Law Offices won't stop bugging me

What is the name of your state? CA
hello, when i got married i had an outragous florist bill. i started paying them for the bill and then moved. They had my new address on the checks and in my notes but then i stopped getting statements. after a couple months i got a statement at my new address from a law office saying i owed so much money plus they tacked on a 1500 fee which was practically more than my bill and they said it was because they haven't been able to find me. now they keep calling, i have mailed them a check for 500 dollars but i feel so angry that i am going to have to pay double even though they had my address. do i owe this law office anything? they keep calling me and threatening me to pay all of it by the weekend or ASAP but the fees are more than my paycheck!

[Ladynred]

Who EXACTLY is this 'law office' ?? Sounds to me like just another collection agency with their 'pay now or else' threats. FEES of $1500 ?? FOR WHAT ?? That's nothing but usury and unless you've already been sued, it can't be for legal fees !!

If this IS a 3rd party debt collector, then you need to enforce your rights under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). You can demand that they stop calling you and contact you by mail only, we call it a 'modified cease and desist' letter. You can send a full cease and desist, but by taking away all means of communication with you, you could be opening yourself up to a fast lawsuit.

You should read the FDCPA -its pretty readable and you can find it here:
[url]http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm[/url]. Section 806 deals with harrassment and abuse - something they are forbidden to do.

They call themselves the law offices of Paul Stassinos. I am scared to be sued but they knew my address the whole time even when i moved because i made a payment, and the 1500 fee they said was because they couldn't find me and it was some rediculas percentage of what i owed which was 1400 so i don't get it. i will read your suggestion so that i am not hassled, but will it tell me about what fees they can charge me and how much time i have to repay a bill when they demand it within short time periods?

[JETX]

He is a licensed attorney in California with several offices:

Paul Stassinos
CA Bar Number 95988
Current Status Active
CA Admission Date December 16, 1980
County Sacramento

Contact Info
Address 5150 Sunrise Blvd #B6
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
Phone Number (916)967-8000
Fax Number Not Available

Education Info
Undergraduate School Univ of California Santa Barbara; CA
Law School McGeorge SOL Univ of the Pacific; CA

[Ladynred]

Got em !

Paul Stassinos
Attorney At Law
5150 Sunrise Blvd Ste B6
Fair Oaks, CA 95628-4960
Phone: (916) 967-8000
Fax: (916) 961-7615
E-mail: [email]pastassinos@yahoo.com[/email]

Found them on the ACA web site (American Collector's Assn - "the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals"), so even though there may be someone there with a law degree, they are primarily debt collectors !

As debt collectors, they ARE bound by the FDCPA and CA has a pretty good version of the FDCPA itself which in many ways is even better than the Federal law.

The FDCPA won't tell you what fees they can charge, but it WILL tell you what they can NOT charge - and tacking on skip-tracing fees or ANY collection fee not in your original agreement or allowed by state law is ILLEGAL (Section 808 of the FDCPA).

How much time you have to repay isn't in the FDCPA either. That is all basically a game with collectors, but 'pay by xx/xx/xx or else' is bull hockey and sooooooo typical of the pressure tactics meant to scare you.

Have you tried calling the florists back to see if they'll work with you directly ?

the florist tells me to call the law offices of paul s. still when i have called.
following your advise today, i called them and left a message with the lady that always calls me and asked them to mail me something that breaks down the charges and what they are so i know where this 1500 is from and what it is for. i told them i should only be charged for my remaining balance and i will not pay them anything more until i get documentation on it. i also requested they not call me at work again.

[JETX]

That is a good start. Now you need to send them the same requests in WRITING (certified RRR).

[NotAfraid]

Hello,

I am a newbie here. I googled Stassinos and came across this very interesting thread and just HAD to post a message.

Stassinos currently has a class action against him for numerous violations of California's Bad Check Law and the FDCPA. He has illegally charged me (and many others) "statutory damages" and miscellaneous interest charges that are totally bogus and he has no right to charge.

Looks like he is about to pay the piper now. Cowgirl, not sure if you are interested but it is not too late to hop on the freight train that is going to run this loser down.

I, personally, have no interest in getting money from this guy. I am just pissed based on the principal. Not to mention, he has made a pretty penny of his unethical business practices. This jerk is the head of a Homeowners Association for some condos he owns in Maui. Can't imagine how he is as a landlord! Supposedly, there is supposed to be a lot of $$ in this case.

I am unfamiliar with this forum, so not sure how it works. If you can private message me, please do so Cowgirl, or anyone else who wants more info on this. It's not too late to serve a hot plate of justice to this arse.

Great post! Thank you!

[NotAfraid]

Okay, no responses so I am just going to post the link to the attorney handling this case.

[url]http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=84970[/url]

To anyone dealing with this scumbag attorney, let's teach him a lesson!

[JETX]

Originally Posted by Sammi4me

This is my first time on this forum

Do NOT hijack someone elses thread.
It is both rude (in diverting the focus from them) and confusing (when you think a response is to you when it is to the thread OWNER).
Delete your post from this thread and start a new one.....

[Sammi4me]

I am sorry I added to this Thread I will start my own.
But you can be a little more curtius to the new people that join.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by Sammi4me

I am sorry I added to this Thread I will start my own.
But you can be a little more curtius to the new people that join.

Courteous (the correct spelling) responses were reserved for the first 100 attempts to hijack someone elses thread. Yours is about 512th!!
It is also reserved for COURTEOUS posts.... and not for 'hijackers'.