Is this legal?

If you are asking that whether or not it's legal for a collection company to sue a debtor over an unpaid account, then 'yes'. A collection agency can sue you and can even get a judgment over a justified debt. However, please explain the following,

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They still must send the dunning letter within 5 days of initial contact (which says you have 30 days to dispute the debt). Unfortunately, though, there really is no way you can prove in a court of law that you didn't get that letter....

Call your local county court and double check just in case. If nothing is filed against you, then sue the collector for the FDCPA violation (the deceptive summons form) and collect your $1,000. You should be able to easily get an attorney to work pro bono, because they can also ask for court costs and attorney fees.

[COLOR=black]Thank you for your responses SC and Chrys. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]SC no I wasn't asking that, sorry I must not have made myself clear. I realize that they can sue. What I was asking was if sending a fake summons is legal and especially sending it as the first written communication. I didn't know what that first letter was called, till now, thank you Chrys, a dunning letter, but I did think that they had to send some form of that as a first written communication. I had spent the weekend looking at different debt relief sites and forums, and had not seen anything like this talked about by anyone else. That is why I came here and asked. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Chrys, the letter has three pages. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]The first page on one side is the typed summons and complaint, the back side of that page has the notice of service by mail, and at the bottom of that side of the page it says this is an attempt to collect a debt. Any info obtained will be used for that purpose. This communication os from a debt collector.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]The second page has on one side, typed, lawsuit information sheet. saying:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]You are receiving this information sheet because you have been served with a summons and complaint (lawsuit) by "name of hospital" We cannot give you legal advice. and then goes on to say:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Start of the Lawsuit. name of hospital has served you by mail, if you agree in writing to accept "service" of the summons and com. by mail and sign a forn that sc indicates. The summons informs you that you must provide a formal, written legal answer to the complaint within 20 days after you receive the legal doc. The complaint explains why "name of hospital" is suing you and aske a court to make you pay money.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]That the s&c may not include a court file number. (which it does not) They are however the legal doc that begins a lawsuit. It is very important that you do not ignore the doc, or you will be in default. No court hearing is required for a default judgment to be entered against you if you do not respond to the complaint. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Then it talks about answering. Then it talks again about failure to answer and that if we don't answer the hospital MAY get a default judgement against us. (so first it says we will get a default judgement against us if we don't do as they say and then it says maybe they will get it. )[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Lastly on that side it says that if we feel that your concerns have not been addressed, please contact our law firm and allow us the opportunity to ty and address your concerns. Or you have the option to address any concerns with the AG???s office which can be reached at:???.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]On the third page on one side is the same summons and com. And on the other is an info sheet from the law firm saying:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Despite written and verbal requests, you have not paid the debt owed to our client. (Makes it sound like we have been contacted by them many times and refused to pay which is NOT the case at all.) [/COLOR]
Consequently, we are left with no alternative other than moving forward to collect debt owed by you. Enclosed herein, please find a ??? district court summons and complaint. This document has not been filed with the court.
If you are not able or are unwilling to pay your debt in full or if you are unable to contack our firm and make arrangements at this time, we request that you sign and return the enclosed Acknowledgment of Service on the back side of the Original Summons and Com.
Payment of debt in full will avoid the possibility of litigation in this matter.
If you choose not to return the enclosed Acknow. of serv. , along with the orig. summons and com. We may deem it necessary to have the sum. and com served upon you personally by either your local sheriff or a private process server. You may ultimately be liable for the cost of such service.
This unsigned notice accompanies the Sum. and Com. Package mailed to you through the US Mail.
[SIZE=3]Then the attorneys typed name [/SIZE]
Then again the same notice at the bottom of that page
This is an attempt to collect a debt etc.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make sure Chrys that you still think we should contact an NACA attorney and see if they will take this on pro bono?

Thanks again

i could be wrong but i agree with crys this sounds like a fake summons to scare you. I recieved one of those and they can fool a person who is not looking closely. The fact that you say they dont want you to respond to them and not the court tells me that they are trying to scare you into setting something up with them. how long ago was this medical issue? thats another issue right there, have you spoke at all to these people or have you avoided them? there are a few questions that could help make it easier to know the whole situation better. Also you do have the right to request proof of the debt with the itemized charges. to stall till you figure it out i would request that info in writing without admitting any guilt. Good luck!

ok im stupid! disregaurd the time thing i missed it somehow. the reason why i mention that is sol, check the sol in your state. its usually 4 years or more though.

Hi Love,
that is okay, we ALL do stupid things from time to time, it doesn't make US Stupid, just human.

I thought I had posted a response to you a little earlier to you, but I don't see it here so I must have mess it up somehow, see, Love I do human errors too.
It was pretty long, so maybe it is better that I didn't post it after all.

The point of it is, that no nothing has yet been filed, so I guess I need to contact a NACA attorney and see if they will help.

Chrys, I live in Minnesota, and have heard that one of the best guys to go to is here, Peter Barry. Do you think he might help me pro bono?

Thanks again, and BTW, I am really glad to have found all of you, from the other threads I have read, the people that work here or post here often are really caring advocates for the rest of us who have to deal with difficult times. Seems to me there are an awful lot of us out here. SAD!

Wow, now that I wrote the last post, I see that my other post did show up. SORRY EVERYONE:confused:

Unfortunately, the SOL in Minnesota is 6 years.

I checked out Dave Barry's site. Did I just say that? I meant Pete Barry. He sounds like a great asset to have in your corner. Yes, I would definitely avail yourself of a free consultation to see if he'll help you. I'm sure he will, that is a deceptive form designed only to scare you.
"http://www.lawpoint.com/"

Also, send them a Debt Validation letter (Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested) immediately.

Thank you Chrys,
I contacted Mr. Barry last night by filling out the contact sheet on his website, so hopefully we will hear from him soon, and he will be willing to help. I did a little googling on this collection attorney, DS Erickson, and found a pdf from some seminar for Collection practices, both how to do them and how to fight them, in July that he gave a class in how to do them effectively. Ironically on the same pdf flyer immediately across the page was a class that Mr. Barry gave on how to fight them. So maybe Mr. Barry knows this person and how to deal with him already.
I have a DV letter already to send, but if it is alright I would like to post a copy here to see if it will be good for this situation, or if you feel I should make some modifications to it?

Thank you again

DV letter (please feel free to copy for your own use)

September 2, 2009

Your Name
123 Your Street Address
Your City, ST 01234

ABC Collections
123 NotOnYourLife Ave
Chicago, IL

Date

Re: Acct # XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on September 30, 2002). 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.

Please provide me with the following:


What the money you say I owe is for;
Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
Identify the original creditor;
Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

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:

Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
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 to investigate 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 fails 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. This is an attempt to correct your records, any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.

Best Regards,

Your Signature
Your Name

Hi, I have sent out the DV letter as suggested. I sent two copies, one by regular mail, and the other by CRRR. I am still waiting for a response from Mr Barry's office, but I know that could take a few days.

Odd, I couldn't find my thread anywhere on the site. I had to go to where it says "my threads" after I logged in to get to it. Is there a problem with my thread or the forum? Did I do something wrong, and get my thread banished to bad debtors land?

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That was me, Chrys Henderson, above. See? The top of the screen says "Welcome Chrys Henderson" just like I am logged in, but apparently it lies.... And when I click on "Click here to login" it doesn't do anything. Sigh... It should be ok in a couple of days or so....

Hi again Chrys,
sorry, but it still says you are an unregistered guest, and I still can't see my thread the usual way.
Anyway, just waiting to hear from Mr.s Barry's office. Hopefully by Monday, oh, that is Labor day, Tuesday then.

Log in problems again today! This time, I've logged in 3 times already and it just logs me out in 30 seconds!!

Yes, hopefully by Tuesday. I'm sure it's kind of annoying to wait to hear back on something so important to you. I know I would be climbing the walls.

Chrys

follow chrys's, advise, hes a great asset here to this forum! we love you chrys! if he tells you this guy is good, than i would accept that.

ok, i think im retarded, i posted the above post in a different post atleast i thought i did. but then again im really having a hard time with this new change of the forum. im gonna go and see if this post is posted were i origionally posted it.

im finally able to stay logged in though! yAAAAAAAAAA!

We have not heard a thing from Peter Barry's office, and it has been over a week, I don't think they are interested. We did send the collection att. the DV which they received/signed for on Monday, but next Friday is the deadline date for us to respond to their fake summons and complaint.
We are nervous and not sure what to do next. Do we just wait and see, or should we send them an unsolicited offer to settle?

Should we even try to see if there is another attorney to help us and if so, how, since this is who we found through the NACA website?

We are considering filing for BK as a last resort here, we don't really want to but we just are loosing hope here.

Any advice?

if that was a fake summons then they can't collect further without validating the debt.if they try anything then you can sue for FDCPA violations.i wouldn't worry,but i would look into that NACA attorney about going after the collector and their attorney for sending a bogus summons.

Well, it has been about a month since I posted here. Last time was when we sent a DV letter to this collection attorney. All had been quiet, including no phone calls or emails from the attorney we contacted, Pete Barry, to assist us with this, till tonight.
This evening a process server served my husband with the same exact summons and complaint, in person.
The papers are exact copies of the original ones, with the same date Sept. 10, 2009. There is still no court case number or date on it anywhere.
Tomorrow my husband will call the courts again to see if they in fact have filed this summons and complaint this time or not.
We never received any validation from them on this debt.

If it has been filed this time, what would be our best next step? If not then what should we do?

Thanks

[QUOTE=yehudis bibi;485576]Well, it has been about a month since I posted here. Last time was when we sent a DV letter to this collection attorney. All had been quiet, including no phone calls or emails from the attorney we contacted, Pete Barry, to assist us with this, till tonight.
This evening a process server served my husband with the same exact summons and complaint, in person.
The papers are exact copies of the original ones, with the same date Sept. 10, 2009. There is still no court case number or date on it anywhere.
Tomorrow my husband will call the courts again to see if they in fact have filed this summons and complaint this time or not.
We never received any validation from them on this debt.
If it has been filed this time, what would be our best next step? If not then what should we do?
Thanks[/QUOTE]

Sue them! They are in violation of the FDCPA! They attempted to collect during the validation process! I would scan those documents and upload them to your Attorney General and the FTC, fill out a complaint online and provide them with details!

i agree with shazzers.sue them a new one.they think you won't.that is why they are doing what they do.prove them wrong.