Discover Card accuses me of Fraud and committing a crime

[Martha31]

Long story short, Discover Card called me this morning and one of their supervisors stated I had defrauded them of money. I called back and the manager said many people would view not paying your debt as a crime. The representative consented to recording the telephone call. Based on this recorded conversation, I assume Discover is going to file a criminal complaint on me, so I have contacted an attorney. The attorney has not returned my call yet. The secretary said his office was full.
The cards are several years old and I did not lie on any CC application. I am only 2 months behind on payments. I also have told them I am on a disability pension in the past. That may come into play as well.
Any guidance will be appreciated.

[MSbklawyer]

I never get cases like that. My clients never have the presence of mind to record it when a debt collector tells them that they will be going to jail because they can't pay their debts. I hear the stories all the time, but nobody ever bothers to record it.

Where are you located Martha31?

[Martha31]

I am in Florida.

[AngelinaCat]

Did Martha31 record it though? Or was it the other party. I didn't fully understand that. Thanks.

[Martha31]

Yes with the consent of the representatives.

[AngelinaCat]

Yes with the consent of the representatives.

Good for you!!!

[Martha31]

When I said I was going to contact an attorney; the purpose was to sue Discover for falsely accusing me of a crime, intentionally inflicting emotional distress, unfair trade practices, etc. Yes I am disabled, live in Florida with homestead exemption (already filed and recorded), car in my name is worth less than $1000, and new bank account so they do not have any account numbers.
If Discover was suing me I would defend myself, but since I believe I have some legitimate claims, I want to hire a lawyer and he/she can get the legal fees since even if I won without an attorney, I could not collect legal fees.

[Martha31]

intentionally inflicting emotional distress -- It just so happened I had an appointment today with my psychiatrist and he is aware of the anxiety this matter has caused me.

[ToughSpot]

You should all try Google Voice. It's free (but you need to request and wait for an invite). Then you give out that phone number which forwards to whatever line you want. The cool thing is when the call comes in you have the option to take the call, send it to vm or take the call and have it recorded and then you have the transcript stored for ever online.

Is there really money to be made from taking legal action against aggressive bill collectors?

[StartingOver08]

...
Is there really money to be made from taking legal action against aggressive bill collectors?

Yes. But you have to be assertive with your rights. There are two benefits to taking legal action against aggressive bill collectors: 1) You end up with a nice little nest egg (there is one poster over on another forum that has purchased an airplane with the proceeds gained by suing agressive bill collectors); and, 2) you end up on a list of litigious consumers so other bill collectors leave you alone! Sounds like a win-win to me.

One more thought: if we let the CA's and JDB's do what they want, they will continue to cross the line further and further...it is up to the consumer to push back.

[CompTweaker]

Long story short, Discover Card called me this morning and one of their supervisors stated I had defrauded them of money. I called back and the manager said many people would view not paying your debt as a crime. The representative consented to recording the telephone call. Based on this recorded conversation, I assume Discover is going to file a criminal complaint on me, so I have contacted an attorney. The attorney has not returned my call yet. The secretary said his office was full.
The cards are several years old and I did not lie on any CC application. I am only 2 months behind on payments. I also have told them I am on a disability pension in the past. That may come into play as well.
Any guidance will be appreciated.

So you know, I hate debt collectors....but after carefully reading your post, it appears the other person on the phone did not specifically tell you that you would go to jail....the manager said many people "would view" not paying your debt as a crime. And now you "assume" they will file a criminal complaint. Im sorry but I dont think you have anything yet that you could sue them for. Now if he/she told you that they were going to have you put in jail, then you have a huge case (and if recorded) you would win without a doubt. But maybe Im wrong, just my opinion based on many stories I have read and knowledge I have gained over the years. Good luck though.

[jribe]

intentionally inflicting emotional distress -- It just so happened I had an appointment today with my psychiatrist and he is aware of the anxiety this matter has caused me.

inentional infliction of emotional distress is a very hard one to win on. It has basically four parts to it:outrageous conduct (by defendant),
Defendant must have had the intention of causing, or reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress,
actual suffering of severe or extreme emotional distress, and
actual and proximate causation of the emotional distress by the defendant's outrageous conduct.

I understand your point, and i know the TV shows always have that as a cause- but it likely won't work. Calling your psyciatrist doesn't matter. An independent medical practioner would have to certify this.

[jribe]

So you know, I hate debt collectors....but after carefully reading your post, it appears the other person on the phone did not specifically tell you that you would go to jail....the manager said many people "would view" not paying your debt as a crime. And now you "assume" they will file a criminal complaint. Im sorry but I dont think you have anything yet that you could sue them for. Now if he/she told you that they were going to have you put in jail, then you have a huge case (and if recorded) you would win without a doubt. But maybe Im wrong, just my opinion based on many stories I have read and knowledge I have gained over the years. Good luck though.

I agree.

plus, a "reasonable person" would have to agree that if the conversation was heard by them- they would come to the same conclusion. I don't think anyone would reasonable think they would go to jail for not paying a debt, it's actually very clear there is no "debtor's prison" and merely saying they will file a complaint against you (civil, criminal or otherwise) is not a cause for a lawsuit.

[Martha31]

It may be correct that when the manager said "some people may view this as a crime" leaves some wiggle room for Discover. But the supervisor who said I committed fraud stated it in clear terms and repeated it.
I respectfully disagree with you that all people would know there are no criminal consequences or penalties like jail for a person who has not paid a debt. In fact 90% of the public have no clue what laws govern debt collection. Not everyone is a lawyer.
A "reasonable person" would have to agree that if the conversation was heard by them- they would come to the same conclusion. I don't think anyone would reasonable think they would go to jail for not paying a debt, it's actually very clear there is no "debtor's prison" and merely saying they will file a complaint against you (civil, criminal or otherwise) is not a cause for a lawsuit.
When accused of defrauding a company, I think a "reasonable person" would think of criminal penalties including jail. Also that reasonable person would think a legal complaint was forthcoming.

"inentional infliction of emotional distress is a very hard one to win on." I think a person should throw everything on the wall and see what sticks.

[Snickers]

I've had my own dealings with Discover CSRs and I'm not surprised at all that one of them accused Martha of fraud. They were the first company that I stopped talking to because of the attitude of their CSRs.

Hope you can nail them to the wall Martha.