Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

I was contacted by phone by an entity called "Alliance & Assoc's" claiming to be a law firm. They said that I had taken out a pay-day loan from "Bahamas Marketing" (aka BMG) in 11/2007. They claimed this loan was taken out in TN state & that they were willing to take me to court & charge me with defrauding a bank, bad checks, & (1) other charge. They claim that BMG tried to obtain the money borrowed from them from my bank account, however, were not able to do so. I was not in TN state in 11/2007 nor do I recall "Bahamas Marketing" or "BMG." I asked for a copy of the info they had so that I could follow up on this; however, they would not provide that info as they said that was their evidence they were going to use against me in court. The amount of the debt is $575. What should I do??


Asked on 2/03/12, 1:02 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Andrew Solomon Law Office of Andrew A. Solomon

First, the statute of limitations on such a debt in PA is 4 years, which has past. but is 6 years in Tennessee. If you didn't take out the loan, you should immediately obtain an address from these people and write them a letter requesting "validation" of the debt which would require them to provide you with copies of any papers you allegedly signed. If you did not take out the debt and they continue to harass you and threaten you, you should consult an attorney, becuase their conduct is forbidden by the Federal Fair Debt Ccollections Practices Act, and a violation of the act may entitle you to $1,000 in damages, but their are procedures to follow. Either check it out online or contact an attorney.

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Answered on 2/03/12, 2:09 pm
Rachel Hunter

Ignore this crap and contact the attorney general. If you did not take out a loan, then this is npot your debt. It may be that they found someone with the same or similar name as the debtor or that you were the victim of identity theft. The latter is unlikely if you have reviewed your credit report and there are no strange accounts in collections on there. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get your free report.

The statute of limitations in PA is 4 years as noted and collection of the debt is most likely barred. The law of the jurisdiction of the debtor applies in most cases so PA law would apply if you lived there. This company cannot sue sue you in Tenneseee as you do not live there now. I seriously doubt that if only $575 is owed that they would get a lawyer to sue you in small claims. They need a PA lawyer for that. And if they do, then contact a local attorney who should have no problem in getting this dismissed.

Payday lenders have to be registered in PA with the state attorney general. Chances aer that they are not registered. I would file a complaint with the PA state attorney general.

Asking for information does no good. The law requires that any debt disputes be in writing. While writing and asking for validation of the debt would be a good suggestion in most cases, payday lenders are not even in the US and don't have a valid US address. If you can find one, do that and send a dispute letter to them under the FDCPA advvising them that the debt is barred. I call this a "drop dead" letter and if you Google the terms "drop dead letter" and "FDCPA" you will mind many free sample letters.

If you can't then just let the PA attorney general handle.

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Answered on 2/03/12, 10:27 pm


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