[dancing queen]

I asked a question before about a credit card debt I had requested validation for. I received a summons at home the day after I sent the letter. I never received anything in writing from this company even though they say they sent a letter back in March. I am in the process of getting an intent to defend letter to the court but have a related question. In the validation letter I sent I asked for them to stop calling me - only to correspond in writing. I got the receipt they signed for the letter on Thursday, June 5. I have received telephone calls from them every day since - a message saying I need to call their office. Is this legal for them to do at this point because they are suing me? If it isn't legal, what recourse do I have? I have looked at other similar questions and have not found an answer to this one. Thanks to anyone who may have advise for me.

[charlotte234s]

It is illegal, it's a violation of the fair credit and debt collection act, get a lawyer and counter sue for harassment and abusive debt collection practices.

[Credendovidis]

Of course it is not very friendly.
You owe them money, and they want their money back!
By being uncooperative they have just another reason to call on you . Even more than before!

If you want to stop them calling on you, you need a laywer to arrange that for you.
I advice you just to communicate with them directly. Even better : go there and talk to them.
Make sure you have legal assistance. If you can't afford one now, just go to the nearest university with a legal department. They will help you free of charge or for a little amount.
Do that, and be prepared for whatever may be ahead of you. No hiding now!

Success

[dancing queen]

Actually, I'm not sure. I never received anything in writing from this company - that's why I sent the validation letter. Don't they have an obligation to identify themselves and give me some kind of proof that I owe the money?

[charlotte234s]

Yes, and if you tell them that it is inconvenient to call or contact you by phone at a certain time of day they must respect and honor your requests.

[Fr_Chuck]

You may sue them for each call. Do you have them recorded and logged? So you can prove the calls. But your attorney will be able to get a copy of the phone records

[dancing queen]

I have one recorded but have written down all contact with this company for the last month or so.

[TheCleaner]

If you got the summons the next day is probably because by the time you sent the letter they had already file suit.

To defend yourself first you need to find out what are the statutes of limitation for open credit contracts in your state, I can help you with that if you tell me the state you are writing from. An what was the date of the first delinquency right before the charge off

If the statutes has passed unless you made payments on the account after the charge off or a write promise to pay you'll have an absolute defense against the CA in court.

Just give me some more info and I'll be able to tell you what to do, I've been there.

State you live
Date of first delinquency or last payment you made to anyone for that account
Docs that they filed with the law suit (Affidavit, credit contract, statements... )
Who are the CA

About the calling, you got'em if you have the green card from USPS, a copy of the letter clearly telling them not to call you, some recordings from your answer machine and a log with the numbers in your caller ID. But I would file a separate suit and have them served before your court date

Good luck

Carl.-

[dancing queen]

I live in Georgia. I have requested validation of this debt but have yet to receive it. I didn't get copies of any documents with the paperwork I was served with. If they file supporting documents, are they included with the paperwork I got or do I have to go to the courthouse to see them? The CA (I'm assuming you mean the collection agency) is Mann Bracken, LLC.

As far as what I have, I have logged all calls I have answered (they pretty much only leave recorded messages saying to call their offices) and I have 2 calls recorded on my answering machine. Believe it or not, we don't have caller ID. If I were to file a counter suit, could an attorney subpoena their telephone logs?

[Fr_Chuck]

It is time to get your attorney, yes, they can get telephone records.

[dancing queen]

Thanks!

[TheCleaner]

Well, Georgia is not consumer friendly state, this year the Georgia Court of Appeals came out with a decision on January 24, in Hill v. American Express that in Georgia the statute of limitations on a credit card is six years so I'm afraid that you going to have to fight this one out.

Now, you are supposed to get all the paperwork with the summons, it will be a good idea to call or go to the clerk of court and ask if they had file any kind of supporting documentation, if they did not, stick to your story in the response that you file... You do not recognize the debt as yours and they need to show the credit contract or credit card application with your signature and at least the last statement from the credit card company showing the amount owed, also you might want to ask for a purchase agreement or any other document to prove that they really own the account or it had been assigned to them for collection and you have a legal obligation to pay only the CA (Collection Agency) and no others

Mann Bracken use to get first an arbitration award and then file in court to enforce it, make sure that this is not the case the strategy is totally different if they did that.

Don't take my advise as professional, I'm not an attorney, I only have experience biting two CAs in court by myself and a lot of reading but I don't know all the tricks.

About the calls you can go right ahead and file suit, the recordings with the phone number to call and your log will be enough, if your attorney supoena their phone records almost sure that they'll come out with some excuse, maybe you can ask your phone company for a list of your incoming calls for the las two months. There is 1,000 dollars per call in statutory damages.

In almost every case and unless the judge is an @@@ or the CA have already an arbitration award they will have to validate the debt first in order to get a judgment against you, most of the lawsuits filed by the CAs are done in the hope that the consumer won't show up in court and they will get a judgment by defect.

One more thing to check, did they filed suit in your local court?