Going after LVNV

You are being more than reasonable! Please be aware that there is a good chance they are monitoring this site.

Heck with them.File suit now and party is at your house! :lol:

What sweet words!!! The letter sounds great!! Let me know what happens- as you know I amdealing with them also.

I do know that they have visited this site. Speaking with one of the Sherman groups DBAs, they told me where I was getting my info- and that it was wrong :lol:

Good Luck--keep us posted..Karen

They pulled my account and reassigned it with Hanna and associates, who have no attorneys licensed in my state! :lol:

Yep ca's,creditors,and some cra employees have been known to sniff out these types of sites. All the heartburn an informed consumer gives them can be solved if they would just follow the law. Fairly easy concept to me,but maybe I ain't cut out to be an office guy! :lol:

No, a CA can follow the law and still make a killing in business. It depends on how they train their agents.

Right..besides, I figure that it can only work in my favor to try one last letter, then I can, with no qualms, say to the judge: "See? I have tried numerous times, even after by law I could take them to court, to attempt settling this matter between us, but they absolutely refuse to do so." :)

Oh and I don't give two hoots if they are monitoring this site. More power to em. Maybe if they see this post they will know I mean what I say. :)

I am with Cajun. Sue em' now. I will come to the party!

Yeah, they have refused to work with me too. The thing that is so ironic- before I found this site, I didn't know who they were or even if they had my account-just took their word. I wanted to set up payments to pay them-they refused- I found this site and did some calculating and found out I had overpaid my cc account by thousands-besides they won't tell me who the account is with. If they had taken my payment arrangements- they would have been paid off by now :shock:

They got really mad at me one time and said "we know you are debt educated, and where you get your info from,DCC and it's wrong" I just laughed and said --whatever- it's about time I became debt educated and know my rights!!..Good Luck..Karen :D

In Texas, a suit under the DTPA should not be filed until after the 60 day waiting period after you give notice. It can be done, but the law gives a defendant the 60 days to review your notice/demand. Of course, file away if the statute of limitations is going to expire on your claims before the 60 days runs. Call a Texas naca.net attorney if you have questions or need some muscle for the lawsuit.

It's been way past the 60 day notice I gave them a long time ago.:) I had that covered early on.

I'd sue right away then. In Texas, the beauty of it is, every violation of the state's debt collection act is by default also a violation of the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act (as texasrobinhood said), and a criminal act as well. These, along with violations of the fdcpa might give you a nice bit of cash. Keep us posted.

Go for it Golden Bast, give them a nice boot for me too. :)

I had my own run-in with LVNV a while back. A family member had charged off a credit card in my name to the tune of $5876. Yikes! I was back in forth with the credit bureaus and LVNV for months. Finally, I got the bright idea to file a police report in my city. It was really simple--I just called and filed and identity theft report over the phone, citing the specific amount and company. They gave me the report number. I then immeditely called LVNV and told them about the report and gave the report #--lo and behold I get the apology speech and an overnighted letter from LVNV stating the card and debt were not mine. It is so nice to NOT see that on my credit report.

Go get 'em golden!! You have a wonderful paper trail-they don't!! Let us know what happens!..karen

Yes, that is the case with identity theft, but I wouldn't try that if your identity really wasn't stolen! With my particular case I know I owe the original creditor, but LVNV is charging like three times what the OC did and they reported it all wrong on my credit report..so I DVed and I think I have very good grounds for doing so despite the fact that everyone has the right to DV, it has to look better when you have some discrepencies....I mean really, if you goto the doctor and get a checkup and you later get a bill for surgery, you sure are going to demand they validate that:)

Oh..I want to take them to court right now, but it costs almost 100 bucks since small claims wont do a waiver of service...I won't have the cash until the beginning of next month so figure another letter can only help me since I have to wait anyhow!

Don't admit to owing anyone anything, even a portion. You might make your next letter a notice of your intent to sue. I believe that Texas recently raised small claims amounts to $10,000. In Texas small claims court, the defendant also has the right to file a motion requesting transfer (like to District Court, which would be much more expensive), but I wouldn't worry about that. These clowns probably won't even show up on the court date.

Yes, thanks...the letter I sent was pretty much an intent to sue letter.

UPDATE:

I called Weltman, Weinberg and Reis just to get a confirmation on tape that they are still actively collecting. Surprise surprise, not only are they collecting, but they told me they sent the validation in -november-. Hmm. Ok...well, I have them on tape saying they have not gotten validation papers on 1/3/08.....something here stinks. :) So I told them to fax me this validation.....now they have to 'find' the documents. Uh..yeah. Despite this, all they apparently are sending is statements. I then got into an argument with the lady about interest...she asked me why I was validating and I told her truthfully..LVNV has a crap reputation and I want to make sure they are collecting legally and to prove the stupid amount they are trying to say we owe...no..sorry....interest is 6%...no way can they get $385 from $143. She then tried this, "Ok well then just pay the $143." *shakes head*. I guess since I pointed out that $385 is a bunch of BS I no longer get the 40% discount offer they gave, since that would make the amount about 85 bucks. :)

I am filing papers in court tomorrow..let them play this stupid game with the judge and not me. There is still the simple fact that they had 30 days to send me the validation. They did not, nor did they close out the account on the credit report. That is $3000 right there, even if they do provide validation now..so I guess if they validate properly, I will pay it off from the 3k I collect from them. Heh.

:lol: you could say to them if they validate it. "here's your payment for your trouble" :lol:

How does this look?

Looks okay to me. Why not sue Weltman as well? If you're in Texas, put "Original Complaint" as the title. Also number the pages (at the bottom of the page) and paragraphs, unless you are suing in small claims. It can be filed on your normal printer-sized paper.

Sorry, it should be "Original Petition" not complaint. And if further filings are in order "Second Amended Petition" etc. But, if in small claims, $10,000 is now the limit in Texas, and as no formal pleadings are needed there, your version should do fine.

Good luck!. I am thankful to say that they had removed their item from my credit report when I requested for validation and they even sent me a timely response. I wish you well on this endevor and hope you spank 'em hard.

UPDATE: We have filed. :) I have to check back with the court in 3-4 weeks to see if they got served and if they gave an answer, then we get the court date set.

Excellent! Keep us posted, and good luck.

UPDATE:

This figures. I get a call from the county where I am trying to serve LVNV. They got the paperwork and the money order, but no one told me that they only serve cases filed in their court; did I want to file the case in their court? Um. No. :)

So I contact a process service company, it????????s gonna cost me an extra $20 to have them pick up the papers at court and serve the registered agent. Ok, no problem. Until the county clerk tells me they are sending it back to my court.

*sigh*

Ok so I talk to my court. When the papers and money order come back I will give a new money order and have the court send the stuff to the process server company. So a few more days before they even get served (it could take 10 days to serve.)

I get a call from Weltman today. Seems they found the statements. She goes on to tell me that it proves the amount owing ???????because you only made one payment and this has been collecting interest for 2 years.??????? Ok???????so I ask what interest rate and where does that show up? She mumbles about the contract???????.that they seem NOT TO HAVE. Ok, so default for Texas is 6% a year???????.so I did the math and they are overcharging me by 200 bucks! Sorry, I want to see some proof before I agree to pay that amount.

She tried to get me to pay the ????????full amount- right then. I still insisted on seeing the statements. So she supposedly faxed them. I am going to go over and pick them up. But it doesn????????t matter; I am still taking LVNV to court for the violations, as violations are separate from the debt being owed. I will force them to close the account and remove it from the credit reports since they can't prove the amount they say, or that they (LVNV) even own the account and that Weltman is even actually collecting for them.

However???????I want to turn the tables on them. I am going to tell Weltman that they better talk to their client, because I am bringing suit. They can't prove the amount they claim, or ownership and the statements are not full validation.

Once they have been served, I will send a settlement offer to LVNV and CC Weltman (in case they are representing them in court heh) basically stating that they will close the account out as ???????paid in full???????? and remove it from my credit report forever, not to be sold or transferred again. They will also pay me $5400, which is 60% of what I am asking for in the suit.

Let them chew on that. They violated and they are going to pay for it this time. But they better not chew too long because once they get the papers they have 20 days to answer and then the court date will be set, or maybe if they don't answer, I can motion for a summary judgment. Heh.

These people make me nuts!!!!


Ok..whew..I had to get that off my chest.

I looked over the statements and was not impressed. I don????????t know for sure how the industry works but I am pretty sure that when a credit card (or any company) closes an account and writes it off, then sells it to another, that they are done with it. Well, Weltman sends me statements that go to either 6/06 or 8/06 (I am not sure since the faxed copy is rough)???????yet the OC closed out the account in 4/06. So why would they generate statements for months AFTER they sold it off? That just doesn????????t happen.

Then, interest jumped from like 20% to 27%. It lists this on the statements, but I don????????t see any contract anywhere that states that the interest rate can go up each and every month. At least Weltman wants me apparently to ???????take their word for it????????. However they sure don????????t want to take my word for it that all I see as owed is $150 bucks!

Until now.:)

I argue a little with the guy at Weltman about proper validation and I finally tell him to nevermind, that I have a lawsuit pending and it will be decided in court if they wish. All of a sudden he changes his tune..now he is saying I am trying to sue over a measly $150 bucks! At no time during the whole conversation will they state that they will accept that as a payment to completely close out the account! THEN This jerk asks if I will accept a 50% reduction on the $353!! (OH, the last collect letter from them stated that we owed $385, now all of a sudden it went down to $353.) Oh and lets not forget about the fact that LVNV reported on the credit report that the account was closed/sold and the amount reported was $150!!!!

And this guy can????????t understand why I am leery about accepting anything they have to say without written confirmation to back that up.

So now he wants me to fax him a copy of the paper I filed with court. But I was thinking about it and they did not provide any proof of ownership on LVNV????????s part, they also did not provide any proof (other then their word) that they were legally collecting for LVNV???????So I am going to fax them as a courtesy a letter explaining that since they are not representing LVNV as their lawyer and only as a collection agency, I feel they have no right to that information and that LVNV will get it soon enough with the summons. The letter is a courtesy that until the matter of the legal amount has been established, that I will not be dealing with them any longer.

Sheesh the guy kept referring to my filing as ???????you allege that you filed??????????????? like I am lying about filing a suit in court! Heh.

golden you are awesome I know sometimes they try to make you nuts and get the best of you I say instead...

Good luck with all of this. I hope that you beat them good in court, it seems that you have all your ducks in a row and they have nothing.

LOL :lol:

UPDATE: I got a call from the process server. The registered agent has been served! Whee! They are sending me a copy as well as sending the documents to the court. I should hear in 20 days when the court day will be. Wonder what LVNV is thinking right now? Heh.

Probably ready to soil themselves I imagine.

Woohoooo, this is great news, I can't wait to read more updates on this!

UPDATE!!!!!

I called the court today and found out that LVNV should have responded yesturday! I asked what next and they told me a default hearing would be set so we could present our evidence to the judge. They set it for this friday! Looks like WE will be getting the default judgement THIS time! Take that LVNV . :):)

Congrats Goldenbast!

Score one for the advocates.

UPDATE: As I mentioned before, LVNV never showed but the judge wanted to go and look up the rules so took it under advisement and would render judgement soon. Well, seems LVNV did finally respond, I just got a copy in the mail, them denying each and every allegation and wanting to recoup thier court costs! What a JOKE. :) I spoke to the judge and he told me that since he hasn't rendered a judgement he is going to allow them to answer, besides he said they still had the option to appeal even if he still rendered judgement. So he tells me to call the lawyer and see if anything can be worked out, otherwise a date will be set for us to go back to court and judgement will be rendered then. :)

SO I am to talk to LVNVs lawyer tomorrow and see what she has to say.

Wait a minute! They were supposed to respond by a certain date; however, they decide to respond like 9 days later? And the judge allows it?

I have to wonder if you had to respond by a certain date, and didn't, then decide to respond 9 days later, would that have been allowed?

I'm thinking....not!

Well, I am really curious to see how this all works out for you. Looking forward to your updates!

I know Ron, it seems a little biased.

Well I did see his point..they could simply appeal and we would end up in court anyhow...but your right..if the situation were revered it would likely be a different story and not very fair.

wow...

not fair at all!!!!

Yea for you Golden!! Let me know what happens, as you know I have been dealing with them too!! Go get "em..KAren :D

Well I spoke to LVNVs lawyer and boy was that a short conversation! I asked which part were they denying and she replied "all of it". I responded with, "What, none of that actually happened?" She replies with "You are suing for $9000 on a $300 dispute, we are fighting it."

I was just so surprised. Okkk....you would think this lawyer would remember that the debt has nothing to do with sueing for violations, two completely different matters!

I wish I had said this, but I didn't think of it till after I hung up: "Well yes, those violations add up when one keeps committing them."

I am surprised the lawyer is taking this tactic..she is a Texas lawyer so should know Texas law, or at least went and looked it up :shock: to see that I am in the right according to those laws, the only thing I can see them arguing is that we figured $500 for each violation since in the code it only says that you can take them to court for not LESS then $100 per violation. In the criminal section (and yes, a CA can be charged with a misdemeanor for this) it states the fines are $100 to $500 per violation so that is where the $500 came from.

But apparently they are going to fight it all the way. This time when I go back to court (and I should add in the fact that my hubby had to miss work to goto the default hearing so they should pay for his missed wages) I( will bring copies of the Texas codes for the judge....unfortunately this is his first case of this nature..apparently no one in my area has ever sued a CA for these laws...the judge didn't even know about them..he wanted to go and read them.

Thanks for the update! I'm pullin' for you.

Their lawyer probably does know about it--just playing dumb, or trying to intimidate you into dropping it..keep us posted!!..karen

Boy, I wouldn't have much confidence in a Judge that has to go look up the laws he is supposed to rule on. Can you ask for a change of venue?

Kidding.

I would definitely print them out and take them with you next time you go; however, be careful you don't look like a smart-@$$ when you whip them out for the judge.

I'm still ticked though, he gave them the chance to respond after they missed the deadline. Sure they could have appealed; however, haven't I read somewhere in these forums that once a debtor gets a default judgment against them, for not showing up to court, it is extremely hard to get them overturned? How come that doesn't work both ways, I wonder?

I can't wait to see their faces when they do fight the case, and you can break out all the evidence you have on them. You even have recordings of them, don't you? Did you record the last conversation you had with that attorney? That should make for some entertaining court room drama. Or humor.

No, I didn't record the lawyer, didn't really see the point. She was very tight lipped and just said they were fighting the suit.

Yeah, it makes me sweat a bit the judge did this....he asked me if I had copies of the codes when we were at the default hearing, I just didn't have them (kicking myself for not thinking of everything) :) so that is why he delayed in his judgement..if he hadn't, that late answer would have been moot if the judge had already rendered judgement.

I am thinking of mailing a letter to the lawyer for them to pass to LVNV, basically I will send copies of the relivant codes, and detail what proof I have. Then I will offer a settlement...initially I wanted to offer for them to pay 60% of what I was asking for (kind of as a response to them sending a settlement offer while the account was still under a DV) but I want to be serious about it. Sure, I want the money, but I more want them to admit they have nothing and remove the account from the credit report. I am thinking of asking for a couple thousand and removal of the account, all of the interest of resolving this quickly and outside court.

If they don't accept, I can show the judge that I was STILL trying to be reasonable, but that they were not.

Honestly, I wouldnt sweat it that much. You clearly have done your homework, and you obviously have your evidence ready to go. The fact is this--their violations are simply undisputable. They can say whatever they like, but remember this--it is a lawyers job to represent her client's best interests. She knows full well what the law says, but that doesnt mean she has to tell you about it. She's trying a tactic, trying to show indifference. Dont let it work. It is designed to make you question how strong your case really is. That way, when they have their chance, they will try to offer you a lower amount as a settlement and hope to just get out of the situation. OR, if they really do want to play hard ball from start to finish, you shouldnt look upon that as a bad thing at all--think about this....

1--your claims are well-documented, and showing dates on letters and such is something they cannot counter or disprove.

2--you have covered all your bases pretty well from the looks of things. They are sitting on MORE than the violations you are suing over, for a $300 debt. Thats pretty retarded.

3--if the lawyer had any real legal grounds as to why they are fighting this, she wouldnt have used some weak excuse like "$9000 over a $300 dispute". She knows that the two are not connected in any way. She just didnt have anything better to respond with.

A lawyer's job is to act for their client's best interest. If you sue for $9000 and there is a chance that they could also be charged with crimes, then by working out a settlement in court for a lesser amount is in her client's best interest, no? My honest feeling is that she's setting this up to try to lessen the blow, because you have them dead locked up in the TX statutes.

Here's what I would do if any lesser settlement is offered. I would not take it. Simple as that. And I would tell them why--because you are already cutting them a break by not suing for various other federal violations, such as the multiple FCRA violations that resulted from their reporting to two credit bureaus with unverified and inaccurate info, despite the fact that you notified them and requested validation. I would tell them that they dont even deserve that much of a break, but they are getting it anyways, and they are to be held accountable for their actions.

Also, I wouldnt look at it as a bad thing that you need to bring the statutes with you this time--use that as an opportunity to show this judge that you are well-prepared, that you have really done your homework, and that you are in the right. Judges dont like to see people in their courtrooms that are unprepared and dont know exactly whats happening. Use that to your advantage. A judge, when sitting on the fence with any one point in a case, will be more likely to side with you if your argument relies on the law, is well-presented, and it's clear that you went out of your way to prepare for court. If you go in half-assed, you have already lost half the battle.

Man,really good job so far...I cant wait to see how this one turns out. Tune in for next week's exciting episode!

UPDATE!!!!

I have got a certified letter! We now have a court date! On May 9th we go to court! LVNV isn't going to know what hit them!!!

The letter says to put in any motions in a timely manner, but I don't think I need to do any motions? Yeah?

If they file a counterclaim for the balance due you can bring forth a motion for discovery for validation. I'm pretty certain they will try to minimize their damages by trying to collect on the debt. Which will be another violation. :lol: