Monique Sykes et al., Plaintiffs v. Mel Harris
and Associates, LLC, et al., Defendants, 09 Civ. 8486 (DC)
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A Lawsuit That Dirty Debt Collectors Should Be Worried About
Federal Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin just issued an opinion in a consumer class action case that should send chills down the spines of debt collectors, perhaps including foreclosure-mill law firms and their process servers, nationwide.
Judge Chin decided that plaintiffs alleged enough information about the debt collectors in this case — a law firm, a process-serving company and a debt-buying company — to sue them for being a criminal enterprise under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) law. Judge Chin also allowed claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Why should other companies in and related to the debt-collection business be so nervous?
Well, Monique Sykes and the other plaintiffs claim that the defendants’ business model is as follows:
- Buy debt with little documentation that the debt is accurate.
- File lawsuits claiming personal knowledge of the debt but using robo-signed affidavits instead.
- Deliberately fail to tell the “debtor” that the lawsuit is pending (a practice called “sewer service“).
- Get a “default” judgment against the debtor when she fails to show up in court to defend herself.
- Enforce the judgment, including by freezing the debtor’s bank account.
See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/fIZLXj
Check out the full opinion below…
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4closureFraud.org
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DebbiCat, the clock does not start ticking again every time it is sold. It is from the last payment made. You should never pay a collector because they do NOT have a contract with you. You can always dispute negatives on your credit report. However, there is an art to getting them consistently off. I have 20+ years helping people with a 100% success rate. You need to know the laws, stay up on any changes in the laws or new laws, state statutes, case laws, and more. I give out lots of free info on my blog. futureficocreditrepair dot blogspot dot com. (You have to put in the periods for the dots!)
This case verdict should definitely put at least some of the dirty debt collectors stay put and not get into any more illegal tactics. The debt collection business has become a taboo business to even hear or handle. At least such verdicts will pave way for further justice to the troubled debtors community.
I was told a few months ago, that each time a debt is sold to a new collector, it starts the clock at the beginning on your credit report,i.e. 8-10 years depending on what it is. So what these companies are doing is selling the debt shortly before its time to remove it from your credit report to start the process all over again. I was also told that if you send letters to the big 3 credit agencies and have them ask on your behalf for the “original” agreement you signed with the debt collector and the debt collector can’t produce it, the agency will remove the reporting.
My boss, who was forced to declare bankruptcy, when he was young, due to a catastrophic medical emergency in the family back in the early nineties, received the usual BS threatening letter from a ZOMBIE COLLECTION AGENCY a few years ago. You know, the one’s who buy up old debt for a fraction of a cent on the dollar! Even though his old debts were discharged by bankruptcy court (he lost everything, by the way,) they still tried to come after him, illegally, for these old discharged debts. The scam is, which most people don’t realize, is that if they crooks can browbeat/con/coerce you to sand them ANYTHING, this reestablishes the debt. The logic is :”Well, you paid something on it, you MUST owe on it!
His lawyer sent the crooks a letter stating ………NOT! That was the last he heard, but he was sweating bullets there for a while. I wonder how many others are not so fortunate?