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Re: Law Office Threatening to Sue Me, Even Though I've Been Making Payments!


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Posted by Esther Stepansky (24.239.128.247) on January 22, 2003 at 04:20:37:

In Reply to: Law Office Threatening to Sue Me, Even Though I've Been Making Payments! posted by Jax on January 21, 2003 at 21:37:26:

I am no legal authority, but I have been through this type of thing with discover. I was called up for Desert storm & received a letter from discover saying that my account had been paid off by a grant from some soldiers & sailor relief fund. When I returned home, & tried to restart my life they refused me credit & since they now had a current address, started to bill me for the Paid account.
First make sure this account is closed & charged off, so it is not accruing any more interest.
Second, use the green return receipt requested card at the post office along with any certified letter. This way you have proof that someone at their office signed for the letter any time they claim not to have recieved anything. (They will NEVER admit to receiving anything that is not in their favor.)
1. Set up a separate savings account, either some free chg acct at a local bank or Credit union, or try to set up a "vacation" account at an institution you still use. KEEP MAKING THOSE $150 payment to that account. This is what is called an escrow account.
2. Let them close & charge off the account. (If you did not pay in over a yr it probably already is off discovers books, or it would not be at the law ofc). By the way that law ofc is rarely a real law ofc, rather a debt collection agency. They may call themselves a law ofc, but I can assure you no real lawyer has the time to call you or write letters. This account has been given to these guys to collect what they can & keep a decent percentage & give the rest to discover.
3. MAKE THOSE $150 payments to that account EVERY month & keep the statements showing regular, monthly payments to this account.
4. Wait.
5. Get an answering machine so you can screen your calls. Never answer their phone calls. (This is the hard part emotionally, because we are raised to always pay our bills. Ask them not to call you any more, in writing, certified. (This is your right believe it or not. If they keep calling you, keep record of each call, time & date.)Keep copies of EVERY letter they send you & you sent them: always send them return receipt requested certified mail.
6. If & when they do "take further action" bring your letters & proof of electronic payments, your certified letter & your escrow statements to court.
7. Here is where you wear your "job interview suit" and put on you best Perry Mason poker face. (YOU DO NOT NEED A LAWYER FOR THIS, in fact, I think you will get a better response from the judge if you do this all by your self. (Poor you-right?)Tell the judge what happened & show them what happened when (the last $300 they ripped off you). This way the judge sees how much they already recieved. (Hopefully you have something in writing about the 6 months payment pgm. If not just ignore the fact that you do not & calming state that you were told so (& by whom & when, if you can remember. Make yourself a note now if you do, because a year from now, you may forget.)

8. Then show the judge the escrow account statements & balance. By then it will be well over $1000 for sure, as this law firm will scream bloody murder at you, but is in no rush to incur court fees. They may actually meet your demands before going to court, when they see that you will continue to "be uncooperative". If so, request an agreement IN writing BEFORE you send them a penny! If they balk, simply tell them you are disappointed in their willingness to do business in a proper and fair manner & therefor, as much as it pains you, you will be happy to answer them in court where a judge will surely understand your request for a documented agreement as standard business practice, especially since this firm has already showed itself to be untrustworthy. .
9. Tell the judge that you will be very happy to release the balance in the escrow and continue to pay the $150 to the law firm, as you have been doing since you orginally requested the reduction in payment, to the escrow until the account is paid in full. (At this point they will have received the $3300 they got from you until now, plus whatever was in escrow, probably a total of around $5000.
10. At this point, if the law office ignored you requests to stop calling you, you should present your record of their calls and claim harrassment, & request damages. In your case, you don't want cash (unless they really kept harrassing you bad!). You want a settlement offer of 50% of what is left. Even if they don't harrass you, you can ask for this, stating that you, in good faith, made the original agreement based on their promise to reduce the payments, AND the PROOF of your continued commitment to pay off this debt by the creation of the escrow account, rather than just use the money in the meantime.
11. Even if you do not get any reduction, $5000 at $150 will be paid off in 3 years. I suggest you pay with a money order, so they cannot steal from any bank accounts you may have. If they try any funny business while or after you pay off, just go back to the judge & complain breach of contract & ask for the balance to be set aside in lieu of damages.
You have to stay calm & think like a lawyer & know your rights. Don't let them fluster you, which they are getting close to doing now.
Finally, keep copies of any aggrements, court or agency, copies of every money order sent & certified receipts, and when paid off, request a letter to that effect, even though that may seem superflous then. I had an agency try to recollect an entire $3000 bill 2 years after I paid it off. With out their letter, I'd have been in trouble.
Good luck.
Esther


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