is this right?

[longsally111]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

I really dont think this is correct but, what the heck.

Is it legal for an attorney to send out a FORM letter and state that the postmark on the letter is registered and if they dont get a response in 3 days they will sue? The debt is for under 100.00 and no dc, it is not mine so no lectures. I mean, I know times are tough in this economy but I am shocked that collecvtions agents have started that.

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

I really dont think this is correct but, what the heck.

Is it legal for an attorney to send out a FORM letter and state that the postmark on the letter is registered and if they dont get a response in 3 days they will sue? The debt is for under 100.00 and no dc, it is not mine so no lectures. I mean, I know times are tough in this economy but I am shocked that collecvtions agents have started that.

Sure, nothing shocking - agressive for a mere hundy though.

 

[TigerD]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

I really dont think this is correct but, what the heck.

Is it legal for an attorney to send out a FORM letter and state that the postmark on the letter is registered and if they dont get a response in 3 days they will sue? The debt is for under 100.00 and no dc, it is not mine so no lectures. I mean, I know times are tough in this economy but I am shocked that collecvtions agents have started that.

It doesn't matter if it is yours or not. If he sues, you will have to defend it. If he doesn't you have an FDCPA claim for at least three violations.

DC

 

[cosine]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

I really dont think this is correct but, what the heck.

Is it legal for an attorney to send out a FORM letter and state that the postmark on the letter is registered and if they dont get a response in 3 days they will sue? The debt is for under 100.00 and no dc, it is not mine so no lectures. I mean, I know times are tough in this economy but I am shocked that collecvtions agents have started that.

Erroneous debt collection happens all the time. These collection agencies have cut back on "costs" like proper skip tracing. But even then, some information tends to be incomplete, and it's cheaper to just send a letter to someone and see if they deny or not. I've gotten several of those, including a couple that have have threatened (out out of the blue) to sue, and one that actually did sue (but I got it dismissed before incurring any costs). My personal name is somewhat rare, but not rare enough to have no collisions. In one case, a person with my same first and last name lived on the same block as I did about 3 apartment complexes away and had at one time lived in a state I previously lived in.

This does seem to be a rather aggressive tactic. Is there actual postal registration attached to the envelope, or did this attorney just claim registration (like "oh, we recorded it in our registry of letters we send" to cover their behind). Is there a specific creditor claimed in the letter? Is there a collection agency named (or is this what you mean by "no dc")? Maybe you can tell us who that is.

I would be sending a letter back, fully postal registered, signature required (and to be sent back to me), demanding the debt be validated and also demanding proof of assignment to the creditor (the party the attorney represents if the attorney did not actually buy the debt himself). That should result in more information for you to work with, or maybe no information at all if they realize their was an error, or the attorney actually suing at which time you can argue in court whatever happens to be your defenses, and possibly demand documents from the plaintiff.

 

[longsally111]

what I meant by no dc is that the debt does not belong to me. A neighbor friend let me see it today and I was shocked to say the least. I dont know what is a violation in this letter, dc mentioned 3. Here is the whole thing in its entirety:

re: Client xxxxxxxx
Original Creditor xxxxxxxx
Cleint account no. xxxxxxx
Total amount due 111.00

The above referenced client has referred your account to me to effect collection of monies due.

The postmark of this letter is registered with this office. Unless you contact us at xxxxxxxxx within 72 hours of said postmark you run the risk of being served with a summons and complaint without further notice to you.

Should you refuse to comply with this demand, we intend to either:

1. seek judgement on the debt, to be filed in the proper court
2. Return this account to my client and recommend that it be listed with equifax credit information service as a bad debt account.

If you have any questions, please call us at the number listed above. otherwise, it will be necessary to deliver payment in ful to the address below:


xxxxxxx
Attorney at law


At the bottom of the letter is that lovely paragraph that they always put about how this is an attempt to collect a debt and you have 30 days to dispute it, yah yah yah.

Now, what do you thin of that one?

 

[TigerD]

what I meant by no dc is that the debt does not belong to me. A neighbor friend let me see it today and I was shocked to say the least. I dont know what is a violation in this letter, dc mentioned 3. Here is the whole thing in its entirety:

re: Client xxxxxxxx
Original Creditor xxxxxxxx
Cleint account no. xxxxxxx
Total amount due 111.00

The above referenced client has referred your account to me to effect collection of monies due.

The postmark of this letter is registered with this office. Unless you contact us at xxxxxxxxx within 72 hours of said postmark you run the risk of being served with a summons and complaint without further notice to you.

This is called overshadowing. You can do your own legal research, but this alone is $1,000 with an FDCPA suit.

Should you refuse to comply with this demand, we intend to either:

1. seek judgement on the debt, to be filed in the proper court
2. Return this account to my client and recommend that it be listed with equifax credit information service as a bad debt account.

This is different than what you said in the initial post. This isn't a threat. This says if you don't pay, we'll give it back to the client. No threat there.

If you have any questions, please call us at the number listed above. otherwise, it will be necessary to deliver payment in ful to the address below:


xxxxxxx
Attorney at law


At the bottom of the letter is that lovely paragraph that they always put about how this is an attempt to collect a debt and you have 30 days to dispute it, yah yah yah.

Now, what do you thin of that one?

That lovely paragraph could be an additional violation if it is phrsed improperly.

The FDCPA is a strict technical violation -- call your attorney. You have $1,000 coming.

DC

 

[longsally111]

the bottom

the paragraph at the bottom states :
Unless you notify this office within 30 days after recieving this letter that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof: this office will assume this debt is valid. If you notify this office within 30 days from recieving this letter, this office will: obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of judgerment and mail you a copy of such judgement of verification the original creditor, if different from the current creditor." this is an attempt to collect a debt, any information obtained will be used for that purpose".

 

[cosine]

The above referenced client has referred your account to me to effect collection of monies due.

The attorney is acting in the role of a debt collector for this debt, and not in the role of a lawyer. I've gotten a few of these, myself, and made them all go away.

The postmark of this letter is registered with this office. Unless you contact us at xxxxxxxxx within 72 hours of said postmark you run the risk of being served with a summons and complaint without further notice to you.

These are definitely "legal weasel words". The postmark itself is not something the post office registers. Being "registered with this office" means nothing, other than they kept a record of the letter (and every debt collector does that). The "72 hours" is scare tactic. And "you run the risk of being served ..." is a careful wording to maximize the scare, while trying to give them an out if they don't actually sue. A debt collector may not actually threaten a lawsuit unless they really intent to sue. In this case they are trying to make it look like a threat to most people while trying to evade the risk of being required to sue. $111 is not worth suing for, especially if they haven't done their research to match the debt with the real debtor.

There is definite deception on their part.

Should you refuse to comply with this demand, we intend to either:

1. seek judgement on the debt, to be filed in the proper court
2. Return this account to my client and recommend that it be listed with equifax credit information service as a bad debt account.

Again, they are trying to scare you while leaving their own options open.

If you have any questions, please call us at the number listed above. otherwise, it will be necessary to deliver payment in ful to the address below:


xxxxxxx
Attorney at law


At the bottom of the letter is that lovely paragraph that they always put about how this is an attempt to collect a debt and you have 30 days to dispute it, yah yah yah.

You have certain rights under the Fair Debt Collection and Practices Act (FDCPA). They DID include a statement of your rights at the end of bottom. Don't laugh at that. These are real rights you have. Instead, write a letter disputing the debt as not belonging to you. Including such wording as stating that you have never heard of or done business with the named creditor (this is true, right?). Be sure to also say that this is a dispute per the FDCPA. Demand that they not contact you again in the future (but they are allowed one last contact to tell you how they will deal with the issue). Send this as soon as possible, but definitely so that it arrives within 30 days of the date the letter was received. Send it postal certified, return receipt, and signature required.

Very likely you will simply never hear from them again. But, be sure of this. Get a copy of your credit report in about 60 days. If you have not gotten your free annual report within the last year, you can get one free from all three credit reporting agencies. You can start at annualcreditreport.com. I personally recommend printing out the mail-in form and making the request that way.

And do follow through with the advice debtcollector` (he really does have debt collector experience) gave. Find a consumer rights attorney and ask for an initial consultation about taking action for FDCPA violations.