Fake summons in the mail....

[JEM]

Ok...what the heck is this? A new collection tactic?

It is for dh--creditor is Citi.

It's a summons that has supposedly been filed with the courts, but they say we DON'T have to answer it, we can stop the process of being served if we call the attorney's office and pay a settlement amount or make payment arrangements.

There is no date on it or anything.

[frogger]

Check the wording carefully. You're looking for terms like:

may, might, could, possibly, etc.

If these type of words are there, it's just another collection tactic. Believe it or not, it works on a lot of people.

[wonderingrov]

Some of these collections agencies are very creative when trying to scare people into paying. I had one agency send me a letter saying they "may" pursue a writ of execution and garnishee my wages. The next month, they sent one saying "we apologize - the status of the account has been changed to 'action being taken'." They made it sound very official with legalese. Knowing I was about to file bankruptcy, I just filed it away with my bankruptcy paperwork.

Two days after filing, I got a letter from a new agency (with "Law Group" added to their name) saying the agency had forwarded the account to them for collection. It was fun handing that one over to my lawyer, knowing the bankruptcy had already been filed.

[daytona]

JEM;

IMO this is a classic FDCPA violation. You can nail their azz (DH) for 1,000 + attorneys fees. Remember to the "unsophisticated consumer" they are making you think that they have sued you....the appearance of it being a summoms, yet you don't have to answer, etc, etc, please call to stop this "fake summons" are over the top....

[frogger]

JEM;

IMO this is a classic FDCPA violation. You can nail their azz (DH) for 1,000 + attorneys fees. Remember to the "unsophisticated consumer" they are making you think that they have sued you....the appearance of it being a summoms, yet you don't have to answer, etc, etc, please call to stop this "fake summons" are over the top....

Actually, this is just the way business is done with most collection agencies. It's all about having the consumer "think" the way that you want for them to think.

You can bet that the "summons" has been review by legal counsel for compliance with FDCPA.

[flyinbroke]

Don't count on that...I have a lawyer pursuing a couple of CAs for the ambiguous wording. Among other offenses....

Most of these letters are standard boilerplate. I got two "law office" letters and a call from Brachfeld so I anticipate a third. The two I received said no lawyer has reviewed my file...this can be a violation to the least sophisticated consumer who sees "law firm of".

[daytona]

You can bet that the "summons" has been review by legal counsel for compliance with FDCPA.

Probably, depending on the agency...but it doesn't mean its legal...these guys operate on the edge all the time and 99% of the time never get called on it. I've seen many people file suit and the "agency" wants nothing to do with it so they just settle. A "fake" summons supposidly being filed that you supposidly don't have to answer is confusing even to those who know what they are doing. IMO this is an easy win if someone wants to mess with it...at the very least you could probably negociate a much nicer "settlement" with this agency as they won't want to deal with it...

[GoingDown]

The rule of thumb with debt collection is this...

If it comes by regular mail, you can ignore it.

[AngelinaCatHub]

The rule of thumb with debt collection is this...

If it comes by regular mail, you can ignore it.

You can bet on that.

Now above one, if our current government can pull all the stit they are on us, what the heck if they lie a little bit with fake summons.

I look at congress and it makes me have much more respect for collection company jerks.

Who is stiffing who? 'Hub