Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

I received a call from a debt collector yesterday, after he called my mother in law telling her i was being sued, and if i wanted to handle this matter i would need to contact them immediately. I did. I negotiated what they said was an 1,100 debt down to 400. I gave them my banking info, and then realized i could be talking to Joe Shmoe....I asked for verification of them owning my debt....but they ignored that question with an answer of "ma'am we are not getting rich off $400. I was on the phone this morning for 4 hours starting with the original lender following the trail of who actually still owns the debt. It has been passed from agency to agency. NONE being the people who contacted me yesterday. I had one agency call them on my behalf and tell them I wanted to cancel my agreement until i had proof of ownership of this loan. The man got HORRIBLY angry, yelling, talking over the woman and ultimately hung up on her after saying if i canceled i would be sued for breach of contract to them. The man then called me back directly and swore he would send me an email with our agreement in writing. I did get a generic email...but I couldn't tell you it was legitimate company or not. They also gave me the number of the company they bought the debt from, and when i call that number...it literally put me on hold for over an hour before i hung up. My question is....i have 1 week until my first payment is to go through, I have no problem paying the bill, but my concern is I am being scammed, since NO proof has been given. What rights do i have, now that i have already made arrangements with people who could not be who they say they are, and how can I get that proof? They have passed MANY of the fair trade laws as far as I am concerned, but afraid to confront them any further with the attitude they had to the initial cancellation call.


Asked on 2/17/11, 5:03 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Close your bank account. Search [fdcpa]. Contact a FDCPA lawyer in your locality. Watch out for legal time limits.

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Answered on 2/17/11, 5:10 pm
Amir Vafaei MinCal Consumer Law Group

You should call your bank and pull the authorization. Sometimes these debt collectors withdrawal more from your account than you agreed to. Never give your bank information to any one on the phone. If you decide to pay any of these debt collectors, you should ask them for their address to send them a check. Do not even agree to pay by Western Union, or any such services. Legitimate debt collectors won't have any problem with giving you their address, and accepting checks for payment.

If these so called debt collectors are unwilling to verify your debt, you should not pay them any money. The fact that they called your mother-in-law, they may have violated both Federal and California State law, and you can sue them and get them to pay you damages. If that is the case, they also will be liable for your attorney fees, so it would not cost you any out of pocket money.

For more information, you can visit our website at, www.mincal.com, or call us at our San Diego office, (619) 272-4242, and we would be glad to help you out. We offer free consultation and if you have a case against them, it would not cost you anything, unless you prevail.

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Answered on 2/17/11, 5:43 pm


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