Has anyone successfully sued a CA for violating the FDCPA?

[WinterSky]

Asset Acceptance LLC (AACC) has been harassing me since July trying to collect on a debt that isn't mine. They couldn't validate the debt; I sent a strongly worded cease and desist, certified mail with return receipt requested. I have proof that they received the c&d letter. They have called me on a daily basis every weekday since receiving it. I contacted an attorney on Friday and am waiting to meet with him. I've read that I can collect $1000 for every time AACC calls me and that they may be ordered to pay the attorney's fees.

Has anyone in this forum ever successfully sued a CA? What is the process like? Is it difficult to collect the money from them if you win? Also, if the CA has their own attorney, can he legally ask for any of my personal info? The CA already has my name, address and unlisted phone number, but has cited the last four digits of a social security number which is not mine. I don't trust AACC and would hate to give them the opportunity to have anymore of my personal info than they already do. They may use it against me in the future or sell it to another bottom-feeder CA. The debt itself is not mine - I have no idea how they linked me to it. I have excellent credit.

Any info, ideas or experiences about this would be greatly appreciated.

[WhoCares1000]

You may not get the answer you are looking for because most people who sue under the FDCPA and have a good case usually get a settlement amount and with that are required to sign a NDA which prohibits them from talking about it.

For the most part, if you get an attorney to represent you, the attorney will take care of the paperwork and discovery and by law, AACC has to contact your attorney and not you so if there is the need for any information, that will be articulated to you by your attorney and your attorney will also stop any fishing expeditions for your information.

Please realize that the FDCPA is an one shot violation rather than for each violation. Hence, you would only get $1000 for the violation. Where the extra money comes in is for actual damages which attorneys know how to manipulate. Most settlements have been for $3000 - $5000 range + attorneys fees so you still make out pretty good.

Also note, since your contention is that this is not your debt, do not allow them to negotiate debt settlement. Many JDBs try to do that to get out of paying for damages (remember, they buy these things for pennies on the dollar so it would have to be a $50,000 - $100,000 debt before they start to feel the pain of a settlement).

If you have a case, go for it. You really have nothing to lose because they cannot prove it is your debt.

[WinterSky]

Thank you for your reply. If I may, I have another question:

I read on another board that after sending a c&d, a CA can contact you one final time to let you know they're either ceasing their attempt to collect the debt or starting legal proceedings against you. I knew this, but the person on the other board says they are allowed to do this phone , even though I specified in my c&d that they may NEVER contact me by phone, and only by mail if they were going to tell me they are ceasing their attempts or starting legal proceedings against me. I have yet to speak to AACC on the phone - I refuse to do that. I've only corresponded with them by certified mail, return receipt requested. Am I going to actually have to speak to the low-lifes to put a stop to these daily phone calls??

Thanks in advance

[WhoCares1000]

Let me ask you this, if you were going to sue someone but could not reach them by phone, would you continue to try to call that person before starting suit or would you start suit? The fact that they have not started suit yet tells you that they are not planning on suing you. The only other reason would be to tell you that they gave up on collections and again, would you keep calling to tell someone you are giving up? And in the case of a corporation, are they going to continue to waste the electricity required to make that effort?

Yes, the are allowed to call once to say one or the other but to keep calling after a while does not make sense if they are planning to do either of the above scenarios.

[WinterSky]

I guess those 14 calls to me after receiving the c&d I sent them where just to bust my hump. Because, like you said, they certainly wouldn't keep wasting their time calling me just to tell me they're gonna stop calling me, or that they're gonna sue me (which I wouldn't have expected anyway for a 200 buck debt). I'm disappointed to learn that they have the right to make that one final call, when I made it so clear in my c&d that their one final contact to me must be in writing only.

I guess I'll just learn to ignore those stupid silent voice mails. They can't keep it up forever.

[Recovering Attorney]

You can get a statutory award of up to $1000 plus your actuals plus attorney fees. If tese string of calls has upset you phiscially, I am sure you went to your doctor to get relief.

[orakle]

I've successfully sued before. Send me a private message.

[WinterSky]

Orakle,

I tried to send you a private message but couldn't because I haven't posted 10 times yet (go figure).

[fort_smith_ar]

I am in the process of filing suit against a credit collection service out of NY right now. I have all the violations on recording too. (thank goodness).. What I am wondering is .. if they use a threat (like calling your employer) more than one time on the phone does each incident count as one violation or is the same threat over and over just one?