PO'dGranny
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Idaho
My husband and I were sued by a former property management company. According to the collection agency, they have successfully sued over 1100 former tenants in this area (which should raise some red flags, since that is a massive percentage especially in this small area). We represented ourselves because we simply couldn't find an attorney to represent a tenant in this type of proceeding (we called virtually everyone in the book). They sought over $10,000.00 in damages, they were awarded $2500.00 plus attorney's fees & costs & interest for a total of $3200.00 (Had we been able to locate all of our receipts they wouldn't have received a dime. They took over from the original property management company more than a year after we'd moved in. Claimed we'd never paid deposits, etc. - We'd paid in cash, stupidly, but thought we'd kept all the receipts. Wrong! We were able to prove our case in virtually every other matter.)
Here in Idaho, all collection agencies must be registered with the state. This agency is not on the list, nor is the attorney. (He is licensed, but not as a collection agent.) Within 30 days of the magisterial hearing, we received a demand letter, saying the Sheriff would be at our door within 7 days to seize property to settle the debt (Idaho grants 42 days from the date of the hearing). We called and came to an agreement for monthly payments, then received a loan application from the collection agency - which I retrieved after my husband deposited it in the circular file, which said our arrangement would only be accepted if we filled out the application. We have not filled it out. We have made our first payment - our second payment is due on the 15th of this month, and we will continue to make payments as arranged, but, we received a very nasty letter from the attorney saying that all checks must be made payable to him (I wrote it to the collection agency).
Is this a conflict of interest or a violation of bar ethics in the state of Idaho? Until the nasty letter, we had received letters from the collection agency with his name in the right corner (the agency's at the left top). The Idaho bar page suggests that attorneys must hire OUTSIDE collectors, not in-house collectors, yet it is very plain from the letter that this is his collection firm - which is not recognized by the State of Idaho - there are more than one hundred agencies on the list, and this one is simply not there. Also, is it legal for it to go to 'collections' within 30 days of the hearing? I know it isn't legal to seize property within the 42 day appeal period.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My husband and I were sued by a former property management company. According to the collection agency, they have successfully sued over 1100 former tenants in this area (which should raise some red flags, since that is a massive percentage especially in this small area). We represented ourselves because we simply couldn't find an attorney to represent a tenant in this type of proceeding (we called virtually everyone in the book). They sought over $10,000.00 in damages, they were awarded $2500.00 plus attorney's fees & costs & interest for a total of $3200.00 (Had we been able to locate all of our receipts they wouldn't have received a dime. They took over from the original property management company more than a year after we'd moved in. Claimed we'd never paid deposits, etc. - We'd paid in cash, stupidly, but thought we'd kept all the receipts. Wrong! We were able to prove our case in virtually every other matter.)
Here in Idaho, all collection agencies must be registered with the state. This agency is not on the list, nor is the attorney. (He is licensed, but not as a collection agent.) Within 30 days of the magisterial hearing, we received a demand letter, saying the Sheriff would be at our door within 7 days to seize property to settle the debt (Idaho grants 42 days from the date of the hearing). We called and came to an agreement for monthly payments, then received a loan application from the collection agency - which I retrieved after my husband deposited it in the circular file, which said our arrangement would only be accepted if we filled out the application. We have not filled it out. We have made our first payment - our second payment is due on the 15th of this month, and we will continue to make payments as arranged, but, we received a very nasty letter from the attorney saying that all checks must be made payable to him (I wrote it to the collection agency).
Is this a conflict of interest or a violation of bar ethics in the state of Idaho? Until the nasty letter, we had received letters from the collection agency with his name in the right corner (the agency's at the left top). The Idaho bar page suggests that attorneys must hire OUTSIDE collectors, not in-house collectors, yet it is very plain from the letter that this is his collection firm - which is not recognized by the State of Idaho - there are more than one hundred agencies on the list, and this one is simply not there. Also, is it legal for it to go to 'collections' within 30 days of the hearing? I know it isn't legal to seize property within the 42 day appeal period.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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