Jolas Law Firm...

Ask them for documentation. Lawyers can charge for anything and everything- I remember reading in the newspaper about a law firm that charged a woman a fee for opening a Christmas card she sent them! They will be able to give you an itemized statement showing where exactly the charges come from. I'm willing to bet that only the first half hour of the consultation was free, and then you were charged additionally for each correspondence.

"ask them"

the lawyers, or the business that contacted them?

I have a copy of all of my records with the business and nothing said that I owe them any money.

Sorry, that was me under "Guest".

I would ask the lawyers for itemization. They will provide that for you.

I agree with you Fins!

Most attorneys do itemize, if they have been retained. Flat fees usually apply for such things as drawing up a will, powers of attorney, etc. As to the attorney Terri mentioned, I would report him to the state bar. Unless an agreement was signed by both of you after the free consultation, no attorney/client relationship should have existed.

LS, which state bar should I report him to? They are in Iowa, and the business which they are talking about is in Virginia (as am I).

Should I report them before or after I receive the itemization from Jolas?

If you signed no agreement after your consultation, the attorney was under no obligation to represent you, or review any items. If the attorney is in Iowa, report it to the Iowa Bar (where he /she is licensed). You might also report to the Virginia Attorney General, and the BBB in what ever Iowa city the attorney is located. If the attorney is licensed in Virginia as well, reprot to the Virginia Bar. If Jolas is sending an itemized statement, I would wait till then in order to have further evidence.

Interesting, I call the # that called me, you'd think a law firm would have an answering machine or some sort of voice mail? I was going to request an itemized list...

:?

If the attorney is in Iowa, I doubt he'd be licensed in Virginia as well. Really, I haven't heard of anuthing like this before. Generally if you haven't signed an agreement, and paid a retainer, attorneys I know wouldn't do anything on your behalf.

Quote:

If this were me I would ask the business for a copy of the discarge papers. If they claim you had surgery with them on that date you would have had to sign some paperwork for them to do it. Send a dispute letter to the attorney. Then request copies of those papers.

When they contacted your insurance, did your insurance pay them anything for the service they claim they did? Because that would be insurance fraud and that company could get sued by the insurance company.

Are there any templates for any of the letters everyone is suggesting? I'm not that great in the letter writing department.

I sent a request for an itemization to Jolas.

I also forgot to mention that Jolas first called my cell, didn't leave a message. They called my work and got a hold of me that way. In my letter I told them not to call my work number again.

Thank you for all of your advice.

Another question,

Why would they get a law firm in IOWA to do this? Why not someone in Virginia? This business is about 15 miles from my home, both in the state of VA.

I found that odd.

The sample letters are in the letter section. Take a look

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/

And if you haven't got the debt validated from the CA, use this one

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/about216.html

I've sent them a letter with delivery confirmation USPS and received the receipt from them, just awaiting their response to my "show me the proof" letter.

So they have yet to write back, should I send them anything else?

They did send the confirmation of receipt card back, so I know they have it in their hands.

anyone?

anyone?

haven't heard any more from them.

just wondering if I should and who I should contact about this situation.

I used to work for Jolas. If they have a bill in the office saying that you owe a certain amount then you need to pay it. It's not a bill for Jolas so they can't do anything about it. You pay it, save the receipt and follow up with the company that is billing you for the consultation. You can't fight it with Jolas because they are collecting on a bill that was sent to them as valid and owing. If it doesn't get paid they will take the next steps which are usually garnishing wages or taking it to court.

As far as whoever said the thing about Jolas not being licensed in Virginia. Well he is licensed in Iowa to practice LAW. He is licensed to collect debt in every state. Which means that if you do end up getting garnished or taken to court Jolas sends it to an attorney in your state. There is usually one attorney that he corresponds with in every state.

so,you worked for him.so what?basically you are saying he doesn't have to validate any dates.WRONG!! if he practices collections he is bound by the FDCPA.if a consumer requests
validation and he proceeds without validating,he can be taken
to court himself for fdcpa violations.since this sight came to
be alot of people,myself included are wiser and more informed.

in short,your troll post just got shot down.

Also a garnishment of wages REQUIRES a court order. So they don't decide to garnish or take you to court.

I'd like to see some proof that they are licensed in all 50 states to collect debts. Is there a website or state database that can confirm this info? I'm in KY.

State By State Collection Agency Requirements

Be sure to look up the state you reside in and the state the Collection Agency resides in and check for compliance in both states!

I asked them to provide their business license number for the state of SC and she told me I would have to request it in writing. I am certain this is some type of ploy to obtain an address.

Also, they are telling me that the charges are from visits to a Dr. that were made in August of 2008. However, I stopped going to that Dr. in early July 2008. I am contacting my state agencies to find out what to do next.

I am in Massachusetts and they are not licensed here, TRY AGAIN LOSER!!!!!!

don't know who your nonsense was directed at,but i'm going to guess it's nascar.well all he did was layout that they needed to be licensed and/or bonded in MA.nothing was ever said about them being licensed in MA.so watch the name calling next time.if you were responding to the troll who worked for them.still watch the name calling.your better than that.

Yeah I was talking to the troll. No problem Paul, I will play nice.

So, do they have a web site at Jolas? how do we know they are really licenced in every state? Where do we find that info?