Suing a collection agency in Small claims?

Question

Here is my question. I have a collection agency that sent me a notice for payment of $3200.00. (It is an ole debt from 5 yrs ago) But the origional debt was $1800.00 I immediately disputed the alleged debt with the company asking for validation and any and all documents. No response. 40 days later this company appeared on my credit report (midland Credit). They never provided verifation nor ever contacted me again.. I have writted numberous letter, I have sent faxes and sent certified mail. All with no response. Their phone sevice doesn't work and I can't contact them. I disputed the debt and it came back verified. I filed a suit in small claims and have a court date of August 5th. There are numerous viloatiuons of the FCRA and the FDCPA. Is anyone familure with this? Since the orgional debt was opened here I filed here. The first letter from them indicated they bought the debt and were offering a 40% discount off the total amount. I demanded verifion. help

Answer 1

I hope you know what you are doing. Midland Funding is one of the big, sleazy bottom feeder collection agencies out there. I hope you don't plan to show up without an attorney.

Per your update, if you acknowledge to owing this debt, then I don't understand what your gripe is about. I'm the first person to support taking on sleazy debt collectors, but if this debt is real, it's within within their right to try to collect and post it on your credit files. If they have grossly violated the FDCPA, such as false threats of arrest, then that's another story.

I think that you might be provoking a larger fight with a big company that has the resources to fight back against you....please be careful. If it were me I might reconsider this plan of action.

Answer 2

It certainly appears that you have a case, as you disputed in a timely manner and they continued collection activity without validating. Lets see what violations they have.

- Posting to your credit report before validating

- I assume they did not list it as "in dispute" when they posted - another violation.

- Verifying the debt when you disputed with the credit bureaus.

Seems to me you got good proof of "willful noncompliance" right there, and can probably win your suit fairly easily. Have you checked to see if the statute of limitations has expired on the debt as well?

If you are not comfortable handling this yourself, you can contact an NACA.net attorney. Since you have laid the ground work pretty well, you'll likely find one who will take the case on a contingency and simply bill Midland once you win. Also, do NOT admit to this debt, even if it is yours. Make them PROVE you owe it.

You might also check out CreditBoards.com and browse their forums, as there are many legal resources there.

Good luck my friend! Congrats on knowing the laws and taking the fight to these sleazeballs.

Answer 3

I don't understand why you are filing a small claims action against them.  Did they get more money than they should have?

Your original debt may have been $1800 at the START of the debt but over time there is interest, late fees, and other fees added on so yeah, the $3200 is most likely correct.