ACA Recovery/Norman Kalina

I got a call this morning and answered and the woman says hi I am Mrs. Garcia from the Law Office of Norman Kalina-they are from NJ and so am I. We have your account from Paycheck Today and we are collecting $805.00. I got a $500 loan and paid $150. I had a loan prior for $300 and paid way over $900. Anyway, I was looking up information on them and this is what I found:

A multi-state class action has been brought in Pennsylvania against Accredited Collection Agency, Inc. and attorney Norman G. Kalina. The action is brought on behalf of all Pennsylvania and New Jersey consumers who, since March 16, 2003, have been contacted by Accredited or Kalina in an effort to collect an alleged outstanding debt. The action is brought under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and seeks actual and statutory damages as well as injunctive and relief.

According to consumers, Accredited and Norman Kalina have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in many ways in their efforts to collect alleged outstanding debts. The consumers claim that Accredited has used Kalina's name and law firm as a shill intended to intimidate consumers into paying their debts by representing that an attorney has reviewed their accounts. According to consumers, letters sent on Kalina's letterhead are not signed by the attorney, and the return address is in fact that of Accredited's offices, not Kalina's.

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, any material misrepresentation made in an effort to collect a debt is strictly forbidden. Additionally, consumers allege that at no time did Accredited or Kalina inform them of their right under the act to dispute the validity of the debt under collection within 30 days of initial communication. Under the act, this information must be provided either in the initial communication, or within five days of the initial communication.

Furthermore, the consumers claim that Accredited used intimidating and harassing tactics in an effort to collect alleged debts. The consumers allege that Accredited made repeated phone calls to them at their places of business and threatened to garnish their wages and to speak to their co-workers and supervisors. The consumers claim that these calls were made even after a specific request was made by consumers to cease these calls. Under the act, any use of intimidation, threats or coercion is strictly forbidden.

The consumers claim that the actions of Accredited satisfy this standard and entitle them to damages.

Sorry for the long post, but can this be real, they are still going at this. They are representing they are a law firm not a debt collection agency. How do I find out if they are actually licensed in the state of NJ. If they were entered into a lawsuit, NJ would have banned their services. Does anyone know what I should do. I know the debt validation, but I tried to work with Paycheck Today but they would not give me a physical address to send a money order.