Suit filed by Wolpoff & Abramson

[itsalright7]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I have an old credit card, borrowed about $2,000 on it, tried various payment plans and consumer credit counseling, but eventually just couldn't keep up with it and am now facing a suit from Wolpoff & Abramson for $6,000. They offered to settle for $4,800. They want me to put $250 down and give me 30 days to get them the $4,800. I should be able to get a better settlement than that, no? I thought about an arbitrator but I've read they're usually on the side of the creditors. Anyone have any experience with this? What should I expect to settle for? Should I have my lawyer handle this?

[Ladynred]

I should be able to get a better settlement than that, no?

Not likely, not from W&A. They play a nasty game of hardball.

Should I have my lawyer handle this?

If you have one, yes, it's likely the ONLY way you'll get a settlement for less out of W&A.

How old is this debt ? When did you last pay the ORIGINAL creditor ?

[itsalright7]

Originally Posted by Ladynred

How old is this debt ? When did you last pay the ORIGINAL creditor ?

Thank you so much for your reply, I don't know what I'm doing and feel pretty helpless right now. Not sure when the last payment was, but it's been a few years. The last payment they probably got was through the credit counseling. 3 or 4 years I'd say. The statute of limitations in Pa. is what, 4 years? Only problem is I have no paperwork, no idea if it's 4 years or not. If I use that as a defense, do I need proof or is it up to them? Would I still need to pay it off in that case? I don't want to go in on the court date, find out the statute of limitations hasn't passed and then not be able to settle.

Originally Posted by itsalright7

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I have an old credit card, borrowed about $2,000 on it, tried various payment plans and consumer credit counseling, but eventually just couldn't keep up with it and am now facing a suit from Wolpoff & Abramson for $6,000. They offered to settle for $4,800. They want me to put $250 down and give me 30 days to get them the $4,800. I should be able to get a better settlement than that, no? I thought about an arbitrator but I've read they're usually on the side of the creditors. Anyone have any experience with this? What should I expect to settle for? Should I have my lawyer handle this?

Disclaimer: Not a legal advice - for informational purposes only.

Good day!

I would post this data briefly.

Any lawyer who purchases evidence of debt and proceeds to collect it violates laws.
You owe nothing to such lawyers-debt collectors; as you never had a contract with them.
They are not "in house" - they are "third party" debt collectors and their acts fall under such laws.
Even if you pay these extortionists, your debt is still a debt unless the original bank with which you had a contract, if had any, could discharge it or have charged it off already, and, most likely has collected insurance on that account as well.

The firm, which sues you, is a notorious firm involved in racket of debt collection, and, most likely would be facing RICO lawsuit, soon, as they deserve it.
Their favorite trick is not to serve consumers at all and submit false affidavits of service to court and obtain default judgments.
They, also, submit false affidavits in courts from criminals who work for debt collectors and who, fraudulently, claim first hand knowledge of your account, while, they have no clue what's going on, usually sit in another state and have never worked for the original bank and never entered any accounting data, themselves, but, simply, rely on credit reports most of the time.
They, all, commit perjuries and that must be addressed as such, as when they act as mutants, they deserve no mercy.
You have a right for cross-examining any witness who makes allegations or statements vs. you.
These witnesses do not dare showing up on Courts as they may be arrested for perjury and trespassing of your rights on the spot if you learn only few of your rights.
Their statements on paper are worthless, yet, many judges readily help their friends attorneys and commit fraud under the color of law.

I have enough of such proof.

Meanwhile, first, check the documents carefully.

Does the law firm sue you or it acts as an attorney for a client?
Read every word.
If the latter is true, which client: full name and adress?

Do not discuss anything on the phone with these mutants, as they would do anything they can gather vs. you.
Do not reply in mail unless you know well what to do.
If you have Court's summons, you must reply, even if the lawyer tells you do not have to or you loose by default.

By real law, they have no right to sue you or collect any judgment but the reality of life is that that racket goes on in courts non-stop everyday and the mutants succeed most of the time because consumers do not know law and their rights.


The banks would not see one penny of what these mutants try to extort from you.
They paid pennies on a dollar for the evidence of debt and try to defraud you - period.
Even if they had standing in Court, by real law, if they could prove damages, they could recuperate only what they paid for the account.
On that fraud alone, they would face serious charges.

You would see how many laws they break, one day.


Let's take one-step at a time.

1) First, what is the answer to the above question?

2) Second, how old is the credit account precisely and which is your state of transaction - not where you live now?

Ps. Arbitration is about 90% fraud; so do not go for it unless you wish to loose for sure.

[Phall0106]

I'm in a simliar situation--with Wolpoff, etc.

I had not recieved any information from them, or about this debt, until I recieved a summons from the District Justice. I intend to appear in court, but until that point, I'd like to be as armed with information as possible. (I don't even know who officially has the account at this point--although I did immediately send for an updated copy of my credit report, which should have the contact information there, right?)

Any advice that can be provided would be helpful, as EVERYTHING I've read about Wolfpoff, etc. has been horrible!

[ccma]

I am in the same boat. I found a complaint left in my door by a sheriff and was shocked. This lawf irm represents aCenturion Capital Corp who is a debt buyer in Maryland and has recently been licensed in our state (and others). They are housed in the same location as the attorney's W & A main office in Rockville Maryland.. They alleged in the complaint that I owed them over $5,000/ I answered the complaint in the allowed 20 days ( I of course said I owe no debt to them or anyone) and also spoke to the MA Attorney General and the Divison of Banking who told to ask for validation by Certified mail. They have not responsed and it has been over a month since they received my first validation request. I also sent another one to both of them (the debt buyer and their phony attornies) I also then got so frusterated and the court had a date sent for some hearing which I could not attend due to a severe family matter. I sent the lawfirm notice and asked the court for a continuation which they granted me. I SENT THEM Discovery request for documents so I can see proof and documents ofwhat they say I owe and to whom. I believe they have me mixed up with someone else but they refuse to valiate and sent me nothing in the mail until (like others here) I was served. The court is a scarey place but I will proceed. The MA AG office has a news article about another lawfirm who was fined for similar activity (also calling constantly more than allowed by law)
ANYWAY for the first time I received a call (message)from a live person and I then wrote to them and faxed them NOT to correspond with me except by MAIL or fax. I do not want to speak to them as they are not professional, have a terrible national reputation and have numerous complaints against them all over the country. I am worn out from this but will not have to go to court until the end of Jan and they would have gotten me the discovery information by the end of this month. My question is this
I do not have to speak to them do I? I will only correspond by mail. Why won't Centurion Capital or Wolpoff & Abramson validate the debt. I am going to post that article from our Attorney General's office for you to read on this forum
Any other advice would be GREAT.

[debtcollector`]

That isn't data -- it's fantasy.

DC

Originally Posted by SharingLights

Good day!

I would post this data briefly.

Any lawyer who purchases evidence of debt and proceeds to collect it violates laws.
You owe nothing to such lawyers-debt collectors; as you never had a contract with them.
They are not "in house" - they are "third party" debt collectors and their acts fall under such laws.
Even if you pay these extortionists, your debt is still a debt unless the original bank with which you had a contract, if had any, could discharge it or have charged it off already, and, most likely has collected insurance on that account as well.

The firm, which sues you, is a notorious firm involved in racket of debt collection, and, most likely would be facing RICO lawsuit, soon, as they deserve it.
Their favorite trick is not to serve consumers at all and submit false affidavits of service to court and obtain default judgments.
They, also, submit false affidavits in courts from criminals who work for debt collectors and who, fraudulently, claim first hand knowledge of your account, while, they have no clue what's going on, usually sit in another state and have never worked for the original bank and never entered any accounting data, themselves, but, simply, rely on credit reports most of the time.
They, all, commit perjuries and that must be addressed as such, as when they act as mutants, they deserve no mercy.
You have a right for cross-examining any witness who makes allegations or statements vs. you.
These witnesses do not dare showing up on Courts as they may be arrested for perjury and trespassing of your rights on the spot if you learn only few of your rights.
Their statements on paper are worthless, yet, many judges readily help their friends attorneys and commit fraud under the color of law.

I have enough of such proof.

Meanwhile, first, check the documents carefully.

Does the law firm sue you or it acts as an attorney for a client?
Read every word.
If the latter is true, which client: full name and adress?

Do not discuss anything on the phone with these mutants, as they would do anything they can gather vs. you.
Do not reply in mail unless you know well what to do.
If you have Court's summons, you must reply, even if the lawyer tells you do not have to or you loose by default.

By real law, they have no right to sue you or collect any judgment but the reality of life is that that racket goes on in courts non-stop everyday and the mutants succeed most of the time because consumers do not know law and their rights.


The banks would not see one penny of what these mutants try to extort from you.
They paid pennies on a dollar for the evidence of debt and try to defraud you - period.
Even if they had standing in Court, by real law, if they could prove damages, they could recuperate only what they paid for the account.
On that fraud alone, they would face serious charges.

You would see how many laws they break, one day.


Let's take one-step at a time.

1) First, what is the answer to the above question?

2) Second, how old is the credit account precisely and which is your state of transaction - not where you live now?

Ps. Arbitration is about 90% fraud; so do not go for it unless you wish to loose for sure.

[ccma]

If these debt collectors, debt collection attorneys and debt buyers followed the law then there would not be any discussion about fantasy vs no fantasy. No discussion about "they make that in a day " when someone posts an article about debt collection attorneys being reprimanded and or sanctioned.
All businesses have regulations. What if we allowed doctors to get away with not following proper practices or did away with doctor licenses.
My question was WHY don't they validate debts when someone disputes them, take people to court without proper notice, take people to court on debts that are time-barred, call more than the time allowed within a seven day period, harrass and or abuse people on the phone.
My answer to Debt collectors is follow your regs and you will not have such a hard time with these things.
This Debt Buyer industry has most likely caused all of this. In the olden days if your business had someone who would not pay you could go to the local debt collection agency on YOUR bill . This seems to be a racket here with debt buying corporations who most likely have straw owners. The real owners are most likely the law firms that are not following the rules.
The Debt Collection regulation and laws are very easy to understand really so why do these places refuse to validate debts when sent a proper letter (certified mail return receipt) if they truly have a debt.
The MA Attorney General has claried that they have to have STATEMENTS. I have checked and found that these debt collection attorneys are and do have the wrong person in many cases. OR the debt is very old and way past the SOL (this is what I was told by experts at the State and Federal Level(

[debtcollector`]

1. CAs typically follow the law exactly. Most CAs even follow the intent of the law as well.
2. Statements are not required in validation.
3. Validation isn't even required -- only if the CA wants to continue collections in the first 30 days.
4. Once a lawsuit is filed -- the FDCPA is no longer applicable.
5. The only state (that I am aware of) with a Statute of Repose is California. Therefore, SOL is meaningless, except as an affirmative defense.
6. In the old days, the local debt collection agency could and would do anything they liked in the collection of a debt. That included threats of personal violence, jail and telling everyone in town that so-and-so is a deadbeat. There is a reason those are the old days. You don't really want to go back do you?
7. As for calls within a seven day period, Mass has some interesting and quite silly laws. It is one of the states that I don't collect from so I am not fully up on Mass law.
8. The fantasy discussion is another thread. It gets confusing when threads are co-mingled without an explanation.

As for debtcollector` following the regs. I follow the FDCPA to the letter and always have. If you are implying that I don't, I want you to prove it.

DC

Originally Posted by ccma

If these debt collectors, debt collection attorneys and debt buyers followed the law then there would not be any discussion about fantasy vs no fantasy. No discussion about "they make that in a day " when someone posts an article about debt collection attorneys being reprimanded and or sanctioned.
All businesses have regulations. What if we allowed doctors to get away with not following proper practices or did away with doctor licenses.
My question was WHY don't they validate debts when someone disputes them, take people to court without proper notice, take people to court on debts that are time-barred, call more than the time allowed within a seven day period, harrass and or abuse people on the phone.
My answer to Debt collectors is follow your regs and you will not have such a hard time with these things.
This Debt Buyer industry has most likely caused all of this. In the olden days if your business had someone who would not pay you could go to the local debt collection agency on YOUR bill . This seems to be a racket here with debt buying corporations who most likely have straw owners. The real owners are most likely the law firms that are not following the rules.
The Debt Collection regulation and laws are very easy to understand really so why do these places refuse to validate debts when sent a proper letter (certified mail return receipt) if they truly have a debt.
The MA Attorney General has claried that they have to have STATEMENTS. I have checked and found that these debt collection attorneys are and do have the wrong person in many cases. OR the debt is very old and way past the SOL (this is what I was told by experts at the State and Federal Level(

[ccma]

If the person does not get any notice of a debt from the collector UNTIL they get a complaint in the door then they have to validate the debt in that case. My experience is with researching the Debt colllection activities in MA and know nothing about you or your company. I do know that if you run a illegimate business you do not want bad apples giving your business a bad name. What I am saying is that these people DO have to validate if asked no matter when they are asked. From reading the MA AG's news release that seems to be an issue of the lawfirms that he has nailed. ALSO if you read the BOSTON GLOBE series this year on Debt Collection you can see that many of those in your business do not follow MA law. AND if something is beyond 6 years (and there is not any tolling ) THEN they cannot file any lawsuits. THey can still hound people for debts but they cannot file any lawsuits or get any judgments. A man told me that he received a collection letter on something he knows from 1991. What a waste of paper. These sleasey people that are doing this to me have done it to many others. Making sure that they send things to an address that is obsolete and then filing lawsuits. NO notice of a lawsuit at all. They better darn well valiate the alledged debt with my signature , statements etc. since I owe NOTHING and my credit rating is very good. I have all my consumer reports from the three major companies and have NOTHING bad on it. They most likely have someone else with a similar name they are looking for. They are tying up the courts filling legal lawsuits.