CA Laurence A. Hecker

[looking4advice]

Has anyone dealt with this CA Laurence A. Hecker? I only saw one other post but there wasn't much info other than the CA's address. I rec'd a call from this CA at work today and the man calling said he was from Attorney Hecker's office and that he needed my attorney's name and phone # and that if I didn't give it to him, he was going to contact my employer. I've had credit problems the last several years so I suspected it was a CA. I told him I could not talk at work and asked for his phone #. At first, he wouldn't give it to me and repeated the opening line of his call. I told him again that I couldn't talk at work and asked for his phone #. He finally gave me his name and phone # and a file #. When I got home, I googled the phone # and found that it was CA Laurence A. Hecker in New Jersey. There's also been a woman from the same office calling my cell phone and leaving messages. How can I get this CA to stop calling me, at least at work and how can I make sure that he doesn't contact my employer? Should I call this CA back?

[debtorshusband]

Boy, oh boy, there's just so much to say, I don't know where to start.

First, go a Googling; you appear to be dealing with one of the skunks of the industry. I don't know what your credit problems are or why you're having them, but you deserve to be treated fairly and according to the law.

Second, he's in New Jersey. Unless he's also licensed in PA, he can't do much to you. Look him up on your state bar association web site.

Next, he needs your attorney's name and phone number? Typical scare tactics. They're trying to rattle you.

He's going to contact your employer? Another threat, but this one's a violation of the law. Unless he's filed suit and won and is trying to arrange to garnish your paycheck, he has no business contacting your employer. By threatening to contact your employer he's violating the law by threatening to take an action he is not legally entitled to take. And if he does contact your employer, that's another violation of the law, which prohibits disclosure to third parties.

How can you get him to stop calling you at work? You've already done it: you've told him you can't talk at work. If they call you again at work, they've violated the law. Look up the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). It's all there. If they call you again at work, and you feel like being a nice guy, you could give them one more chance, but use the exact wording of the FDCPA: your employer prohibits you from receiving such communication at work.

Now, since he's talked to you on the phone, he has made an "initial communication." (Again, read all about it in the FDCPA) Unless he fully informed you of your right to dispute, they are required by law to send you a letter within 5 days which must include who they claim you owe money to, how much they want, and the FDCPA-required Verification Statement which informs you of your right to dispute and request verification. This letter is also called a dunning letter. If you don't get that letter, they have violated the law.

Finally, should you call them? It probably wouldn't hurt. But limit the conversation to 2 points: The above mentioned "do not call me at work because my employer prohibits me from receiving such communication at work" and "please send me your claim in writing within 5 days, as required by law." Other than that, just confirm your address to them.

When you get the dunning letter, you'll probably want to send what's lovingly called a DV (Debt Validation) letter. For now, I'll leave it to you to do Searches for what should go into a DV letter.

If they don't toe the line, and continue to violate the law, consider finding an attorney through www.naca.net to sue them for you.

Good luck.

DH

[looking4advice]

Thanks for the info. Since posting this, I have googled Laurence A. Hecker and have found numerous complaints about this CA. So far, I've only received calls from this CA, nothing in writing. I have to admit my credit problems are my own fault, just got in over my head 4 years ago. I would like to settle this but I just don't have the funds to do so. I've been contacted by CAs before who want unrealistic sums of money in unrealistic timeframes.......in most cases, the same day or within a week. I could care less if this CA calls me on my home phone 24 hours a day, I just can't have them calling me at work.......my place of employment records all incoming calls and I share an office with my supervisor who can clearly hear what I'm saying when I'm on the phone.

I did find out that PA has a 4 year SOL which by my calculations should be up soon. The date of last activity was 8/1/04. I'm going to look into the other things you had mentioned.

Thanks again.

L4A