Letter From Johnson Mark LLC

[VMRocks]

Hello, 

I've never been in this situation, so am not quite sure what to do. Long story short:

I left the country two years ago to help a family member in another country. I left a credit card behind that I meant to pay, but have been struggling with money for these last two years, and being out of the country, I wasn't as concerned. When I returned to my parents house(last month), they said I have been getting some collection letters for the card. I wasn't concerned because I plan to save (finally) and pay off the lump sum. Yesterday, I received this letter:

Our law firm has been retained by our client, DEBTORS NAME HERE (this is not the original company I owe, but a third party), to collect: 

JM File Number: XXXXX (there is a real file number here)

Total Amount Due: $3,000

Acount Number: XXXXXX

Creditor: CREDITORS NAME HERE
Original Creditor: ORIGINAL BANK I OWE NAME HERE

Unless you, within thirty days after receipt of this notice, dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by our office. If you do dispute it by notifying our firm in writing to that effect, we will, as required by law, obtain and mail to you verification of the debt or a copy of the judgment, if any. And if, within the same period, you request in writing the name and address of your original creditor, if the original creditor is different from the current creditor, we will furnish you with that information too. 

The law does not require our client to wait until the end of the thirty day period before pursuing their contractual rights against you to collect this debt. If, however, you request verification of the debt of the name and address of the original creditor within the thirty day period that begins with your receipt of this letter, the law requires our firm to suspend our efforts to collect the debt until we mail the required information to you. 

You may request, in writing, copies of the documentation and PRA or PRA's agent will, within 30 days of such request, provide the documentation at no cost. 

This communication is from a debt collector. this is an attempt to collect debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. 

 

My question is, how far is this process along? Will I be served? Is this just a letter to scare me, or should I write them back? Any other advice is welcome. 

 

Thank you! 

 

[WhoCares1000]

" The law does not require our client to wait until the end of the thirty day period before pursuing their contractual rights against you to collect this debt. If, however, you request verification of the debt of the name and address of the original creditor within the thirty day period that begins with your receipt of this letter, the law requires our firm to suspend our efforts to collect the debt until we mail the required information to you."

This is a questionable statement in any initial contact collection letter because of claims of overshadowing. We can however deal with that later.

The first question is that we will need to know the name of the original creditor. That will help us determine whether arbitration is a possible strategy.

Beyond that, I would learn about the arbitration strategy and save up some money to offer in settlement while waiting for them to sue you. Different people her have different opinions on whether to send a validation letter or not. In this case, sending such a letter would let them know that you have returned to the USA and make it more likely that they will sue you (they might anyways) so I would almost suggest not sending one. From there, the name of the original creditor will determine the next steps.

[VMRocks]

Thank you so much for your reply. The original creditor is U.S. Bank National Association. It was a credit card I had through the bank I used to bank with, before leaving the country. 

The current creditor is Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC.

oh, one more question... would they be able to go after my bank account (now with Wells Fargo and just a few hundred dollars in it) at any time, or would I need to receive a letter saying they’re going to do that first? 

[WhoCares1000]

They cannot attach a bank account until after they have filed to sue you, have you served, taken you to court, and win. You are a long way from that as of yet.

I am not sure if US Bank had an arb clause in their agreement. I am going to bring in another person who might be better able to help you on that.

@fisthardcheese, can you assist this person further on the arb method?

[VMRocks]

Ok thank you Whocares1000! I will check back later for @fisthardcheese’s reply. 

[nobk4me]

Yes, US Bank has an arb clause.  But it does have a small claims court exemption.  You are dealing with a JDB.  In some states JDBs can't use small claims court.

[VMRocks]

Thank you for your response. So, I live in Oregon... so what does this mean for me? Sorry, not as familiar with this sort of thing?