Attorney assistance (1 Viewer)

[Norwajun]

I need to retain an attorney in the Shreveport area for a civil matter. Anyone have a recommendation?

 

[Saint Sarah]

Depends. What is the subject matter?

 

[kevin from buffalo]

what's going on here

 

[Norwajun]

In 2007 while I was living in Nebraska my home was burglarized. My social security card, my checkbook and my Debit card were among the items taken.I filed a police report and took all the necessary steps to report the theft to the credit bureaus, but still got hammered. I've finally reduced the number of problems to 3, and am working to get rid of those.

Apparently the thief used my identity to rent an apartment in St. Louis then skipped out on the rent. They sued me for $4000.00 without my knowledge and now I'm trying to get them off my back. I sent a registered letter and was very nice. I just got off the phone with the little ******* and want to strangle him. The debt collector basically called me a liar and dared me to show up in his office to prove that I wasn't the guy.

I'm tired of being nice so I'm going to sue his nuts off.

 

[Saint Sarah]

In 2007 while I was living in Nebraska my home was burglarized. My social security card, my checkbook and my Debit card were among the items taken.I filed a police report and took all the necessary steps to report the theft to the credit bureaus, but still got hammered. I've finally reduced the number of problems to 3, and am working to get rid of those.

Apparently the thief used my identity to rent an apartment in St. Louis then skipped out on the rent. They sued me for $4000.00 without my knowledge and now I'm trying to get them off my back. I sent a registered letter and was very nice. I just got off the phone with the little ******* and want to strangle him. The debt collector basically called me a liar and dared me to show up in his office to prove that I wasn't the guy.

I'm tired of being nice so I'm going to sue his nuts off.

I'll poke around and see if I can dig someone up for that.

 

[Norwajun]

Thank you!

 

[superchuck500]

In 2007 while I was living in Nebraska my home was burglarized. My social security card, my checkbook and my Debit card were among the items taken.I filed a police report and took all the necessary steps to report the theft to the credit bureaus, but still got hammered. I've finally reduced the number of problems to 3, and am working to get rid of those.

Apparently the thief used my identity to rent an apartment in St. Louis then skipped out on the rent. They sued me for $4000.00 without my knowledge and now I'm trying to get them off my back. I sent a registered letter and was very nice. I just got off the phone with the little ******* and want to strangle him. The debt collector basically called me a liar and dared me to show up in his office to prove that I wasn't the guy.

I'm tired of being nice so I'm going to sue his nuts off.

Are you anticipating paying an attorney to do this? You're going to have to pay an hourly rate because I don't think you're going to get counsel on a contingency fee - because you don't really have damages. It may be that you can ultimately have a claim for civil penalties (as described below) but that's not entirely clear and I'm not sure any attorney is going to take that case on contingency.

But you can move the ball here by yourself. If you're dealing with a debt collection agency, you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can find resources online to familiarize yourself with it. But basically you can send another certified letter demanding that they properly validate the debt under the FDCPA and that they remove any negative reporting of this debt immediately. You can advise that your identity was stolen and that you did not rent the apartment. You can demand that until the debt is properly validated pursuant to the FDCPA, any further attempts to collect the debt (including reporting of the debt) will be subject to civil penalties per occurrence and that you will be retaining counsel if this matter proceeds any further.

Then you can keep strict records of any phone calls. Document names, dates, times and content of call. The penalty for improper debt collection is something like $1,500 per occurrence. If they don't ever call you back and remove the report, you've defeated them. Make sure they remove the line from your reports. If they do not, write them back and demand that they do or you will be suing for violation of the FDCPA.

If they don't send back validation but continue to try to collect the debt, you may be able to get civil penalties for each time they harrassed you. But I'm pretty sure that until you demand validation, access to civil penalties (for the stuff they have already done) is pretty limited. At that point, however, you may have a case worth taking on contingency.

If they do send you back a properly validated debt (it may be possible for them to do that - the problem here is that it just isn't you) you may need to work with them on how to prove it wasn't you - or to sue them to get a court to make that determination. You could probably do that in small claims or pay an attorney.


Of course, that's just my academic opinion and should not be treated as legal advice. You should always try to get a free consultation - most lawyers will give free consultations and tell you whether there's a case they're interested in working on.

 

[Norwajun]

Are you anticipating paying an attorney to do this? You're going to have to pay an hourly rate because I don't think you're going to get counsel on a contingency fee - because you don't really have damages. It may be that you can ultimately have a claim for civil penalties (as described below) but that's not entirely clear and I'm not sure any attorney is going to take that case on contingency.

But you can move the ball here by yourself. If you're dealing with a debt collection agency, you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can find resources online to familiarize yourself with it. But basically you can send another certified letter demanding that they properly validate the debt under the FDCPA and that they remove any negative reporting of this debt immediately. You can advise that your identity was stolen and that you did not rent the apartment. You can demand that until the debt is properly validated pursuant to the FDCPA, any further attempts to collect the debt (including reporting of the debt) will be subject to civil penalties per occurrence and that you will be retaining counsel if this matter proceeds any further.

Then you can keep strict records of any phone calls. Document names, dates, times and content of call. The penalty for improper debt collection is something like $1,500 per occurrence. If they don't ever call you back and remove the report, you've defeated them. Make sure they remove the line from your reports. If they do not, write them back and demand that they do or you will be suing for violation of the FDCPA.

If they don't send back validation but continue to try to collect the debt, you may be able to get civil penalties for each time they harrassed you. But I'm pretty sure that until you demand validation, access to civil penalties (for the stuff they have already done) is pretty limited. At that point, however, you may have a case worth taking on contingency.

If they do send you back a properly validated debt (it may be possible for them to do that - the problem here is that it just isn't you) you may need to work with them on how to prove it wasn't you - or to sue them to get a court to make that determination. You could probably do that in small claims or pay an attorney.


Of course, that's just my academic opinion and should not be treated as legal advice. You should always try to get a free consultation - most lawyers will give free consultations and tell you whether there's a case they're interested in working on.

Did that, have been doing that. The little **** refuses to follow through on what he is legally obligated to do. I just relocated and I am trying to buy a house. I don't have time to play patty cake with this nimrod. I am perfectly fine with paying an attorney his standard retainer to handle this. I just want this crap gone so I can go on with my life.

 

[superchuck500]

Did that, have been doing that. The little **** refuses to follow through on what he is legally obligated to do. I just relocated and I am trying to buy a house. I don't have time to play patty cake with this nimrod. I am perfectly fine with paying an attorney his standard retainer to handle this. I just want this crap gone so I can go on with my life.

Sounds good.

If you can document these instances after you requested validation, you have a claim for civil penalties.

 

[Big_L]

Where is the debt collector at? Anywhere near Wichita or San Antonio? IF so Ill pay them a visit for you!!!

 

[purvis_guy]

Erick if you were to actually show up at his office, one look at your big angry semper fi butt and he would probably pee his pants and hide in the closet for the rest of the day.

 

[bozoka45]

If you can't get a personal recommendation, you may want to try the Shreveport Bar Associations Referral Service. Your category should be "Consumer Law - Collections."

 

[SaintRob39]

There is a lot of good information on creditboards.com I had some issues with a collector before and this site was extremely helpful.

 

[Norwajun]

If you can't get a personal recommendation, you may want to try the Shreveport Bar Associations Referral Service. Your category should be "Consumer Law - Collections."

I thank you for the link, but the referral service returned no recommendations.

The last two numbers I called from the telephone directory went straight to voicemail, no return calls. Why is it so hard to get hold of an attorney?

 

[Saint Sarah]

I thank you for the link, but the referral service returned no recommendations.

The last two numbers I called from the telephone directory went straight to voicemail, no return calls. Why is it so hard to get hold of an attorney?

I haven't gotten a rec yet on this, but go here:

http://www.lsba.org/MembershipDirectory/MemberSearchResults.asp?Menu=MD

and type in Shreveport. You'll have every person barred in Louisiana that lists Shreveport as their main address.