A small collection victory

[treehugger1]

I had a debt referred to an out-of-state collection agency a while back. I sent a cease and desist letter including request for all validation and proof they were legally able to operate in Oregon. I received their version of verification which was nothing more than a listing asking the original creditor to verfiy the amount they asked the collector to collect (boneheads). This morning I arrived at work to discover a phone call with a return number and name of caller. I called the number and sure enough it was this collector. I took my time and asked about the call. The person with "my account," said they didn't know why someone would call me because they don't have the number they called anywhere in their system. I think the woman realized someone had screwed up and was playing dumb. I finally told them they were in violation of the FDCPA and said goodbye.

I immediately called our state DOJ and the consumer finance division. I sent over information to the very helpful state employee. In less than 30 minutes, the DOJ rep called me back to say I would not be hearing from this collector again about anything, ever! Talk about public service! Wow!

The DOJ and their reps cannot help me with legal advice, so now I am looking for a new attorney who will take on teh two violations, 1) Improper validation and 2) violation of the cease and desist. I realize I'll go back to square one with some one else, but the small victories are tasty. Does anyone know if one can sue a debt collector in small claims court for violations of state and/or FDCPA? Oregon recognizes the FDCPA but also has a few additional restrictions on original creditors.

[HHM]

To your first question...no, you cannot sue in small claims court for FDCPA violations because the FDCPA is a federal law, so you would have to sue in Federal Court...and there is no "small claims" equivalent in federal court.

Sounds like you have a strong case, and most attorneys who handle these types of cases do so on contingency...strictly speaking its not a contingency, if you win, the defendant has to pay the plaintiffs attorney's fees. But generally, the attorney's either charge no money or very little money to you (i.e. filing fees, etc) to bring these cases.

You may want to search the NACA database (National Association of Consumer Advocates) www.naca.net, to find an attorney in your area that might be able to help you.

[treehugger1]

Thanks for the support HHH. I live in a small rural area where I am beginnign to learn that the local BK attorneys are not up to speed on high-income filers. I contacted a NACA attorney in Portland, OR (hundreds of miles away) and an attorney spent an hour of her time with me. Obviously, the large metropolitan areas have legal firms that are really abreast of the rapid changes and court decisions related to the "not-so-new" Bk laws. It seems that everyone agrees that the student loan issue is a thorn in the side of folks who would get fair relief under BK 13 if guaranteed student loans were considered a "priority" unsecured. This firn seems to be very up on collections and BK. I guess I was just looking for support knowing I could be a ways out from filing. She totally understood, knowing I can survive a year of garnishment, and all but suggested (not adviced me) that I will have to deal with collectors/creditors for a while. She said to send all copies of correspondence (me and collectors/creditors) to their office and they would help me out when they found it favorable to me, and I suppose, them. Legal firms need income also. Thanks for once again suggesting the NACA site. I've posted about it before, but it was your prompt that told me to get off my "butt" and find a firm who would actually represent me when the going gets tough. It seems most legal firms can only think in terms of BK. I found one that understands the big picture of my debt. Cheers.