I got this lawyer letter from Cohen & Slamowitz regarding a credit card debt from Discover Card.?

Question

The letter states that I can notify the C&S lawyer office in writing that the debt is disupted by me. And the lawyers will obtain and mail to me the verification of the debt. If I still dispute the debt after that, then what happens?

Well I don't think I can just not respond. I've heard that they've served notice (fraudulently) and then have people's bank account frozen. So I have to dispute. What do I do?

Let's say they send me the verification of the debt, and if they take me to court, what then?

Ok after hearing what you guys have to say, what I really want is to deal with Discover myself, and not have to deal with these so-called "lawyers". Would a cease and desist" letter stating that I will only deal with the original creditor achieve that goal?

Answer 1

I'm very familiar with this situation. If you want to make a payment arrangement with the law office, you may do so. What state are you in? If you do owe the money, you can also wait until the file suit against you and go to this court date. You may then ask for proof of the last date of payment on the account etc. If it is outside the statue of limitations, the case will be dropped. If you don't go to the court hearing, you will be in default and they may have a judgement including levy on any and all bank/saving accounts or wage garnishment. They may also attack any real estate or other properties. Try to make the payment arrangements if possible. If not, and they do end up getting a judgement against you, drain all bank accounts, they can't take what you don't have. Discover card sells their accounts to VERY Aggressive law firms.

Answer 2

Have you requested the verification? Is it your debt? If it is your debt, negotiate settlement. If it's not your debt, send them a cease and desist letter. They will either take you to court or sell the debt off to another collection agency.

If this is an old account, Discover probably charged it off long ago and can't help you.

Answer 3

They can not attach your bank account, nor take any other action against your assets, without obtaining a court order, and you have the right to be heard at any proceedings. What you should do next depends on the circumstances: if the debt is yours, you should probably pay it, but if it is not, you can either send them a letter denying liability or simply ignore it.

Answer 4

Read this carefully! Don't skip over it!!

If you take a look back at my previous answers, I related a story about how there are some very shady collection agencies that take on debts and then manage to get default judgments against you by falsifying court paperwork. They report that you were served with the summons but in fact you were not!

As a result, you don't know you are being sued...you don't show up in court...and you suddenly find your paycheck being garnished.

This is one of those companies.

You need to be very careful to keep an eye out for this company filing a lawsuit on you. Contact your local court to see if they have one.

In the meantime, let me answer your question. As long as the collection agent/lawyer follows the procedures set forth in the Fair Debt Collections Act, there isn't a lot you can do stop them.

1) They MUST send you a letter informing you of their intent to collect. If you respond within 30 days of that letter, they MUST CEASE all collection activities until they supply you with PROPER VALIDATION. Note that if you do NOT respond, it does NOT mean you are admitting to the debt. This is very clearly spelled out in the Fair Debt Collections Act. This letter is just a formality. If you do respond, they are required to validate your debt.

That means they must supply you with (at a minimum) a copy of the SIGNED contract with Discover, a copy of your final bill, and proof that they have been contracted by Discover to collect the debt. If you live in a state where they require collection agencies to be licensed, they must supply you with that information also. You can also request (but don't hold your breath about getting it) copies of your bills, receipts, and other documents regarding your past bills.

If they are also adding additional fees, like collection fees, interest and penalties, you have the right to see documentation that shows how they calculated these, and if they have the right to collect these fees. In many states, collection fees are not allowed unless specifically stated in your contract. Many companies will inflate the bills, and if you don't challenge them on it, they will continue to collect it.


2) If they do not respond within 30 days, they can still sue you for the debt and/or continue to try and collect. However, because of their failure to validate, they are now in violation of the Fair Debt Collections Act. If you are sued, you can counter sue for this violation, which will void out their attorney fees and award you $1000 for damages. I've successfully helped people do this.

Be SURE that you send out the demand to validate letter IMMEDIATELY, and send it by certified mail/return receipt. You need proof you send it to them! Also check with your credit bureau and make sure that they changed the status to "in dispute". By law, they must do this while the debt is being investigated. Failure to do so means....yup...another violation of the FCRA, another lawsuit, and another $1000 back in your pocket.

Be careful with this company, as they have a long history of falsifying court documents and "tweaking" the law. They also are a serious violator of false process serving. New York already has a number of complaints on them.

I had one case I was helping with that involved these idiots....after I sent them the validation letter they immediately sent the case back to the creditor. Lesson learned....if you do your homework and know the law, and know your rights.....and you make it clear to the collector that you do......they will not mess with you. Many times they drop the collection.

Answer 5

You should contact Discover as well as the credit reporting agency. The burden of proof of the debt is on the creditor. Discover will have 30 days to prove to the credit reporting agency that you owe this money. If they cannot do so, the info will be removed from your credit report.

Answer 6

Best case is that they are unable to obtain the verification.

Worst case is either or both of
a) it goes on your credit report, your credit rating drops, etc., b) they sue you. If you lose the lawsuit, then either you pay or your property (real estate, bank accounts, etc.) and/or wages may be seized.

Answer 7

It sounds like they are fishing to see if you will respond.

Lawyers don't work for free. Therefore they are either trying to check that your address is correct, or they will be asking for some money to try and resolve the outstanding balance.

I would not respond to the letter.