What do you think of my ITS??

[merkurfan]

Whats funny is the company I am sending this to got beat hard by PA and NY for the EXACT SAME THING! No mini-Miranda. I tossed number 7 in because it is missing from the letter. I suspect (well.. I know) they don't have a Minnesota license so that might explain the lack of the statement They also threaten civil proceedings if I don't pay them. No time frame as to when. That is missing from my ITS because I am not sure how to toss that one in.

A.C.A Recovery

38 E. Ridgewood Ave.

Ridgewood, NJ 07450

NJ

Re: case blaa blaa

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUE

You are hereby put on notice that:

1. I am in receipt of a collection letter from you in the above cited matter dated April 24, 2007. This letter is "initial communication" as defined in Fair debt Collection Practices Act Section 809(a) (herein called FDCPA).

2. This letter is in violation of FDCPA Section 809(a)(3), 809(a)(4) and 809(a)(5) in that the required portions of law have not been complied with, to wit:

"(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgments will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor."

3. FDCPA Section 809 permits the required consumer warnings to be provided "within five days of the initial communication sent to the consumer..." This has not been done.

4. FDCPA Section 813(a)(2)(A) prescribes penalties for violation, to wit:

"(a)Except as otherwise provided by this section, any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this title with respect to any person is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of - $1000.

(1) any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure;

(2)(A) in the case of any action by an individual, such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1000."

5. Since the illegal letter cited above is illegal on its face, a Class Action on behalf of a class of every consumer whom you have sent this illegal letter to in the past two years is a definite option.

6. There are several Court Cases which deal with the concept of "overshadowing" - which is the act of a Collector burying the required notification of consumers' rights under FDCPA so deep and so inconsequentially into communications that they are lost in the "pay this bill" message. I could make a strong case that the absence of the required consumer protection notices is in and of itself "overshadowing". (see Ost v. Collection Bureau, Inc., 493 F Supp 701 (D ND); Graziano v Harrison, 950 F 2d 107 (3rd Circuit, 1991); Miller v. Payco General American Credits, Inc., 943 F 2d 482 (4th Circuit, 1991) et seq.

7. Your letter lacks the required text pursuant to Minnesota Statute 332.37 (21) when initially contacting a Minnesota debtor by mail, fail to include a disclosure on the contact notice, in a type size or font which is equal to or larger than the largest other type of type size or font used in the text of the notice. The disclosure must state: "This collection agency is licensed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce."

You are hereby on notice that I demand you forward to me, within 21 days of the date of this letter, One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars as Liquidated Statutory Damages for the violation of my rights under law. Failure to comply will bring legal action to enforce my rights and this claim at any time after the twenty-one (21) days, without further notice to you.

Sincerely,

Attached: Copy of your original dunning letter.

[Greg]

Looks good to me. But I would get Divemedic to review it! He seems to really know the ins & outs of this type of thing. Also, keep us posted with the results of this.

G

[merkurfan]

I think it is one of his samples I changed around a bit I'm not gonna mail it till next monday. gives it some time to get replies here and some tweekage.

If I sue and win, I wonder if I can send the judgment to the original ca (they are the second to take a stab at the debt) and have them collect for me. After all, they probably owe them some money

[Renai3]

If I sue and win, I wonder if I can send the judgment to the original ca (they are the second to take a stab at the debt) and have them collect for me. After all, they probably owe them some money

Ha, ha! I wrote something like that in my nutcase letter that I didn't send: " I may try to settle the amount of the judgement, then sell the remainder of the amount to another collection agency to get it from you. Or perhaps, get it all from you. Garnish your wages perhaps. Or maybe you could pay me via check by phone. That would be the simplest way to get it done. Or a credit card, just in case you don’t have a checking account. Better yet, you can Paypal it to me."

[divemedic]

I would rewrite the section that reads:

Except as otherwise provided by this section, any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this title with respect to any person is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of - $1000.

and the demand in the last paragraph for money. Do you want them to leave you alone, or do you want cash? Being left alone is easier to do than making money off of them.

[merkurfan]

Ok.. So your saying to do away with the $ all together? They are not reporting, only the OC is (incorrectly might I ad). So I really have nothing to gain other than $. My DV last week (timely) will likely stop them in their tracks.

BTW this company got spanked for the extact thing a few years ago...

http://www.classactionamerica.com/public/caseIndex.aspx?lngCaseId=3284&intCategoryID=4