Law Office of Richard Clark is calling me up. Should I send a DV?

Another CACH franchise. Here's some info from Bud Hibbs:

Ok, so I guess the payment didnt clear. I tried to put the funds back into my account before it went through but I'm guessing I was too late because nothing has come out of my account, and they called while I was gone tonight and demanded that I call them back today. She left a message at 7:30 saying she would be there til 8. I got home at 9. I called back and left a message and implied that I had done research on their company, and as long as we can talk rationally about my payment they can call me back. I also informed them that I know my rights and I know where they are and are not licensed. I know as soon as they call they will tell me they are suing me. If Hibb's site is correct, that they are only licensed in TX, they cant sue me in MO, right? Besides, its not like Im not willing to pay. I am however not willing to pay whatever charge or fee they tack on there. This was only a $800 bill that they ran up to $1500 and offered settlement for $650. I only owed $450 on it and that is the payment that failed. Any kind words of advice?
Thanks!

Wow, no response. I use to be able to get an answer within an hour here.

Have you sent them a DV letter? How do you know they legally own the debt and have the right to collect on it?

Im telling you I work at the place you all are talking about and its a bunch of crap. Look at bud hibbs website and find Law Office of Richard Clark, all the employees are telling the truth about out job. The place is going down hill and hopefully out of business soon..

i to am now recieving threatening calls from the law office of richard clark any suggestions

If you are receiving calls from this office, all you have to do is request the verification of debt. They will most likely say they wont request it because this has been going on for a long time. Just tell them you want the verification and by law, they can not call you until it comes back. And when it does come back 90% of the time it will not have a signature on it. So they can't do anything about it. Dont be fooled by any of their threats or anything like that. Just ask for VOD and they will be pissed.

OK... I just got a call from my cousin tonight telling me that her mother in law had a phone call looking for me from "The law offices of Richard Clark." I have absolutly no idea what in the world it is about or why they would be contacting her? This is the first I have heard from them and I honestly think it is VERY rude of some out of the blue company to call distant family members before they even try to contact me directly... so I am right there with you! Do they even have that right?

Do they have a right? Yes, until you tell them otherwise (C&D) they will contact any number they can find that you may have had, any realtive with your last name, anything they can find they will use in order to contact you. They have 5 days to send a letter from first contact.

Until you send a C&D letter they will continue to contact reatlives,neighbors etc.

Now do I think it's right? No.. I don't.

My husband and I have been recieving calls and letters from this company for months. Last week they called stating that they were going to take us to court if we didn't schedule a payment right then. They also said that they could take money out of our paychecks. I scheduled a $400.00 payment to come out on the 31st. Is there anyway they will take me to court? Will we be taken to court of we try to cancel the payment? I can't even get the girl (Lilly) to call me back to talk about it. We don't have the money to pay it but we have overdraft and it will come out and leave us without being able to pay our rent and day care.

What do I do??

They just took a payment ($400) out last night that was scheduled for the 15th and really *@%! up my bank account! Day care is scheduled to come out of it tonight and now I can't pay it. There is no way this is legal.

Guest dispute it with your bank. Once you give these people access to your banking info, it gives them pretty much go in whenever they want.

Never give them any banking information-always use either pre-paid visa or moneygram/westernunion.

But the first and formost NEVER EVER EVER set up anything until you get something in writting and have validated the debt.

For all of you who have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with this company and have had a bad experience or are curious as the the actuall bite this company has - well here it is ...The Law office of Richard Clark is a company contracted by Collect America to whom has purchased the debt in question for pennies on the dollar.. There are various stages of collection that are taken depending on the debt amount, your current credit standing and where you reside in the US.. // they are fully capable of suing in accordance with the laws of each state - such as garnishment of wages, puting additional properties up for auction after filling a judgment.. but most accounts are not suit worthy or are not worth the time and money it takes to sue // this is a fully functional collection agency which has departments from front line (which is the first stage of collections in which they will only offer 10-30 % off the debt, depending on the client), then it will go to a department called tuersh where they have the flexibility to settle the account at 40% of the total debt - this area is for accounts that have been called repeatedly with either no contact or repeated refusal to pay the bill// sugestion - never send in a "blind payment" in responce to the letters!!! this will initiate what is generally a 30% interest rate making it truly unpractical to set up payment arrangements - if you have done that then your best option is to simply settle the account - they are open to counter offeres!! there have been reptaed issues concerning the "harrassment" of family, at your place of employment, neighbors and such, where there have been lawsuits filled and won by the "debter" as they call it, or person that owes an outstanding balance// in the event you are unable to pay the debt for whatever reason (disabled, elderly, unemployed or simply unable to pay)all you have to do is send them a formal Cease & desist all comunication - outline verbal & written correspondence// I was one of the few peolple who did everything I could to try to simply help people reslove their situation depending on what was going on with their finances at the time - I was honestly thanked by most I worked with for simply being a gentleman and willing to try and reslove the matter without threats or continual badgering// needless to say I was terminated // the law.. they can only call your place of employment once / thay can only call your residence once a day // most states they are technically not allowed to call neighbors or relatives // if there has been a settlement offer proposed and the payment is in default for whatever reason they will at first tell you the ballance in full is due - simply avoid contact with them for a few months and recontact them asking for a settlement offer or simply propose the same settlement or lower you where once established on // I hope some of this information is helpfull to some - god bless

let me translate as i speak frontier gibberish.they are a scam ,have been a scam,and will always be a scam.

I just got a phone call at work today saying I was being sued and i will be taken to court. Will I be? I know that i have a debt. I have sent the credit card company a letter 6 months ago stating i couldn't pay. I can't pay any of my debts. I am trying to survive day to day supporting my child and myself. I have notified them stating this. I do not have money to send to them. any advice on what to do now? How far will they take this? Are they just trying to scare me or will i legally be taken to court?

To the person who gave the bank info: Dispute it with your bank as was suggested...THEN close that account and open a new one. I wouldn't even bother to use Western Union..by law they can't require you to do anything that incurs you extra costs. Use prepaid visa or even cashier's check and money orders...but never pay a dime until they properly validate the debt...if they have a legitimate claim they will be able to prove it and shouldn't have any trouble doing so....if they say anything else then they are full of it.

For the guest who just got a phone call: Call the courthouse and verify if there is in fact a court case filed..I bet there is not one. if there is not, then find out the laws of your state on recording telephone conversations and call them, recording the call...get them to tell you again that there is a court case against you.

Check your credit reports, then send them a DV letter, in this letter demand for proper validation, also inform them that they have violated your rights by telling you there is a court case when there is not one. Tell them you have a recorded conversation of this lie and you will not hesitate to use it. Also, they had to send you a letter within 5 days of that call...if they have not, also include that in your letter, letting them know you are keeping track of the violations and you will not hesitate to sue them.

I have also received repeated phone calls from this agency. At first they were leaving regular messages and then threatening ones. Speaking to them in person they were downright nasty. They wanted 500 up front and would not accept 100 a month without it. When I said I'd have my lawyer get back to them the next time I spoke with a woman there she was nicer. She then left several nice messages but still insisted she can't hold the account much longer. Today she said she'd take 200 and the 100 a month and said for me to open up a special checking account for this purpose. It all sounded fishy & a scam so I decided to google them & I found this web site. I am going to print these above subjects and replys and have an attorney look at them so that a proper response can be given. I'm not giving them anything. My mother even said what proof do I have that they even have my debt with them and didn't just get wind of it through some other legal manner like a debt listing or court listing & are just trying to get money out of me. Hopefully, your suggestions for asking for a VOD will help. Any other suggestions? I am from New Jersey and also wonder if they have any rights in this state.
Thanks for your help & comments.
GG

buddy, they cannot legally say that they are going to sue you, and for the record they are only legally allowed to call you once at your place of employment.. I would tell them to go to hell! and more importantly tell them that you are verbally requesting all verbal communication be discontinued. if they call again have a recorder handy or let them know you are recording the conversation (even if you are not) THIS WILL SCARE THEM .. god bless you brother / this advise comes from someone who used to work there..MB

IF YOU WANT TO SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN, CALL IN, & CATCH FRED ENGLISH/GM IN A FDCPA VIOLATION. IT'LL BE EASY. IT'S ILLEGAL FOR THEM TO DEADLINE YOU TO PAY THE BALANCE IF YOUR "30 DAY DISPUTE" PERIOD HASN'T PASSED. ACT STUPID & PRETEND YOU ARE AFRAID YOU MAY LOSE YOUR POSSESSIONS IF YOU DO NOT PAY. I GUARANTEE YOU HE WILL GIVE THE IMPRESSION IT IS POSSIBLE. THAT'S ILLEGAL!!!
WITH ENOUGH VIOLATIONS & REDICULOUS THREATS BEING MADE, ANY ATTORNEY WILL WORK THIS CASE FOR YOU FOR FREE!! I ONLY WISH I HAD A DEBT PLACED WITH THIS "LAW FIRM".

I think these people are calling me looking for my husbands ex-wife. How can i get them to stop. I don't know how to get ahold of her. She lives in a totally different state than we do.

I am attempting to file a legal complaint against Richard Clark in the state of NC. You can go to the NC bar website and search for the "file a complaint" link (under "unhappy with your lawyer").

You can file a complaint too. This man needs to be disbarred. If you reside in NC and you would like to fill out the legal form and submit it to me please feel free to contact me. I intend to see to it that he no longer practices law in my state.

If you reside outside of NC please google your state and the word "bar association" then search their website for information on how to file a complaint against an attorney.

--Jennifer

I've read all of these and now I'm really scared. I have been receiving these phone calls from Richard Clark, but I've never answered or returned their call.....should I? A lot of you are saying it's a scam, and that they take your money. I know I have credit card debt, but I've been making payments on all of them that were sent to collections...would a collection comapny that i've already arranged payments with sell my account to Richard Clark? I really don't want to be sued and want this all to go away. Any advice?

I asked for a VOD and they were pissed. The guy actually hung up on me because I was cussing at him after he cussed at me! Lets see how long it takes for me to get a VOD.

I stopped paying on a credit card 5 years ago because I was broke and they wouldn't work with me. Well, to make a long story short, another collector bought it...represented by Richard E. Clark (State Bar No 00785765) 3030 S. Gessner Dr. Suite 200, Houston, TX 77063 (713) 782-2700. He pursued the suit, 2 years later, I'm paying a settlement on the amount due.

These loosers just called my house number and talked to my wife stating they were looking for someone that we don't even know. This rude lady kept saying to my wife, "are you sure. I know you know who she is!" When my wife told her again that she had told her that she doesn't know who the person is, that is when she called her a "F*&king Idiot" and then hung up! My wife tried to call back, but they kept hanging up on her, so I called from my cell phone and talked to another worthless employee that would not even listen to me and hung up. Do Not work with this LOOSER company because not only are they all stupid, they are also all A holes!!! Funny thing is, I'm sure the person that called us up doesn't have a high school education. If you are reading this law offices of Richard Clark - you are worthless loosers and I wish your company out of business. Oh - and by the way, with the type of employees you hire, I'm sure you really were scraping at the bottom of the barrel. This company is in Houston - so if you are out there looking for a company to represent you - find someone else. If you are getting calls from this company - you need to find your own attorney or call your creditors yourself to work with them. Watch OUT!

that sounds like Jeff forest who works for Clarke with the god bless line like he is there to help you

For over a month now I have received calls from some lady at the Law Office of Richard Clark. I usually ignore the messages since I wasn't sure what it regarded. Then I started getting annoyed. I returned the call a couple weeks ago and was immediately put on hold. I figured that I was already inconvenienced, so I hung up. The past week the messsages they leave have become rude. I am highly annoyed so I left the following message on my voicemail, "You have reachedphone number xxx-xxx-xxxx, at the tone leave your name, phone number, and a DETAILED message that outlines EXACTLY why you are calling and why I should return your call. If you do not leave a DETAILED message and the reason you are calling, I will not return your call. Again..." then I repeated the ENTIRE message. To make it more droning,I spoke in the most monotone voice and spoke very slowly. My friends just laugh when they call. Anyway, today, the wicked witch of the Law Office of Richard Clark called and said she left a detailed message yesterday (which it was actually the day before, and it wasn't detailed. She just stated it was regarding a "business matter") and that I had 24 hours to call. I thought, "or what?" So, today I changed my outgoing message to say, "you've reached phone number xxx-xxx-xxxx, and if you are calling from the Law Office of Richard Clark I have no intention of returning your call because a) telling me it is regarding a business matter is not a detailed message, and b) if you really have business with me and need to communicate with me, send it via MAIL, that is, if you have my mailing address. If you do not have my mailing address, then I guess you really do not know me and we really do not have any business to conduct.

Now that I knwo they're a collection agency, I am going to have loads of fun annoying the crap out of them!

I talked to my bank, and they told me that credit card companies can't garnish your wages or bank account because credit cards are unsecured debt. Anyone know if that's true? I'm in TX, if that makes a difference.

I love it! All of these comments sound familiar. I spoke to them last night and I find it very funny that when you are armed with what to say, they back down, get mad and hang up! I wanted to call back and laugh out loud

This company just called my home too.I'm telling everyone i know they can threaten all they want. There not going to get too far.If they try to take u to court an u can prove your broke the judge will most likely throw it out.Not everyonr is afraid of crazy i'm going to sue if u dont do what i say.Just say ok i would rather talk to someone more rational in court anyway.At least there is a third party who listens an doesnt threaten u.GOD BLESS ALL

yeah they can take it to court, but theres a large chance the judge will throw it out, start recording your conversations with them, because that will result in them pulling out once its been presented in court, make sure you dont say anything degrading or rude though when you do contact them and record the conversation.
I've had this law office contact me because of my ge money bank account, they continuously call me a good 6-7 times on a daily basis, including weekends, and it starts from 8 am and goes til almost 9 at night, i refuse to answer it now at this point, I'm tired of dealing with GE money bank, I went from paying a 2% interest rate to a 37% interest rate, and that was for absolutely no reason, i was paying my bills on time every month, then from one month to the next they increased the interest with no explanation, I cant afford my bill now, heck I can barely afford my car payment and insurance, they havent even gotten a payment from me in months, but they dont seem to understand that with the way the economy is, we cant afford these things, and they just all got a massive bail out from obama, they need to lay off! This law office is a nuisance and i hope to god they get shut down.

Heck yeah...they being calling my relatives and family members for months now. So I decide to call them...you know what they said: I don't know what you are talking about? That is a bull shietttt...that girl name: Lily Vado from "Law office of Richard Clark" ....when they call put on speaker with some porn on it or horn them..they will stop after three or four times...thank you guys

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I'm a recent ex-employee of The Law Office of Richard Clark. I've been reading through the comments here and am sad to say that most of them ring true. I just thought I'd drop a comment of my own in to fill y'all in on some of the inside details of The Law Office of Richard Clark. If you've read through all the posts as I have then these responses will be understood. If not then go back and read through them and you'll understand why I'm saying certain things.


First off, it is a real Law Firm. The attorney that works out of this location is infact Richard Clark, but the owner of this company is actually named Jim. While Jim is the company owner like most firms/collection agencies the debt comes in from elsewhere. This firm's debt all comes in from Collect America who in turn buys it from various other agencies.


Now what that is out of the way I'll give you the office's hours of operation so that those of you wondering why calls come in so early or late are made at those times.


All times are Central Time as the office is located in Houston, Texas.
Monday & Tuesday - 11am - 8pm
Wednesday & Thursday - 9am - 6pm
Friday - 8am - 5pm
Occasionally Saturdays are worked as well such as Saturday March 27th they will be open. All Saturday's worked are half day and are from 8am - Noon.
Some employees that can not work those schedules do come in from 8am-5pm on a daily basis but not many.


There are 4 departments in the office.
Front Line(Low Balance): They handle the low balance debts $4000 and under for the most part and have it for up to 8 months at max.
Front Line(High Balance): They handle the debts that are $4000 and up for the most part and also have the debt for 8 months max. Both sections have low and high balances with them but are mainly geared toward one or the other. These 2 together are considered 1 department known as just Front Line


Tersh: These are the people that handle basically dead debts. Debts that have been worked to death and beyond basically. They are able to settle at very low percentages. Most debts with them are 6 months old or older.


House: This group handles accounts that have arrangements set up on them for small monthly payments such as $50 per month and such or are accounts taken from Front Line/Tersh for having had an arrangement setup and the debtor wound up getting an NSF and the collector that setup the arrangement was unable to recover the NSF in a timely manner.


Ok now, for this company the policy is supposed to be that a verbal Cease and Desist is supposed to be sufficiant enough to stop them from calling your home or place of employment, but I know many collectors that ignore the verbal C&D and don't even notate that one was given. Legally they don't have to respect a verbal C&D for calling your home. To solve that issue you have to send them a letter via mail or fax demanding they C&D calling your home/cellphone. For work on the otherhand if they don't respect your verbal C&D to stop calling your place of employment then they are in violation of the FDCPA and are vulnerable to a law suit.


My suggestion is if you ever see Law Office of Richard Clark show up on your caller ID feel free to answer it, but always have a recorder going when you do. A debtor did that recently and got a woman who worked with the firm from the day it opened 10 years ago(it's gone through multiple attorney's since then such as Attorney Gunn, Attorney Soffar, Attorney Sam Streeter, ect).


To address the few people that mentioned the firm calling their friends and relatives, it's true they do do that. It's called "Skip-Tracing". They do a search in mutliple search engines such as 411.com, Lexis Nexis, Volt Delta, and more to find your phone number, your friend's phones, your family's phones, your work phones, and even your neighbor's phones. If they can't find your phone they will call your mother, your uncle, your grandmother, your neighbor or whoever and ask them to give you the message to call them back. I know...it's insane...trust me....I've done it and hated doing it.


That's all for now. I'll drop back in in a couple days and see if there's any questions or comments or anything about this. Thanks for reading.


-EyeOfTheTiger

I go contacted by this office tonight and god they are so rude, they were on the attack the minute I started talking. I thought those banks should work for us, how do they bring this Law office into picture.....This is really ugly and I'm stressed out from this, and I don't know if they can garnish wages in CA or not, I'm already struggling with treating my wife.....

Does anyone have an address to this law firm?

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Forget that address posted by Shazzers. The current physical address of the Law Office of Richard Clark is:

3030 S. Gessner Suite 200
Houston, Texas 77063

Also as a side-note, I checked this for you going-crazy and the answer is "Yes"

California Wage Garnishment
Up to 25% of the debtor's net disposable earnings. Once the levy has been served on the employer by the sheriff or marshal, it remains in effect until the judgment has been paid in full. Because California is a community property state, the wages of a non-judgment debtor spouse are also subject to levy.
If anyone is wondering if their state is a garnishable state check this site...

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/state-wage-garnishments.html

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I have just gotten my first phone call this morning. I came on line to google this richard clark guy and now im kind of nervous. I didnt expect to find so much dirt on this richard clark guy and the way they do buisness. So I have a question for Eye of The Tiger,"what should i do?" Should i call them back and ask them for my vod(validation of debt) first or should i wait until they call me back and be ready to record them? How should i record them anyway with my old college mini recorder i used for lectures?? WIll it work? I have no clue what to do. Honestly i am scared i hate dealing with this type of thing. So if anyone out there reads this and has any advice please respond!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks God Bless

NOT A SCAM. Come on people....of course people will call you IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR BILLS....Visa, Amex, & the other CC companies DO NOT WANT TO SUE you, so they sell your debt to someone else...so LEGALLY YOU STILL OWE SOMEONE ELSE, if they can provide proof/VOD...

to that dumbass previous comment above, this isn't a scam!! some of their tactics are illegal.

READ THE LONG ANSWER ABOVE THE IDIOT's "let me translate" response.....I too was a former employee, college educated & good at my job, but I hated James O Woolley, owner....
OWNER"S addr is 2827 Spring Lakes, Missouri City, TX 77459
Cell# 281-433-5091
Contact Collect America in Denver, CO as this is LoRC's main client. Send letters to them, BBB, Texas State Atty General's Office & be sure to list details, keep accurate records of when calls are made & RECORD CONVERSATIONS IF POSSIBLE!!!!!

READ PREVIOUS POST
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS
READ PREVIOUS POST
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS

ACT stupid, don't be stupid, just play dumb....
They legally CANNOT SUE unless in TX & even so, TX cannot garnish wages or force sale of property....
sue them, get debt paid & spread the word~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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I am looking at a letter that they have sent and the address is 3030 S. Gessner, Suite 200, Houston, Tx 77063.

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Richard E Clark DOES NOT have a license to practice law in the state of Texas!! His name, the firm name and his State Bar # is not listed in the Texas State Bar Member Directory. Check your own state bar to see if he's licensed to practice where you live.

He is not listed in the NC State Bar Member Directory either.

If you cannot afford your current monthly expenses nor provide for your child and have these outstanding debts you should consider speaking with a bankrupcy attorney. Believe it or not this will help you not hurt you. Companies like this badger and threaten you because they want to scare you into thinking you have no other option. Once you agree to go into bankrupcy and the petition is filed with the court these clowns have to back off and wait and see what the court decides. If the court decides that they are not entitled to any money in the settlement then they have to write it off and go away. They can no longer bother you and yes there will be a court judgement delivered to them stating just that. In addition, if the court decides they are entitled to some payout (depends on which bankrupcy you file) then they are only entitled to what the court decides. They cannot add fees and interest on top of the settlement. This is why you get so many phone calls and threats, they want to get to your money before you file because they know once you do they are screwed! You will not lose everthing by filing bankrupcy, your credit score will improve once you do, and you will be able to get credit again in as little as two years. Do not believe the myths about bankrupcy ruining your life, those rumors are started by these companies who want to make sure they keep you on living in fear because of them.

Your post LINK is VERY OLD, 1988. AN UPDATE would be appreciated.

I get so mad at these people who call and harass. I have paid my bills on time until the 2008 crash and I could not keep up with the bills.

Tried to sell everything but could not get enough money to pay everyone.

Glad I have the internet!

Thank you guys for all your help!

Sub:
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Originally Posted by Anonymous View Post
For over a month now I have received calls from some lady at the Law Office of Richard Clark. I usually ignore the messages since I wasn't sure what it regarded. Then I started getting annoyed. I returned the call a couple weeks ago and was immediately put on hold. I figured that I was already inconvenienced, so I hung up. The past week the messsages they leave have become rude. I am highly annoyed so I left the following message on my voicemail, "You have reachedphone number xxx-xxx-xxxx, at the tone leave your name, phone number, and a DETAILED message that outlines EXACTLY why you are calling and why I should return your call. If you do not leave a DETAILED message and the reason you are calling, I will not return your call. Again..." then I repeated the ENTIRE message. To make it more droning,I spoke in the most monotone voice and spoke very slowly. My friends just laugh when they call. Anyway, today, the wicked witch of the Law Office of Richard Clark called and said she left a detailed message yesterday (which it was actually the day before, and it wasn't detailed. She just stated it was regarding a "business matter") and that I had 24 hours to call. I thought, "or what?" So, today I changed my outgoing message to say, "you've reached phone number xxx-xxx-xxxx, and if you are calling from the Law Office of Richard Clark I have no intention of returning your call because a) telling me it is regarding a business matter is not a detailed message, and b) if you really have business with me and need to communicate with me, send it via MAIL, that is, if you have my mailing address. If you do not have my mailing address, then I guess you really do not know me and we really do not have any business to conduct.
Now that I knwo they're a collection agency, I am going to have loads of fun annoying the crap out of them!
I talked to my bank, and they told me that credit card companies can't garnish your wages or bank account because credit cards are unsecured debt. Anyone know if that's true? I'm in TX, if that makes a difference.

That is true. See below at website:
http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/...hments.html#44