Wow. 2 weeks ago one lender put a letter in my mailbox without a stamp, and last week, another one put something on my door. I didn't know that they would make house calls!
I've been meaning to follow up on that with the post master. The letter contained a threat of criminal prosecution *yawn* whatever! LOL Last time I checked there was not a debtor's prison. I'll let you know if they were penalized.
Just called the postal inspector. Apparently my complaint got lost in the shuffle. The man said that they are going to call them and inform them that they must cease and desist the practice, or be fined. One can only assume that if they have done it once, that it isn't the first time!
I can't imagine that they have only done that to you - doesn't make sense. Sucks that they won't prosecute them for it.
I would say yes to the FTC - although personally, I would send them an intent to sue letter for violations of the fdcpa...just my personal style though *grin*
Mary, is there a sample letter like that in the do it yourself section? I wrote the checks for the loan in early February and as of last week they have never attempted to cash them. The account was closed last week by the bank for nsf fees. They threat stated that I would be criminally prosecuted for writing a check on a closed account, but the account wasn't closed when they left the letter in my mailbox.
Here's something...you will, of course, have to change all the info and pretty it up with all the details of your situation....
Quote:
To whom it may concern,
I am writing once last time to have this matter fixed before being forced to resolve it through litigation. I have written to you several times demanding validation of an alleged debt placed on my credit report, but your company has refused to do so. PITA_CA has committed many violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (fdcpa), and state statutes. I plan to sue for each violation if PITA_CA does not remove the alleged debt from my credit report within five days of receiving this letter. I also expect a letter from PITA_CA stating they have done so and that they will not pursue further collection activities concerning this alleged debt in the future. I will also file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, The Better Business Bureau, the CA STATE Office of Attorney General and the MY STATE Office of Attorney General.
As you can see by the attached letter marked “Exhibit 1,” I wrote my initial dispute letter on September 23, 2004. As shown in “Exhibit 1.A,” your office received this letter on September 27, 2004. In this letter I disputed the alleged account and demanded validation. I also informed PITA_CA it was a violation of the FCRA and the FDCPA to continue debt collection practices without first mailing validation to the consumer when the information has been disputed.
As you can see by the attached letter marked “Exhibit 2,” I again wrote to PITA_CA on January 20, 2005. PITA_CA received this letter on January 24, 2005, as shown in “Exhibit 2.A.” In this letter, I reminded PITA_CA it had received my first letter, but had failed to provide validation. I also pointed out it had unlawfully continued to pursue collection activities.
Finally, on March 11, 2005, I wrote a letter again pointing out PITA_CA's unlawful practices. This letter is attached and marked as “Exhibit 3.” “Exhibit 3.A” shows PITA_CA received this letter on March 15, 2005. In this letter I gave PITA_CA another chance to delete the disputed information.
To date, your office has refused or been unable to provide validation, as required by law, yet has continued to pursue debt collection activities unlawfully. In fact, I have received no direct correspondence from PITA_CA. This is willful noncompliance of the law. Despite this, PITA_CA has continued to pursue unlawful collections activities by providing information to the credit reporting agency, Experian, without first providing validation to me, the consumer. PITA_CA has also somehow “verified” inaccurate information with Experian without first mailing the requested validation to me as required by law. In total, this has happened at least seven times between PITA_CA's receipt of my initial dispute and today. Each time PITA_CA has done so is one violation of FDCPA 809 (cool.gif and one violation of the FCRA, equaling 14 federal violations. They are also violations of the MY STATE state statues.
PITA_CA has further pursued unlawful collection activities by attempting to have another collection agency collect the alleged debt. I have attached “Exhibit 4,” a dunning letter from “ANOTHER CA” and “Exhibit 5,” a dunning letter from “CA 3.” Each activity is one violation of the FCRA and one violation of the FDCPA, equaling four additional federal violations.
Therefore, all together PITA_CA has committed 18 violations of federal law. Thankfully, the FCRA and FDCPA provide that I can collect $1,000 for each violation. Please be advised I intend to sue for the full $18,000, plus money allowed under state statue, plus attorney fees, if PITA_CA fails to remove this alleged debt from my credit report within five days of receiving this letter. I also expect a letter from PITA_CA stating they have done so and that they will not pursue further collection activities concerning this alleged debt in the future. I will also file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, The Better Business Bureau, the CA STATE Office of Attorney General and the MY STATE Office of Attorney General.
See how that works for ya. I can probably find more examples if needed.
03-27-2006, 12:24 PM
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