John P. Frye, P.C. and how scared i am

I too am dealing with a one Mr. John P. Frye. I received a letter from them and immediately called their office. I was met with an extremely rude, brass person who proceeded to scream at me telling me that I would be sued. I told her that they would be receiving a request for validation from me. She told me she didn't care, they would send my case to a New York attorney and I would be sued. . . plain and simple. My response, go right ahead. That was a month ago. I did draft my DV letter, which included a request to not call me and all the other stuff that I didn't want them to do. I hard copied it over to their office but a funny thing happened on the way to the Post office. The address they gave on their letterhead did not match up with the zip code so the Post Office could not deliver it as they indicated. The Post Office researched it matched the PO Box to the correct zip code and I sent it there. I haven't received back my confirmation of it's delivery yet. If they do transfer it to a CT attorney, which they will have to do because in all probability, Mr. pain in the butt John P. Frye is not licensed to practice in CT, you will receive a summons and a court date. Do not disregard the summons. Answer it. They are banking on the fact that you will not answer the summons and a no show in court. That will give them an automatic default judgement, which is how many of these slugs get what they want. Just make sure you keep everything as documentation. And. . .if someone shows up with a summons, take it, say thank you very much and go your merry way. Depending on where the attorney is located in your State, you may receive it in the mail. As a result of my divorce I ended up with one of these situations and the attorney was in New York City, so it came to me in the mail. Curioius to know, did you ever receive anything from a collection agency prior to getting a letter from Mr. Frye? From what I have read, many people do not get the first notice from the collection agency, it comes directly from Frye's Office. And, by the way, if it is connected with Atlantic Credit and Finance at all, they are actually owned by Cargill, Inc. Try not to freak out. Hope this helps some.

Once you make a verbal request to not be contacted at work they have broken a law if they continue to attempt to contact you at work. It is better to make that request in writing though. I would send them a DV letter along with a cease comm letter for your work at a minimum and maybe even your home phone if you don't want to talk to these guys. Personally I wouldn't pay them anything unless you had a signed agreement of the amount due and the payments. You are just throwing money away by sending them small amounts at random. I doubt it is even covering the fees and interest they are trying to stick on the bill.

ty u 2 for ur replies. i feel a little better,BUT i still feel uncomfortable about it. the closest i've ever been to being in court was when i had to do jury duty, so this situation freaks me out.

also, i've heard about the DV letter from other forums here, but i still don't know how to get one. do u know where i should start? and ur totally right about me probably paying the fees/interests only, but in my mind, i thought that would show them that i'm willing to pay the debt instead of ignoring it. i have the last letter they sent me with the amount and i've been subtracting what i've been paying. i don't have any other proof of payments though, except for the money order stubs.
And i really don't remember if i got a letter from the CA or from john p frye, first.

This is what I sent off to Mr. Know it All. . . . .


To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to an alleged debt. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for verification or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you
.
What I need you to provide as the debt validation is as follows:
1. What the money you say I owe is for;
2. Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
3. Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
4. Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
5. Identify the original creditor;
6. Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
7. Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
8. Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent
9. Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt. (You are legally entitled to collect this particular debt from me.) This is basic contract law.
10. Complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. (I need to have proof of my payment history with original Creditor, what the amount of the debt was when the creditor assigned the debt to your company, and what fees/interest has been tacked on to this debt and how you/they determined these fees.) This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004..
11. Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. (My contract with the original creditor establishing the debt between us.) This is also basic contract law.

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau's (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent

I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
1. Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
2. Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
3. Defamation of Character

If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following declaration, I will require at least 30 days investigating this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.
If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS.

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.

Please read the enclosure for an opinion regarding matters such as these from the Federal Trade Commission

Best Regards,



cc: New York Attorney General
Virginia Attorney General
FTC

Virginia BBB
Virginia Bar Association





Attachment to follow:


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580

Division of Credit Practices
Bureau of Consumer Protection


March 10, 1993

Jeffrey S. Wollman
Vice President and Controller
Retrieval Masters Creditors Bureau, Inc.
1261 Broadway
New York, New York 10001

Dear Mr. Wollman:

This is in response to your letter of February 9, 1993 to David Medine regarding the type of verification required by Section 809(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You ask whether a collection agency for a medical provider will fulfill the requirements of that Section if it produces "an itemized statement of services rendered to a patient on its own computer from information provided by the medical institution . . .??????? in response to a request for verification of the debt. You also ask who is responsible for mailing the verification to the consumer.

The statute requires that the debt collector obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer (emphasis mine). Because one of the principal purposes of this Section is to help consumers who have been misidentified by the debt collector or who dispute the amount of the debt, it is important that the verification of the identity of the consumer and the amount of the debt be obtained directly from the creditor. Mere itemization of what the debt collector already has does not accomplish this purpose. As stated above, the statute requires the debt collector, not the creditor, to mail the verification to the consumer.

Your interest in writing is appreciated. Please be aware that since this is only the opinion of Commission staff, the Commission itself is not bound by it.

Sincerely,

John F. LeFevre
Attorney
Division of Credit Practices

Hope this helps. Keep us posted. Still no delivery confirmation of my last letter.

Here is some info for CT residents

Interest Rate: Legal:8% Judgment:10%

Statute of Limitations
Open Acct: 6
Written Contract: 6
Oral Contract: 3
Domestic Judgment: 20/25
Small Claims Judgment: 10/15
Foreign Judgment:20

Bad Check Laws (civil penalty): Personal liability of signatory on corporate claims unless signed in corporate capacity.

General Garnishment Exemptions: 25% you may garnish disposable earnings each week,
or 40 x fed. min. hourly wage, whichever is less.


Also, here is the link for CA licensing:

http://www.ct.gov/dob/site/default.asp