URGENT - Stanley Weinberg and Associates Corp

what state are you in first of all?

If you live in illinois then the statute of limitations is 5 years on an open account and 10 years on a written contract. So if the last time you made a payment has been more than 10 years,to be on the safe side, tell them to go to hell, not literally,,,,

open accounts are usually credit cards. if it was a personal loan or home equity, that could fall under written contract, assuming they have the original contract.

They cannot sue you if the statute of limitations has passed. If they do you raise it as a defense and countersue them for violations of the FDCPA.

thats exactly right--if the debt went delinquent in 1991, then tell this guy to go pound rocks. Tell him you'd be happy to receive his summons--and your answer will state the affirmative defense that this debt is way past the applicable statute of limitations. That in itself will end such a lawsuit.

Something else to consider--there is only one kind of debt collector that tries to collect on a debt this old---bottom feeder junk debt buyers. Probably 99% of the time, these accounts do not have the proper documentation, and as such most of these companies wont set foot in a courtroom. This is important--because the FDCPA prohibits a debt collector from lying to you in any manner. So, if he tells you he is going to send you a summons, then unless he actually does it, he just broke the law and you can sue him for it. And, the funny thing is this--a debt collector does not have the authority to tell you that you will be served "by next monday".....because it is not up to him at all. If they really did file suit, then their lawyer handled the paperwork, and then either a sheriff or a process server will have you served. Sounds to me like this guy's blowing smoke at you. Just to be on the safe side, when was the last time you made a payment on this debt, if ever? If it has been past due since 1991 then there isnt anything he can do--AS LONG AS you invoke your affirmative defense of "expired SOL" in response to a summons. They can still sue you and the judge would allow the case to proceed if you do not raise the expired SOL yourself.

All your inputs are appreciated. This is a great forum.
I live in MD and seems like it is 3 years.

This morning I mailed expedited return receipt certified DV letter, but did not include anything about SOL, just mentioned that I disupute the alleged debt. Should I send another letter stating SOL?

I do not recall making any payment to such creditor over past 15 years.

I would skip the DV altogether. This is past the 3 year SOL and 7.5 year federal reporting period. They have no leverage to make you pay. I would go straight to a full cease comm letter.

The other day I also recieved a call from Earl Shield. He threatened me which in turn I contacted my attorney. The day after I recieved his call I recieved a call from supposedly my local sheriffs department. I used to work for the local county so I called the office that does serve summons. He never received anything from Stanley Weinburg. I was lucky enough to not answer the call and let my voicemail pick it up. Someone from their office was representing themselves as an officer from our local sheriffs department. I sat down with a couple of our detectives and they proceeded to call Stanely's office and guess what? The guy that answered the phone was the same guy that called and left me the message! They somehow used our local clerk of courts phone number to try and be legit about it. Now the detectives are really fuming trying to figure out how they used their agency phone number to do their business. The detectives are going to charge them with whatever they can get them on. The debt they were trying to say I owed was from 2000 and from a bank I'd never done business with. At first Earl said that it was a credit card then he said it could be a loan I took out with this bank. These people are very shady and are trying to take advantage of people in these hard times where a persons credit means everything. I'm hoping to hear back from the detectives and I will post the results!!

the answer youre looking for is "caller ID spoofing"--they can use software to make any number they want appear on your caller ID when they call you. It is illegal for a debt collector to do that--they are not allowed to misrepresent themselves or anything about the debt. The cops can and should bust them for impersonating a law enforcement officer--that is a crime in probably every state. Other than that, they have committed several violations of the FDCPA and you can now sue them for damages because of it.

I got a phone call from Stanley Weinberg and Associates. They were calling me about a bill from 2001. When asked what bill it was, they said that it was either a Cingular, AT&T or Verizon bill. When I asked which one, they couldn't tell me. When I got really adamant, they said that it was an AT&T wireless bill. The whole time, they were telling me that my bill was $600.00 but they would settle for 300.00. Earl Shields was very rude, he cut me off, and threatened to have the sheriff serve me papers for a lawsuit. When I asked about my supposedly delinquent account, they couldn't provide me with any information. I later did my research and got confirmation that i already paid the bill with another company in 2005(I told Earl Shields that I paid the account already many times already). I called Earl back and told him that I would be faxing him over the confirmation when the other agency sent it to me. I asked for the fax# and he gave it to me. When the letter from the company that I originally paid for the AT&T wireless bill sent me the letter, I tried to fax it to Stanley Weinberg and Associates and the # was wrong. I called them to ask for the correct fax number and the lady who answered told me, "Forget we ever contacted you", and she said that I should disregard everything. I asked further questions and she told me that the attorney did further research and it showed that I paid the debt. These people are scam artists. I'm glad I did my research and didn't pay them anything.

Be careful of dealing with these people. They were,at one time, associated with LVNV-another junk debt buyer. They will threaten you,tell you anything to get you to pay,whether the debt is paid, not yours, or any other reason.

I dealt with them in the past--the best thing is to become educated in your rights as a consumer,make sure the debt is your,the amount correct,etc.

They are the ones that told me they knew who I was and that I was debt educated--I just laughed and said about time! They,also, are the ones who gave my name and phone number to Wells Fargo,who called me and offered me financial help!!

Just document and keep copies of everthing you and they send and also of your conversations..good luck..karen :D