My collector lawsuit victory.....

[CPO]

Just wanted everybody to know that as I type this I'm staring at my final settlement paperwork my attorney has sent me in our case against Mann Bracken.

They have offered $2K for myself plus payment of my attorney fees and court costs to drop my lawsuit.

Of course, they "admit no wrong doing."

Whatever.

I will accept.

(1) one small victory in an otherwise nasty situation.

It is covered by the Federal exemption in my particular case, and was planned for when I filed.

This is one of two current suits I have, and I'm gathering data for a third post-filing collector who apparently has never heard of the "temporary stay." Silly boy.....

You can win too.

Record your phone conversations as allowed.

Document, document, document.

Take concise notes with the INTENT of suing your collectors.

Adopt the mindset, if your set on BK, that the only thing your gonna do between now and your filing is to catch your abusive collectors violating the law and/or even leading them into doing so...

...for the express purpose of suing their dumb assess...

To be clear, I have no problem with legit collections on a debt owed. That is a matter of business ethics, morality and law.

Fine. I owe money and a creditor has the right and responsibility to attempt to recoup a debt owed.

Our economy would collapse without such practices.

However, I will not stand for illegal, abusive, unconscionable means to harass, frighten and coerce citizens who find themselves in legitmate financial hardship.

F*#K with me and I will eek out retribution. Bank on it.

Surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered, victory is mine.

CPO

[Granny]

Way TO Go CPO!!! This is awesome!!!

Just curious, is that money also tax exempt?

[CPO]

Way TO Go CPO!!! This is awesome!!!

Just curious, is that money also tax exempt?

Thats an awesome question Granny!

I have no idea.

I'm gloating over my small victory and I have no idea if I will be required to pay taxes on my settlement.

Hmmm...

I need to find out ASAP.

I'll report back here when I get an answer.

Thanks for that quick thinking Granny.

CPO

[CPO]

Granny,

Looks like it is taxable.

According to the IRS website, "a legal settlement or court award received is only tax free if on account of physical injury or physical sickness."

They list some other exclusions that are no-way close to my situation, so I'm saying its taxable until I run this by my tax preparer.

Ho Hum, that sux but I'm still a happy camper as far as getting my ounce of flesh, so-to speak...

CPO

[whatamess]

YOU GO CPO!!
You are my BK hero!
My husband has waited all week for someone to call now we are in the court system. He wants to sue someone so bad for violations.
He is so flippin mad over the harrasing calls weve endured, he wants to stick it to em..for waking him up at 8am on the dot every Sunday since late April, for waking my kids up at 9pm with mean messages, for calling his work etc.
Of course nobody called...yet....
WAM

[HHM]

Nice work CPO, I am glad the attorney you found was able to help you.

[lrprn]

Surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered, victory is mine.

Even with taxes owed on the settlement, it's still a sweet moment, CPO - congrats!

[CPO]

Nice work CPO, I am glad the attorney you found was able to help you.

He knows his stuff. Of course it helps to have a collector dumb enough to send you multiple dunning letters on their own letterhead...

...after they had received a "cease & desist" demand.

I just gathered the evidence. He negotiated with Mann Bracken legal eagles and came out on top.

Kudos to him and his assistants.

[JRScott]

Congratulations

[CityGirl]

I wouldn't of settled. I'd of sued their Azz. Obviously they know you could of gotten a lot more then that.

[keepmine]

I wouldn't of settled. I'd of sued their Azz. Obviously they know you could of gotten a lot more then that.

FDCPA violations are up to $1000 per action-not per violation. This is a pretty standard settlement. The collection agency is paying a $1000 for the violation and another $1000 that would have gone to a lawyer should it have gone to court.
On the flip side, CPO runs the risk of some "pay your bills" judge deciding that this was an inadverent error and awarding him $25. Remember, it's up to $1000-not a firm $1000 and the judge does make the call.
You won't get rich on an FDCPA lawsuit unless you can prove some huge actual damages.
Good plan CPO. Keep the recorder handy.

[CityGirl]

ahhhhok...great work CPO!

[BKTango]

To this day, well over a year later, I still have three recordings of Mann Bracken violating about 90% of the FDCPA. Even going as far as telling me I never would be allowed to file bk under the new laws, they were taking my home, I was going to jail....oh and my personal favorite...calling me derogatory names and actually cussing at me. I am loving seeing this bottom feeding business get theirs. One some victory for one debtor is a great victory for many. Many congrats CPO!

[dscurlock]

Just wanted everybody to know that as I type this I'm staring at my final settlement paperwork my attorney has sent me in our case against Mann Bracken.

They have offered $2K for myself plus payment of my attorney fees and court costs to drop my lawsuit.

Of course, they "admit no wrong doing."

Whatever.

I will accept.

(1) one small victory in an otherwise nasty situation.

It is covered by the Federal exemption in my particular case, and was planned for when I filed.

This is one of two current suits I have, and I'm gathering data for a third post-filing collector who apparently has never heard of the "temporary stay." Silly boy.....

You can win too.

Record your phone conversations as allowed.

Document, document, document.

Take concise notes with the INTENT of suing your collectors.

Adopt the mindset, if your set on BK, that the only thing your gonna do between now and your filing is to catch your abusive collectors violating the law and/or even leading them into doing so...

...for the express purpose of suing their dumb assess...

To be clear, I have no problem with legit collections on a debt owed. That is a matter of business ethics, morality and law.

Fine. I owe money and a creditor has the right and responsibility to attempt to recoup a debt owed.

Our economy would collapse without such practices.

However, I will not stand for illegal, abusive, unconscionable means to harass, frighten and coerce citizens who find themselves in legitmate financial hardship.

F*#K with me and I will eek out retribution. Bank on it.

Surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered, victory is mine.

CPO

im having a collector problem right now, and you can read my current posts, but too me, this sounds like they just bought you off for $2k and they got off without a mark...

with what a crediter is doing to me by re-aging an old account, thus screwing with my credit, thus hendering my ability to refinance, and so on, I dont think i would let them off for a mere $2,000 - if i did that, well, its like catching a big fish, then letting it go....your gloating over such a small amount of money that will be spent in no-time, and letting the big fish go....

I just have to ask, why did you go that far just to
end it with $2,000? did your attorney give you that
speech, take the $2k or you would not see anything
at trial? they offered you $2k because they knew they was guilty of something, even if it cost me the $2,000 - I would have ran those bastards as deeep as i could into the ground....

all you did was take a few dollars and run...

[dscurlock]

FDCPA violations are up to $1000 per action-not per violation. This is a pretty standard settlement. The collection agency is paying a $1000 for the violation and another $1000 that would have gone to a lawyer should it have gone to court.
On the flip side, CPO runs the risk of some "pay your bills" judge deciding that this was an inadverent error and awarding him $25. Remember, it's up to $1000-not a firm $1000 and the judge does make the call.
You won't get rich on an FDCPA lawsuit unless you can prove some huge actual damages.
Good plan CPO. Keep the recorder handy.

I think you seen this wrong, they paid him $2,000 to drop the lawsuit, they was not paying him for violations, they were paying him off to keep it out of court. I see some of the reason now, if he did go to court, more then likely he would of only got $1000 as required by law, if that...

So a little offer comes his way in the amount of $2,000 - he takes it, and the violating company gets off free and clear to do this all over again with someone else, they probably already found their next victum(s) some embarassment or blushing in the court room could have saved other people some heart-ache...

but hey, who really cares, he got his $2,000