Legal Mediation Practice

Hello everyone,
I just got one of those "good luck" calls today from LMP. It frankly cracks me up the lengths some of these companies go to. See I am in the process of filing bankruptcy and I get calls all the time. I usually just refer them to my attorney without a thought. But this ahole this morning told me I would be arrested at work or home if I didn't pay $410 today. I think he expected me to freak out or something but instead I told him let me give you my attorneys address and you can go arrest him, he has your money. The guy simply shut up and then said he would call my attorney for the case number just like the rest of them eventually back down and do. I'm saving the voice mail he left on my cell and going to send the letter of validation very soon. I have to admit I was concerned I was being sued up until he said we'll have you arrested then I knew it was just another lame attempt to collect. I can see how people fall for this stuff though.

Yeah it's pretty low and pathetic to make those threats. What is even more pathetic is some of the names of the charges, or the false legal department names when they claim to be part of the US government.

Cosme. Am I understanding you correctly? Did the idiot actually say you were going to be arrested in the message he left? That would be incredibly stupid on their part if they did.

If that is the case, I would go one further than just sending a DV letter and sue their behinds.

No he didn't say that in the voice mail message although I wish he had. He said that to me after I called the number back. I also spoke to my lawyer 10mins later and he just laughed as did I. He said there's no prison for debtors in this century.

Unfortunately, there are still some CA's out there that must not have gotten the memo on this. Il-legal Mediation Practice being one of them.

Well, either way you shouldn't be hearing from them again. Once a CA knows you are being represented by an attorney, the are not supposed to contact you directly anymore. Only with your attorney.

Of course, LMP doesn't seem to understand the law very well.

I am in a very similar situation. I took a payday loan last year during my divorce. Things continued to get worse and I did default on the loan. I moved in the mean time and switched banks. They emailed me about the problem with my bank account, which I responded. The loan company sent me emails about a settlement offer. I replied to those emails asking for something in writing as to what the total amount would be, no response from them. I received threatening phone calls from Legal Mediation Practice, which did threaten to have me served at my place of employment or residence for failure to pay, fraud, etc. for bad checks. He told me I had to pay $800 immediately. I explained to the guy, which I will add even during the threats was extremely nice (another tactic I guess), that I am not denying I owe but I can't pay all at one time. He too told me to borrow it from someone. I told him I would settle it when I get my tax refund. Unfortunately, i have another issue that has arose and it is of utmost importance and I have to take care of it. I live in PA. What actions can LMP take against me if I don't pay the entire amount as they are demanding? Also, I keep reading about these debt validation letters. What are those and where can I get it?

You can find a template for one via the first link in my signature.

Thanks. I will do that. Are these people legally able to come to place of employment or residence? I am just trying to figure out what to do. I have a 3 year old and one on the way so I can't afford for this to even turn into more money. I am glad I found this forum as I was under the impression that these people were lawyers.

I seriously doubt any of them are attorneys. As to physically coming to your residence or place of employment, I doubt they will. If you were told that they would that would probably be another violation of the fdcpa, which they are very infamous for.

I was just reading the fair debt collection practices act and I have already found several violations that this guy made during our initial phone call, which I will admit scared the crap out of me. I am trying to pay my debts but it is a never ending cycle! I am going to contact a lawyer and find out what they advise me to do. I don't know how these people haven't been shut down!

Consumers ignorance to federal laws and ignorance of when and to whom to report violations to.

In addition to seeking legal council (you can try naca.net to start your attorney search) you should file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general's office for your state.

I just filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. One last question. The man that I spoke to at LMP told me that the contact that I signed when I entered into the payday loan states that they are permitted to press charges against me. Have you heard of this? I don't have anything that I signed and I went back through my email correspondence and I don't have anything from them. Everything was done online so I never signed anything.

Nothing in any agreement can supersede state or federal statutes. Federal law says that debts are civil matters not criminal. So, no they can't press charges unless they can prove intent to defraud.

Thanks for all of your help on this matter! I ended up calling the local district magistrate that I know personally and explained the situation. He provided me with a name and number for an attorney and I have now retained that attorney and filing suit.

No problem Valsuzee, that is what we are here for. I'm glad we could be of help to you.

Yep these guys started calling again to my girl regarding another collection account. Same threats as before but this time we were armed with Knowledge gained from this helpful community. We recorded the Conversation!!! They threatened to send someone to our home "to make us pay" I duely informed them that I was a Former Marine and skilled at hand to hand combat and an expert with pistol. They shut up I then informed them that if this is valid send a dunning letter. We gave them no personal info which infuriated them. Then started quoting potential violations they had already committed according to fdcpa and my state laws they hung up!

Way to go EZRunner24!

It's a shame you even had to start going that route with them; if they had just followed the law to begin with they might have already received or been promised a payment for this debt from you. As it was you had to give them what they had given you just to get them to listen. Of course it did cause them to hang up. But so what? As I've said before, these people don't give back the rude treatment they may get from a debtor, they start with the fdcpa violations right from the start.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I cannot believe they are still in business.

'What happens next? I sent the DV letter. What happens if they don''t send anything back to me after requesting the information? Also someone said on here that they can arrest you if they can prove you tried to defraud the payday loan lender? The guy from LMP said because we had payday loans back to back that it was "williness to defraud a payday loan company" and that it was a felony. Is this true? Cause now that they have the DV letter they have now realized that we won''t be paying anything on the 28th. Are police going to arrest my husband? Has anyone actually been arrested by these creeps?')

It would be an extreme circumstance such as if you were drawing checks on a closed account that they could try to charge your husband with uttering. Other than that it will remain a civil matter, not criminal.

mrsomo, relax. Threat of arrest is an extremely common tactic that Legal Mediation Practice uses in order to scare someone into giving them money. Please don't let it scare you or your husband.

JCEMT is correct, you would have had to have been passing checks on an account you knew was closed in order to be arrested. From what I read of your story, that does not look to be the case in your situation.

Once LMP receives the DV letter, they must suspend all collection attempts until they satisfactorily validate the debt. Based on my own personal experience with them, along with what I've read, they will do neither. They will not, or can not, validate the debt and they will probably continue collection attempts.

If this occurs, you should then seek out an attorney that specializes in fdcpa violations and/or consumer law and sue them. A good place to start in looking for one is www.naca.net. I sued them myself, and they settled out of court. As you have pointed out already, they have violated the FDCPA quite a bit, so they need to be held accountable for their actions. And this may be redundant to say; however, you should make sure you file complaints with the FTC, your state's Attorney General's office, and Florida's Attorney General's office (since they are located in Florida).

Please keep us posted.

Thank goodness for this website! I couldn't pay off my loan with Ace Cash because of medical reasons and still owe about 500 dollars. I got a phone call at work from Legal Mediation Practice saying all those things like: "going to have to pay extra court fees" "going to call your boss" "you are a criminal" "your case is being sent to court" and "my clerk will be making a visit"... Really?
I tried to negociate with Ace Cash about a payment plan but they said they couldn't do that anymore and that I need to pay in full. I can't until next month. Should I worry that LMP will actually harrass me at work and in person until I pay? :?

Judy, I hate to say it but Yes you should worry that they will try doing that. It seems they do that quite often. I'm pretty sure, however, they will not show up at your job. That would be an incredibly stupid move on their part.

What I'm going to recommend is that you send a debt validation letter and a Partial Cease and Desist letter. A partial Cease and Desist spells out to them you only want them communicating with you directly, not third parties, (like employer, neighbors, family, friends, the family dog) and you want this done by USPS. I also suggest you send it to them two ways; first by fax, that way they get it very quickly before they start their shenanigans, the other way is by USPS, certified mail return receipt requested.

I would be surprised if you ever hear from them again regarding this matter, and it will keep them from harassing you until you are able to pay the loan off next month.

A few posts above mine you will find a link in JCEMT's post to a list of resources. This includes a copy of a DV/C&D letter. Here is LMP's contact information also:

Legal Mediation Practice
1919 Blanding Blvd., Suite 10
Jacksonville, FL 32210

Phone: 904-387-3187
Fax: 904-493-4497

Please do not let them intimidate you!

Thank you very much for your help!
I will fax and send them the letter. Once I have the money to pay, should I send it to them or the original company? And should I expect any additional fees?

Now my gut instinct would be to attempt contacting the original creditor (OC) and attempt to pay it directly to them. If they try referring you back to LMP to pay through them, inform them of all the fdcpa violations you have on LMP. Tell them you are not comfortable working with a company that has so little regard for the law. See what they tell you then.

I'd be willing to expect you might have some additional fees and interest tacked onto the amount you owe. You might want to see if you can find out from the OC how much you do exactly owe before you get ready to pay them off.

There are laws, though, that regulate how much they can charge you for a pay-day loan. Was this in fact a pay-day loan? I'm presuming by the name it was. Did you do this over the Internet or did you go into a business. What state do you live in?

Good catch Ron...I see its Ace Cash Express, which is a store. But yea, most state PDL laws allow very little to nothing in terms of collection fee liability maybe $15 for an NSF fee...although the PDL might think otherwise.

Hopefully Judy will come back with the state....

I went into their store here in Texas. This isn't the first time I take a loan with them, and I have paid them all back accordingly.

Judy,

Here are the regulations for pay-day loans in Texas.

Legal Status: Legal

Citation:
7 Tex. Admin. Code ???? 1.605; Tex. Fin. Code Ann. ???????? 342.251 et seq. and 342.601 et seq.

Loan Terms:
Maximum Loan Amount:
Loan Term: 7-31 days
Maximum Finance Rate and Fees: $10 per loan + 48% annual interest
Finance Charge for 14-day $100 loan: $12
apr for 14-day $100 loan: 309%

Debt Limits:
Maximum Number of Outstanding Loans at One Time: Not Specified ($500 aggregate loans outstanding to all licensees)
Rollovers Permitted: None (if renewal charge is less than maximum interest rate permitted; otherwise convert to declining balance installment note)
Cooling-off Period:
Repayment Plan:

Collection Limits:
Collection Fees: Not Specified
Criminal Action: Not Specified

Where to Complain, Get Information:
Regulator: Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner
Address: 2601 N. Lamar Blvd. Austin TX 78705
Phone: (512) 936-7600
Fax: (512) 936-7610

volls...ron....
I just want to say thanks!!!!! The informative posts provided here help so many others!!!!
It is so awesome to see people spending time helping others in a positive way :D
sometimes we might bicker..have misunderstandings..disagree...not see eye to eye... etc. etc...
the bottom line is that people come to this sight and find many friends nice people and a lot of informative helpful information..my feelings at least from being here! :D

I have the username of MrsOMO but it wouldn't let me log in and kept saying it didn't recognize my username. So I am posting under this for now until I figure it out.
So this same guy from LMP named Daryl Green called my fathers' house looking for my husband and told my father that he had never heard from my husband (which is a lie).
I called since my hubby is out of town and talked to Daryl. He said he didn't know anything about the DV letter and I told him that someone in his office had it because I had it tracked and it was received on the 25th of Feb. Then he went and looked for it and found it. He then had the nerve to say, "so is your husband going to pay?"
I then said, well nothing wil be paid and you cannot collect anything until we have the requested items per the DV letter and then we must have the 30 day period to review them. So no, not at this time. I said thank you and hung up.
When you retain an attorney who specializes with keeping DC from contacting you after the DV letter has been received...........do they charge a lot to be retained? Because I would rather just pay the debt with the retainer money.
We want to pay it but they refused payment arrangements. They would rather turn down a steady repayment plan that had the loans to all be paid back by the end of April. Instead they are getting nothing because of their illegal tactics.

Thank you so much Ron! I am sending the letter today. And I have all I need in case they bug me again. I am very thankful with thise site and find myself lucky for coming across it. I was extremely worried, but now I feel like everything will be ok. Again, thank you and keep it up. God Bless.

MrsOMO/MelT

At this point, I don't see a reason why you should retain an attorney. You sent them a DV letter and they have received it. The ball is now in their court. The only reason I see that you should retain an attorney is if they continue to collect on this debt before they have properly validated. That's when you would sue them for fdcpa violations. Or if, Heaven forbid, they do attempt to sue you. But I wouldn't worry too much about that.

If you're planning on paying the debt off, then do save they money you would use for an attorney to apply to what you owe.

Did you include a cease and desist or partial cease and desist in that validation letter? This would spell out that you only want them contacting you by mail directly and no other third parties?

this company called today and was looking for a friend of mine. i told them i didnt work or talk to her anymore then i looked up their info. i filed a report on them sometime ago with the FTC and they were not happ. the company they take collections for ripped me off and i didnt pay and then they were being investigated by the FTC because of their unlawful practice. send them a cease and desist letter and a notice to have the amount of debt reviewed and have it sent to you then see what they say orif they will call you!

be careful, identitiy theft is real!!

I'm Still tring to figure this out. I've never taken a payday loan from anyone, yet they are taking money from me.

How are they taking money from you? If you could give us more details I may be able to help you sort some things out.

Is there a LMP in California?

I don't believe there is one located in CA, I think they are only located in Jacksonville, Florida.

I received a message from a rep from legal mediation practice a few days ago. When I listened to my message I was under the impression that he was an attorney. After some investigation I found out it is illegal to represent yourself as an attorney. I still have the message on my cell phone. Just by his choice of words he misrepresented himself and the company. I also requested everything in writing and they refused to send me anything. According to the laws in Florida they are suppose to send you something within 5 days. I told him I was not paying anything and I needed proof that this was not a hoax. He said to just wait until later on that day I would find out how real it was. I didn't believe him but it ticked me off because I was at home with my 3 year old. I kept calling them back to get more information. They did not want to admit that they are just a collection agency. I also contacted the Jacksonville, Florida Better Business Bureau.

WOW!!! I wasnt even aware that other people were having a problem with these people.. I had someone from there call me this morning from a 904 area code and he was very relentless telling me that I had until 2 pm today to western union him what I owed cash net USA otherwise he was going to take action I was going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.. He scared the crap out of me.. I have tried to contact the place where I had gotten my payday loan to try and make payment arrangements so that I can pay them back and they refused to work with me.. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. The man from legal mediation had me so upset I was crying my eyes out.. What I think is that because I am a woman that he figured it would be okay to bully me. I wonder if that makes him feel like a bigger man when he does that.

904 area code is from Fla. You should contact the Fla. Atty. General, he would love to hear from you. He is going after all these creeps that violate the law.

Ok so they are still at it ...i live in california i just need to know if after all these years laws have changed?? I got a payday adv. in Jan. well when they tried to cash the check it bounced...what was stupid is i took in the cash but they said nope wait for the check to cash...well now i have these LMP people calling me saying they are gonna file charges to my work or home...and a suit and that i'd better have a lawyer if i dont have the it paid within the next 3 hours by noon....can they do that? :shock:

I am just hella laughing at this cuz i htought i was the only One I just had to cuss out both of them people that work there lmfao!

:twisted: Hello,

Ok so after coming to this site I realized that these people were definitely not following the fdcpa laws! I would suggest that everyone who has complaints about this company goes to:ftccomplaintassistant.gov and file a complaint ASAP!

These people flat out denied me any payment plans, and they have hung up on me repeatedly!
There address is 1919-4 Blanding blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32210!

They are all THREATS and they cannot do anything without giving you the correct information!

GOOD LUCK!

David,

What a coincedence. I guy from this Legal Mediation Pratice just called me and told me the same thing. That he was told that I wrote a check on a closed account. I informed him that account is not closed. He was a **** and nasty. He informed that if I could not come up with a payment by 3:00 my time, I might as well use the $$ to get an attorney, cuz he was gonna file on me.

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

I just received a call from this same company today. They guy stated that I needed to make a pyment by 3:00 today or legal matters would be taken. HE stated that if I could not make a payment, I might as well use the $$ the get an attorney. He stated he did not care if I made a pyament or not, that I needed to get legal matters filed on. I was using my authority at where I work to make fraud. I told him that I had no idea what he was talking about. I was not abusing my authority. He said that I wrote a check on a PaydayLoan and then closed the account. I informed him that the account has not been closed, so I do not know where he got that info from. He said if there was no payment made by Western Union Quick Collect today, that he would file legal matters.

He stated that he did not care what I thought and what I was feeling. I needed to make a payment and that all he was concerned about. They have m y office twice already. He was very rude.

If it's legal in your state to record calls without the other parties knowledge I would suggest doing so and including it with a complaint to both the FTC and your state Attorney General's Office.

They are phishing for your bank account information, do not give them any info.

I would never, ever, ever, ever give a CA my bank information over the phone!

Never!

Doubly so, for Il-Legal Mediation Mal-Practice!

It's just inviting trouble. Send them money orders or cashier's checks. Might cost a little to do so, but it will definitely be wort its weight in gold for the trouble it will save you down the road if a CA decides to attempt to clean out your bank account.

And from most of the stories I have read here, it's not a question of "if" but of "when".

They called me today and said going to send cops to your home on payday loan...Acct closed and there are coming after me by sending me to jail???That really stressed my Wife and I out...What to do???? :(

Fleet, they are lying and violating the fdcpa, they can not arrest you for a debt.

fleet take a deep breath they really cant do anything other than bug you to death... if they call back give ti right back to them..ask them for their name address etcc so that you can file an anti-harrassment order on them.. tell them you will be waiting for the police so that they can take a report on their harassment..