T
Tom B
Guest
What is the name of your state? Illinois
BACKGROUND OF CASE
Back in July of 2003, I started to refinance my home in the Chicago area. At the time, I was unemployed and in need of using equity in my house to pay some bills and support my wife and three children. The mortgage company, I was using, ran a credit report and approved me for a rate of 6.5% (30 year fixed).
Soon after, in early August of 2003, I was contacted, by phone, by a collection agency. The message left on my voice recorder was "call me if you would like to handle this matter voluntarily". I called the person back to learn that I was to pay $3000.00 for a cellular bill that dated back to 1996. I told the person that it seemed funny to me that I was now hearing of this debt 7 years after the fact. Furthermore, I told him, I was suspicious of this whole thing seeing how I had never received a bill from the original creditor Cellular One (now Cingular Wireless). I didn't recall ever having Cell One as a carrier. I also demanded written confirmation of all invoices pertaining to this matter. I was told that they were available and would be sent however I was still obligated to pay $3000.00 to clear my name. I told the man that I wasn't going to pay a penny until I had reviewed the billing of this debt from 1996. He insisted that I pay him that day or I would run the risk of having a judgment against me for the $3000.00.
I dismissed the whole conversation as a scam since the person failed to fax me the documentation I had requested justifying the debt. I continued to get messages from this person for the next few weeks. One message stated that in one hand he had all the billing information proving the debt and in his other hand he had a summons for me to appear in court. He ended the message with " So you have a nice day".
With that I started looking for old records and found a canceled check to Cellular One in the amount of $1440.00. I remembered having the service for one month and canceled because of poor and expensive service. I called Cingular wireless but they refused to talk about the issue because they sold the debt to a third party. I went back to the dealer where the service was established and I was basically ignored for 2 or 3 weeks. I finally got a hold of the owner of the place who told me he would take care of the situation for me. I never heard back from the dealer nor did the phone calls from the collection agency stop during this time frame.
One day I received a call from an attorney representing the collection agency. He told me that the amount owed to clear my name was $3800.00. I asked him why the amount had just gone up $800.00 in a matter of a few weeks. I told him that I disputed the debt to the collector and had asked him to further investigate the matter. The conversation with this attorney happened on a Saturday and the following Monday afternoon I received a message that there was no debt owed, it had been paid, and that I had nothing more to worry about.
A few weeks before this attorney released me from the debt the mortgage broker called me to tell me that another credit report had been run, a week prior to closing, and that my credit score had dropped to a point where the lender would no longer honor the 6.5% rate. He told me that this drop in my credit score made me a higher risk and that the new rate would be 7.25% with a three year pre payment penalty. I was desperate to refinance for reasons mentioned above. My mortgage broker couldn't explain why the sudden drop in my score. I was able to pay down the rate with points to 6.75% and I reluctantly accepted but did so because I needed the money while being out of work.
After the closing, I got my mortgage broker to run another credit report. On this new report in the derogatory section appeared an account in collection from this collection agency for $1770.00. My broker still had a copy of the report he ran back in July of 2003 and the only difference between these two reports was the entry made by the collection company. I realized that I had just needlessly paid for the mistake of this collection company.
CLARIFICATIONS BEFORE GOING ON
1) The collection agency Harris & Harris is a subsidiary of the law firm of Arnold Scott Harris PC.
2) The collection agency Harris & Harris has a different address and phone number than the law firm Arnold Scott Harris PC.
3) Part of Harris & Harris business (as outlined on their Website http://www.quickcollect.com/) is to purchase old debt from companies for pennies on the dollar. Once they feel as though they as a collection agency cannot collect, the debt is passed on to the law firm of Arnold Scott Harris PC for the purpose of getting a judgment in court against the debtor.
NOW TO CONTINUE
At the advise of a friend of mine who is an attorney, I wrote a letter to Arnold Scott Harris explaining how I was unjustly treated by his two firms. I included what I thought would be the right thing for him to do to make me whole again. I also wrote that if I hadn't heard from him in the near future that I would contact an attorney to recover what I was due. Within the next few days I talked to one of his partners who said "we made a mistake, haven't you ever made a mistake?" I replied that I had and that I have always had to pay for my mistakes. With that he offered me $1000.00 to bury it. I told him that wasn't enough and that he was off considerably.
I hired an attorney who in essence had no luck in recovering my damages. He referred me to Edelman, Combs & Latturner and suggested that maybe the best thing to do was sue them both individually and as a class action.
I went with Edelman Combs and Lattuner. They filed suit naming me as the Class Representative. I was contacted soon after the filing of suit by my first attorney who recommended Edelman, Combs and Latturner. He told me that Arnold Harris was willing to settle before he had to hire council to defend the charges. My first attorney told me that he would settle for $8500.00 and would entertain a counter offer from there. My first attorney suggested I call Edelman, Combs and Latturner and tell them of the Arnold Harris' willingness to settle.
I left numerous messages to the associate attorney at Edelman Comds and Latturner handling the case. For 3 weeks he simply ignored my request to contact Harris and start settlement negotiations. I believe he did so, so that class verification could be approved and so the billable hours could start accruing. In the meantime Harris had no choice but to hire representation.
I started receiving calls from the associate handling my case, suggesting that I settle my individual suit for less than what I perceive my damages to be. I kept telling him that he (Harris) was willing to start $8500.00 and now you (associate) are asking me to settle for around $5000.00 which wouldn't even pay for my prepayment penalty. As you might guess I'm not too impressed with Edelman Combs and Latturner.
MY PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS
1) Edelman Combs and Latturner are more interested in settling the class suit than they are representing me in my individual suit.
2) Edelman Combs and Latturner and Arnold Harris' attorneys are trying to pay me as little as possible in order that Harris can satisfy the class suit financially.
3) I should not settle the class suit until my damages have been satisfied.
UNDISPUTED FAIR DEBT COLLECTION VIOLATIONS
1) CA didn't validate debt within 5 days after 1st contact. I received validation 10/1/03 after first being contacted by CA 08/2003.
2) CA misrepresented as a Law Firm. I have taped messages where Harris & Harris represents itself as "The Law Firm of Harris & Harris" ( there is no law firm known as Harris & Harris) and other messages from their attorneys calling from "The Law Offices of Arnold Scott Harris PC."
QUESTIONS
1) Can I amend my individual suit for damages as a result of Intentional/Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress?
I can't tell you the hopelessness you feel when you are falsely accused of being a "deadbeat." I spent many a sleepless night trying to figure out how to go about proving my innocence. I also experienced great embarrassment when being served summons from the Cook County Sheriff Department, even after the debt was acknowledged as being invalid. It seems as this is the only time in this country that you are GUILTY until you prove yourself innocent.
2) Should I hold out for either the prepayment penalty cost or the difference the mortgage is over 30 years?
My contention is that either of these damages are Consequential Damages as a result of reporting this to the CRAs.
3) If you were I, would you sue Edelman Combs and Latturner for Malpractice?
Having ignored my request to start settlement negotiations with Harris at $8500.00
I know this might be hard to follow. Any help or suggestions you or the group might have would be greatly appreciated.
BACKGROUND OF CASE
Back in July of 2003, I started to refinance my home in the Chicago area. At the time, I was unemployed and in need of using equity in my house to pay some bills and support my wife and three children. The mortgage company, I was using, ran a credit report and approved me for a rate of 6.5% (30 year fixed).
Soon after, in early August of 2003, I was contacted, by phone, by a collection agency. The message left on my voice recorder was "call me if you would like to handle this matter voluntarily". I called the person back to learn that I was to pay $3000.00 for a cellular bill that dated back to 1996. I told the person that it seemed funny to me that I was now hearing of this debt 7 years after the fact. Furthermore, I told him, I was suspicious of this whole thing seeing how I had never received a bill from the original creditor Cellular One (now Cingular Wireless). I didn't recall ever having Cell One as a carrier. I also demanded written confirmation of all invoices pertaining to this matter. I was told that they were available and would be sent however I was still obligated to pay $3000.00 to clear my name. I told the man that I wasn't going to pay a penny until I had reviewed the billing of this debt from 1996. He insisted that I pay him that day or I would run the risk of having a judgment against me for the $3000.00.
I dismissed the whole conversation as a scam since the person failed to fax me the documentation I had requested justifying the debt. I continued to get messages from this person for the next few weeks. One message stated that in one hand he had all the billing information proving the debt and in his other hand he had a summons for me to appear in court. He ended the message with " So you have a nice day".
With that I started looking for old records and found a canceled check to Cellular One in the amount of $1440.00. I remembered having the service for one month and canceled because of poor and expensive service. I called Cingular wireless but they refused to talk about the issue because they sold the debt to a third party. I went back to the dealer where the service was established and I was basically ignored for 2 or 3 weeks. I finally got a hold of the owner of the place who told me he would take care of the situation for me. I never heard back from the dealer nor did the phone calls from the collection agency stop during this time frame.
One day I received a call from an attorney representing the collection agency. He told me that the amount owed to clear my name was $3800.00. I asked him why the amount had just gone up $800.00 in a matter of a few weeks. I told him that I disputed the debt to the collector and had asked him to further investigate the matter. The conversation with this attorney happened on a Saturday and the following Monday afternoon I received a message that there was no debt owed, it had been paid, and that I had nothing more to worry about.
A few weeks before this attorney released me from the debt the mortgage broker called me to tell me that another credit report had been run, a week prior to closing, and that my credit score had dropped to a point where the lender would no longer honor the 6.5% rate. He told me that this drop in my credit score made me a higher risk and that the new rate would be 7.25% with a three year pre payment penalty. I was desperate to refinance for reasons mentioned above. My mortgage broker couldn't explain why the sudden drop in my score. I was able to pay down the rate with points to 6.75% and I reluctantly accepted but did so because I needed the money while being out of work.
After the closing, I got my mortgage broker to run another credit report. On this new report in the derogatory section appeared an account in collection from this collection agency for $1770.00. My broker still had a copy of the report he ran back in July of 2003 and the only difference between these two reports was the entry made by the collection company. I realized that I had just needlessly paid for the mistake of this collection company.
CLARIFICATIONS BEFORE GOING ON
1) The collection agency Harris & Harris is a subsidiary of the law firm of Arnold Scott Harris PC.
2) The collection agency Harris & Harris has a different address and phone number than the law firm Arnold Scott Harris PC.
3) Part of Harris & Harris business (as outlined on their Website http://www.quickcollect.com/) is to purchase old debt from companies for pennies on the dollar. Once they feel as though they as a collection agency cannot collect, the debt is passed on to the law firm of Arnold Scott Harris PC for the purpose of getting a judgment in court against the debtor.
NOW TO CONTINUE
At the advise of a friend of mine who is an attorney, I wrote a letter to Arnold Scott Harris explaining how I was unjustly treated by his two firms. I included what I thought would be the right thing for him to do to make me whole again. I also wrote that if I hadn't heard from him in the near future that I would contact an attorney to recover what I was due. Within the next few days I talked to one of his partners who said "we made a mistake, haven't you ever made a mistake?" I replied that I had and that I have always had to pay for my mistakes. With that he offered me $1000.00 to bury it. I told him that wasn't enough and that he was off considerably.
I hired an attorney who in essence had no luck in recovering my damages. He referred me to Edelman, Combs & Latturner and suggested that maybe the best thing to do was sue them both individually and as a class action.
I went with Edelman Combs and Lattuner. They filed suit naming me as the Class Representative. I was contacted soon after the filing of suit by my first attorney who recommended Edelman, Combs and Latturner. He told me that Arnold Harris was willing to settle before he had to hire council to defend the charges. My first attorney told me that he would settle for $8500.00 and would entertain a counter offer from there. My first attorney suggested I call Edelman, Combs and Latturner and tell them of the Arnold Harris' willingness to settle.
I left numerous messages to the associate attorney at Edelman Comds and Latturner handling the case. For 3 weeks he simply ignored my request to contact Harris and start settlement negotiations. I believe he did so, so that class verification could be approved and so the billable hours could start accruing. In the meantime Harris had no choice but to hire representation.
I started receiving calls from the associate handling my case, suggesting that I settle my individual suit for less than what I perceive my damages to be. I kept telling him that he (Harris) was willing to start $8500.00 and now you (associate) are asking me to settle for around $5000.00 which wouldn't even pay for my prepayment penalty. As you might guess I'm not too impressed with Edelman Combs and Latturner.
MY PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS
1) Edelman Combs and Latturner are more interested in settling the class suit than they are representing me in my individual suit.
2) Edelman Combs and Latturner and Arnold Harris' attorneys are trying to pay me as little as possible in order that Harris can satisfy the class suit financially.
3) I should not settle the class suit until my damages have been satisfied.
UNDISPUTED FAIR DEBT COLLECTION VIOLATIONS
1) CA didn't validate debt within 5 days after 1st contact. I received validation 10/1/03 after first being contacted by CA 08/2003.
2) CA misrepresented as a Law Firm. I have taped messages where Harris & Harris represents itself as "The Law Firm of Harris & Harris" ( there is no law firm known as Harris & Harris) and other messages from their attorneys calling from "The Law Offices of Arnold Scott Harris PC."
QUESTIONS
1) Can I amend my individual suit for damages as a result of Intentional/Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress?
I can't tell you the hopelessness you feel when you are falsely accused of being a "deadbeat." I spent many a sleepless night trying to figure out how to go about proving my innocence. I also experienced great embarrassment when being served summons from the Cook County Sheriff Department, even after the debt was acknowledged as being invalid. It seems as this is the only time in this country that you are GUILTY until you prove yourself innocent.
2) Should I hold out for either the prepayment penalty cost or the difference the mortgage is over 30 years?
My contention is that either of these damages are Consequential Damages as a result of reporting this to the CRAs.
3) If you were I, would you sue Edelman Combs and Latturner for Malpractice?
Having ignored my request to start settlement negotiations with Harris at $8500.00
I know this might be hard to follow. Any help or suggestions you or the group might have would be greatly appreciated.