Kenwood Services PDL & William Sokol

If anyone from "Law Office of William Sokol" contacts you again, ask him where he is licensed to practice law and request his bar number. You can pull up the bar association for any state online and search for a member by their number. If the "attorney" is unwilling to provide it, that's the first indication.
You should also ask him for the licensed address and telephone number as well. If he is in fact a legally licensed collector, then he will provide it to you. If the "attorney" is unwilling to provide it, then it's the second indication that they are illegal and a fraud. If you do happen to get an address, then verify it.

The biggest indication that they are a fraudulent company is that they are making legal threats against you. Debt is a civil matter, not a criminal one. Any collector that wants to keep operating isn't going to threaten their clients' non-paying customers with criminal charges unless they want to lose their license.

Just to add to it, Kenwood is ILLEGAL in your state.

William Sokol isn't a "fraudulent" company, he is a bottom feeder attorney who buys debts from legal and illegal lenders alike. The way to handle his office is to educate yourself on your rights. He is required to follow the FDCPA but hopes that you and other unsuspecting people do not know their rights.

The next time he calls, tell him you do not discuss financial matters to a voice on the phone, and if this is truly a legit debt them he is required by the federal law to send you a letter of collection via the mail within five days of his first initial contact with you, and until them you can NOT and WILL not discuss this alleged debt on the telephone, also inform him that you are keeping records of ALL communication between you and their office and WILL file complaints against them if they do not comply with the law.

Then, FOLLOW THROUGH with the complaints against them with the FTC, BBB and your Attorney General's office, and since his office in out of N.Y. I would also advise you to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office of N.Y.

By the way, the reason I say he isn't a fraudulent company is because they actually exist, but they do commit fraud quite regularly. This is why it's so important that you fight fire with fire by filing complaints against them.

I dealt with this office with one of my pdls. I sent a DV letter via certified RR mail. Initially I received a phone call and then a notification in the mail about the debt. Never heard from him again.

Thanks for the info, everyone! I suspected they were a real attorney's office but it still seemed pretty sketchy. Good to know.

Interesting that Kenwood is illegal in Texas. I will gladly repay the additional $100 I owe on the loan, but no way am I repaying $1K on this $200 illegal loan.