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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 4:21 pm Subject:

Grinch6969

Your stepson has paid the fine for his deeds. Why should he be asked to pay it again? Consult an attorney for legal advice. Also, it will helpful to visit the local AG's office.

GetOffMyCloud · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:00 am Subject:

I would recommend that you send them a cease contact letter. I had to deal with them a few years ago. I settle my debt with the original creditor. This firm did call my neighbor. She is an elderly sweet lady. They called her looking for me during the night and first thing in the morning. It was embarrassing. They lied stating they called me when they didn't. Just a word of caution.

Thomas Ponte · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:09 pm Subject: Just got a call from them today

I have been gettting phone calls from them for over a year now and they are harrasing me. I have paid the check I had and they keep telling me that I didn't pay and threating to ruin my credit and the creep had the nerve to threaten me by telling me they were taking me to court and I would have to pay triple and court costs. I hope these aholes can sleep at night. I told them that the phone number they keep calling is not in my name and that my roomate will report the harrasment to the attorney general and he said he would remove the number from his list.

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:50 pm Subject:

Thomas, you must be having the proof of your check cashed in your bank statement. Send a dispute letter to the company verifying this item. They will verify it with your original lenders and serve you the accurate information about your account.

goodgirl

a year ago a check got stolen at a party we had and the funds from the purchase were returned after the bank suspected that the transaction was fraudulant. Now B & D are calling me to collect the debt. This was a year ago and they're saying that there's a pending court case and I need to send them an affidavid of forgery. If the signatures from the check don't match then I will have to testify in court and press charges because someone has to pay off the debt. Why do I need to go through all of this is I have that protection at my bank?

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:21 pm Subject:

Goodgirl, I would definitely like to consult my attorney regarding this matter. B&D is trying to force you to make a payment on some debt that never occurred. Besides, they have not given to you anything about this debt in writing. Using the federal laws, ask them to validate the debt first so that you can review it. You have the legal rights to refuse payment till the debt is not shown to you in paper.

Mike D

Hi all,

I am in need of some advice. Back in 1990 I made the mistake of joining Bally's Health club. In 1991 I went off to college and sent Bally's a letter with my change of address (and a copy of my lease which I still possess), assuming (wrongfully on my part) that the matter was finished. Off course, I was very young and not concerned at all about a credit score, so I never checked back on it.

Now, 16 years later I am getting calls and letters from Bennett and Deloney about this debt, and that they are willing to take a lower amount to settle the matter ($400). When my wife and I purchased a house last year, I ran my credit to learn my score (720), and there was NO deragatory credit info from Ballys.

My question is - do I leave this alone or try to fight this? I am worried that if I call the law firm and offer to show my proof of moving back in 1991, they will then have confirmation that this is my debt and push harder. Also, I am worried that they will attempt to put this back on my clean credit report!

So, should I call them and fight this, or just deal with the annoying calls and letters and hope that they will one day give up and stop calling?

Thanks for any info!

Mike

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:21 pm Subject:

Hi Mike,

The collection agencies especially the bad ones never end calling you unless you fight back strongly with legitimate reasons. Tell them to send you the details of the debt in writing for verification purpose. Do not make any payment agreement to them. Do not even sign any promissory note also. This debt is past the statutes and you are legally not required to pay it. Also, it cannot be reported in your credit file because it is past the 7 years period under the FCRA laws. So, it is important for you to dispute without making any payment agreement. Some states allow recording of the phone calls without taking the other party's permission. If you agree to pay it and they have a recording of it, you can be forced in legal terms to pay the account.

Once the collection agency sends the details of this debt in writing, send a dispute letter mentioning the expiry of the SOL. It is your legal right to refuse any payment when the account is past the SOL period. Send this dispute letter through certified mail with return receipt requested. You will be sure about them receiving this letter. Moreover, it will leave proof that you tried your part in resolving this matter and didn't escape your responsibility. Facts can be proven if the CA wants to take the matter to the court. You will have covered your entire basis by this time.

Regards
Roxette

Guest · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:32 pm Subject:

Hi Roxette,

Thank you so much for your reply! I do have a few additional questions:

* I have already a letter from them, and it stated that the debt was from my Bally's membership (that is about all they say though) - is that the details of the debt in writing that you are referring to in your message, or should I ask them for another one with more detail?

* In my dispute letter (once I receive the details of the debt letter from them) should I explain how I sent the copy of the lease to Bally's in 1991 to prove that I moved and that the account should have been closed at that time (in other words plead my case)?

* Also, can I request in the letter that they stop with the calls to my home?

Thanks again for your helpful assistance!

Mike

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:37 pm Subject:

Hi Mike

Welcome back Very Happy

Mike D · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:44 am Subject:

Hi Roxette,

Thank you again for this information. I am going to draft and send the letter today.

I just have one clarification question:

Just to make sure I am clear with the information you provided - I read your response "In your case, the company has already sent you a letter and they say it fulfilling the validation requirement". Does that mean that I do NOT need to do the first step in obtaining details of the debt in writing? Should I move forward with the dispute letter, or should I still go ahead with the debt validation letter first prior to sending the dispute letter?

Thanks again Roxette!

Mike

Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:28 pm Subject:

Mike

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:11 am Subject: notes and random thoughts

(1) don't lie to anyone on the telephone. Buy a caller-id with anonymous call blocking and an answering machine that you can use to screen your calls. Just don't talk to anyone you don't feel like talking to. Do keep a record of the time and date of each call, along with the name and phone number reflected on the caller id. If you think you may want to sue the caller, also do call-trace (which costs money every time you use it) with the idea that you can subpoena the phone co. for the records (they only keep the last 90 days worth where I live, and tell everyone that the records are only available for law-enforcement purposes and can only be given to police - wrong - a subpoena issued by the clerk of court in a civil case and properly served will be honored by the phone co.).

2) Always send a denial of debt and demand for verification letter as the first thing you do. There is a legal reason for doing so, even if they claim that what they sent already satisfies that requirement. It was not sent in response to a demand for verification if you didn't send one, so you have no standing to say it was incomplete.
Example of [url=http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/fdcpa.html]fdcpa[/url] "Demand for Verification" letter" (see multiple posts on the same page - the first two lack the courthouse picture):

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/collectionrecovery-3.html

3) A law firm that is doing business outside of the state in which the lawyers are licensed is NOT practicing law, and cannot file suit against anyone. Practicing law without a license is a crime everywhere. Furthermore, the FDCPA clearly states that lawyers and process servers are acting as [url=http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/handle-collectors.html]debt collectors[/url] when they qualify under other grounds (e.g., it's a consumer debt, not for taxes or student loans, most of what they do in their business is debt collection, etc.). So as far as I'm concerned, since I'm not in the state those guys are in, is that they're just another collection agency.

4) If a creditor comes into a state in which all it does is loan money, and where it has no physical presence etc., it is not generally required to have registered with the state authorities as a business entity there in order to file suit to collect a debt. A debt collector, however, is doing business if it calls someone on the 'phone or sends them a letter, because its business is debt collection. They are required to register in most states in a number of ways. In Virginia, corporate entities must receive authorization to do business as foreign corporations (i.e., from a foreign state, Delaware, New Jersey, Texas, France, Ghana, etc.) as well as to submit a personal property tax return and obtain a business license. It's a crime to do business in Va. unless you've done all that stuff first. Furthermore, you can't use the court system to sue anyone unless you're properly registered, other than to collect on a debt owed directly to you. I suspect most states have similar provisions. If that law firm sued someone in Va., they'd have to register here first (as well as qualify for admission to practice before the Court).

5.) there's no point in raising defenses in a letter to a collection agency. It only puts them on notice of what your strategy is, and will not dissuade them from pursuing the debt. In most cases, they already know whether the SOL has expired, so there's no point in explaining it to them. Simply deny the debt and demand verification. SOL is an affirmative defense, it won't stop anyone from suing you or from getting a judgment against you, unless you file written pleadings asserting SOL as a defense in the court in which you're sued. SOL doesn't mean the debt has expired; so it's legitimate to attempt to collect on stale debts. It's just that if you sue someone who says, "SOL!" in his written answer filed with the court (and he's right about it), then you'll be "SOL".

Guest · Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:34 pm Subject: Bennett & Deloney

I had to deal with these jokers from Dec 24 2003 thru Mar 4 2004. Someone with the same first, middle and last name as I was writing bad checks in Nebraska to a Lowe's store there. I live in Iowa and don't shop at any Lowe's here in Iowa so why would I patronize one in Nebraska? Besides, I have good enough credit with my bank to know they would cover the check and charge me a fee themselves. I asked for the amounts, check numbers and the bank they were written on. I also asked for the SSN or DL # on the check. None of this matched my info, which I told them. It wasn't til my husband got the one person there with a brain and threatened to sue them for harassment that they agreed to take my name and address off their file and to research the correct name and address listed on the check.

Papa John · Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:52 pm Subject:

Is this a legit law firm...cause we just had a our landline reconnected about two weeks ago, and they say the we owe them $6K.

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:54 am Subject:

Ask for documents. No one can charge whatever they wish. Ask for itemized details of the account. If there is any discrepancy dispute it. Keep us posted.

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