "form message" response from DTA which gramatically didn't make any sense (and they also missed the requested deadline by 2 days). However in the letter it said they would cease calling me and (insert my name here) is closed........I don't know if they meant my account or something else (as I'm not sure how one closes a person). So I responded back and said I wasn't satisfied with the form message, asked for a validation of debt once again (which they still have yet to provide), and asked them to stop calling me. They then had until February 21 to respond....and they responded on the 22 with the EXACT same form message. Still no validation of debt.

Upon responding to the second form message I advised the BBB that this company still has yet to prove I owe any money, they continue to call me and leave messages on my cell phone, and once again requested a validation of debt, an explanation as to the form letter, and once again that they do not contact me by phone and only by mail.

To be continued....

I have the same exact company calling me for the same exact thing!! They said i owed $1,020 on a $225 check from a payday loan from back in 2007. They got $500 from me by scaring me saying id get jail time. it seems to be a fraud. on the 29th they are supposed to be takin $335 off my debit card. little do they know i changed my card info. they will be getting nothing else

Dear rockinkiwi,

I am going through a similar situation with these creeps, and I was wondering if you have their mailing address. I found their company on the BBB website for Atlanta, GA and then another listing for them under Dorsey, DORTON & Associates both of which listed mailing address, so I'm not sure which address to use. I want to send a request for debt validation and then a cease and desist letter, pursuant to our rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can find information on the FDCPA at ftc.gov. Any help you can give is gratefully appreciated.