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My business is devoted to showing consumers how to stop collection agency threats,abuse and illegal behavior through a self help system that I developed because some years ago I was a victim of these abuses. Instead of being a victim I chose to educate my self and become their worst nightmare. I offer a lot of free advice and counseling along with my self help StoptheCallsFast.Com system
Date / Time: 11/6/2009 11:07 AM UTC
I am presently preparing a case for one of my clients who has basically been the victim of multiple violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This saga started in 2003 when she purchased furniture from a well known furniture retailer. The retailer used GE Money as its credit card servicing agent and still does. The purchase occurred in April, 2003 and the furniture was delivered approximately 4 weeks later.
For purposes of privacy I will refer to my client as Jane. On the date of delivery Jane discovered that the order was incomplete and refused to let the delivery people unload the furniture from the delivery truck. The items were brought back to the retailer's warehouse. The next month Jane received a bill from GE Money. She called the retailer and asked then why this matter was still pending. She was told not to worry about it and that it would be taken care of.
For two years after the furniture was returned GE Money continued to bill Jane. Finally in August of 2005 Jane was told by a customer service representative that the furniture retailer had paid $2433.15 to GE Money which was the entire amount due to GE Money. Jane assumed at that point that the matter was closed. WRONG
On July 27, 2006, Jane received a letter from her bank stating that "A Bank Execution in your name(s) was served on XYZ Bank". You are probably asking yourself "What is going on here?" aren't you? That is what I said to myself when I started reading the paperwork that Jane gave to me.
It took me some days to piece together the pieces of this puzzle. Here is what I came up with. The furniture company acted in good faith and did pay GE the balance in the account. The problem is that GE never credited Jane's account but instead kept charging the account interest. It turns out that GE sold what they considered to be a receivable to a third party debt collector who proceeded to do what many 3rd party debt collectors do to make their money--sue Jane to get a default judgment. Here is where it gets juicy.
Unfortunately for Jane, she never knew that GE sold her account. She also never knew she was sued. It turns out that the 3rd party debt collector sued her not in her state of residence but in some other state. Jane was never served with a summons and complaint. The debt collector obtained a default judgment which was easy since Jane did not appear. Convenient, wasn't it? The default judgment was given to a collection law firm in CT to execute. They requested a bank execution in CT superior CT and it was granted. Mind you, all the while poor Jane had no clue any of these things were happening to her.
There are quite a few issues here which will probably be decided in a court of law. GE Money reported Jane's account as "charged off" to the credit bureaus. We know that this is not true. Here is the first violation of the FCRA. How can you report an account as a charge off or past due when the consumer never owed any money to begin with?
The second issue is that the furniture company informed Jane that the matter was closed and that they had paid the appropriate amount to GE. Apparently GE and the furniture company did not have clear lines of communication. GE sold Jane's account to a 3rd party debt collector. They made the representation to the debt collector that Jane's account was a good receivable and was collectible. Not so.
There is the issue here that Jane was never served a summons and complaint by the party who bought her account from GE. To me it would appear that the default judgment was obtained under questionable circumstances. That is being polite. Then there is the bank execution. In my opinion this represents a theft of funds from Jane's bank account. I think the attorney who is presented with this file is going to have field day.
There is a teachable lesson in all of this which I think may be somewhat clear to you. You cannot assume anything or trust anyone to take care of your financial affairs for you. You have to have your hand on the wheel and check to be sure that what people say they have done is really done. As Ronald Reagan said, "Trust but verify.". "Trust but verify" also means periodically checking all three of your credit reports.
Date / Time: 9/18/2009 2:04 PM UTC
Being Aware of these illegal actions by these unscrupulous people could mean the difference between being sued and paying for a debt that it was illegal to pursue and financial liberation.
1. Filing false or fraudulent affidavits claiming that the affiant has personal knowledge of the records supporting the debt but does not produce said records with the affidavit.
2.Threatening to sue a consumer on a time barred debt
3. Failure to provide a validation notice,15 U.S.C. 1692g
4.Adding unauthorized amounts to debts. This is really one of my very favorite violations. I have seen some outrageous interest charges and fees added to alleged debts.
5. Proceeding with collecting a debt after debt collector has been asked to validate the date but has not complied.
Do any of the above points ring a bell? Have you heard stories from friends, acquaintances or relatives who have had these things happen to them?
It is easy to be taken advantage of or to be cowed into making a deal with these when you don't even have a debt that is legally collectible. How would you know? If you owned my system you would see it right there in my user's manual. People who own my self help system have the weapons to fight back and defeat these dirt bags.
You have nothing to lose but the money you payout to these criminals. I offer 3o day email support and a 30 day money back guarantee so what do you have to lose?
Date / Time: 9/18/2009 8:45 AM UTC
Date / Time: 9/18/2009 8:31 AM UTC
I see what is happening to millions of people some of whom I know personally; how their personal wealth has been destroyed and how so many of them have lost their jobs. They now have become the prey of rogue, dishonest debt collectors. Where is their bailout package? Where is their TARP? Because of the financial fallout I am witnessing I have made a decision to slash my pricing.
I have decided to make my entire system available at half price for the month of September,2009. What is normally priced at $79.99 will be just $39.99 but only for September. For the very reasonable price of $39.99 you will receive my 6 proven letters used to stop debt collectors, the user's guide, an audio version of the user's guide so you can play it in your car plus the DVD of my October 15,2008 workshop "How To Deal With Debt Collectors".
If you read the news article about me published in ECommerce you will see that I have been there and done that. I know what it feels like not to have two nickels to rub together, to wonder where you are going to be living next month. I did not read about rising from the ashes. I did it! So can you.
Date / Time: 9/18/2009 8:25 AM UTC
A fellow who publishes a blog known as Value Investor Today has been kind enough to give me some free publicity this weekend. All I can say is thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I am pasting in below what has been written about StoptheCallsFast.Com and me personally.
I recently ran across a sub-par intellect who runs a blog in which he sells snake oil medicine to individuals who try to scam the system. Even though his article was in reference to a company I invest in (ASFI), I found some useful information even from a proponent for not paying your bills. The blog I’m referencing can be found at: http://www.stopthecallsfast.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-palisades-acquisitions-palisades-collectiions-asta-funding-and-zoe/ Even in spite of the feeble attempt of distorting a company’s facts in order to sell his $79.99 snake oil medicine for the person that wants to avoid paying off debts they’ve racked up, if we take the Philip Fisher Scuttlebutt approach to his article, we may find value in some of it. In his article, he quoted the following: “As of today(09/08/09) Asta Funding(Palisades Acquisitions) was plaintiff of record in 4960 civil actions just in the New York State Court System data base. Guess how many actions they were listed as defendant for? 6!!!” As well as: “What does that tell you. It tells me that they play their game well and that those who they sue end up with lots of default judgments. This is easy money for the Stern family which runs Asta.” A great deal of information can be ascertained through this statement he makes: “I have screamed and yelled for a while that these vultures operate with temerity and arrogance because the penalties for violations of the FDCPA and the FRCRA are a joke. I don’t see any politicians screaming and yelling about all these consumer abuses with regard to debts which are beyond statutes of limitation. I would like to see Chris Dodd, Charles Schumer, Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi, and others step up to the plate. I suppose if one has never experienced the threats or harassment from debt collectors acting illegally or been sued by them it is just a distant or someone else’s problem.” In closing, what he’s attempted to do in his article is perpetuate his ideology that people should not pay their debts, regardless if it contributes to the entire mess we’ve seen in the recession that was a direct result of people not paying their obligations. But, in the midst of his babbling, we’ve found that his underlying view of Asta Funding is that of a solid company that benefits from a high rate of success, that never loses its cases in a court of law, rarely gets sued, & the government’s only interest is to let them conduct their business just as they have been doing. This is proof that even in the worst cases of delusional snake oil sales tactics, scuttlebutt is ascertainable. Wishing all a fantastic weekend.
I recently ran across a sub-par intellect who runs a blog in which he sells snake oil medicine to individuals who try to scam the system. Even though his article was in reference to a company I invest in (ASFI), I found some useful information even from a proponent for not paying your bills.
The blog I’m referencing can be found at:
http://www.stopthecallsfast.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-palisades-acquisitions-palisades-collectiions-asta-funding-and-zoe/
Even in spite of the feeble attempt of distorting a company’s facts in order to sell his $79.99 snake oil medicine for the person that wants to avoid paying off debts they’ve racked up, if we take the Philip Fisher Scuttlebutt approach to his article, we may find value in some of it.
In his article, he quoted the following:
“As of today(09/08/09) Asta Funding(Palisades Acquisitions) was plaintiff of record in 4960 civil actions just in the New York State Court System data base. Guess how many actions they were listed as defendant for? 6!!!”
As well as:
“What does that tell you. It tells me that they play their game well and that those who they sue end up with lots of default judgments. This is easy money for the Stern family which runs Asta.”
A great deal of information can be ascertained through this statement he makes:
“I have screamed and yelled for a while that these vultures operate with temerity and arrogance because the penalties for violations of the FDCPA and the FRCRA are a joke. I don’t see any politicians screaming and yelling about all these consumer abuses with regard to debts which are beyond statutes of limitation. I would like to see Chris Dodd, Charles Schumer, Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi, and others step up to the plate. I suppose if one has never experienced the threats or harassment from debt collectors acting illegally or been sued by them it is just a distant or someone else’s problem.”
In closing, what he’s attempted to do in his article is perpetuate his ideology that people should not pay their debts, regardless if it contributes to the entire mess we’ve seen in the recession that was a direct result of people not paying their obligations. But, in the midst of his babbling, we’ve found that his underlying view of Asta Funding is that of a solid company that benefits from a high rate of success, that never loses its cases in a court of law, rarely gets sued, & the government’s only interest is to let them conduct their business just as they have been doing.
This is proof that even in the worst cases of delusional snake oil sales tactics, scuttlebutt is ascertainable.
Wishing all a fantastic weekend.
I will address each one of his points.Being labeled as someone with inferior intelligence is insulting to say the least but consider the source.. In fact that is a first for me. This person then proceeds who label me as a "snake oil salesman" who sells "snake oil medicine". Really? I was written up in E-Commerce.com last year. You can read the article by clicking on the "News" tab at the top of this page. For someone who has never read any of my letters or examined how my system came to be I find the assertions and accusations he has made to be regrettable.
I have never advocated that those who owe money should not pay their bills. Quite to the contrary. If this person would have read my users manual he would have come to a different conclusion. It is not my problem that he invests in ASFI; it is his problem. This company is notorious for operating on the fringes of what is ethical and legal. One need only read the cases brought against them in various Federal District Courts to see what lengths they go to rape consumers who do not legally owe the subject debts.
My point about the number of lawsuits filed by ASTA/Palisades was in no way meant to impress you with the skills of their legal representatives. My astute friend at Value Investing I am sure has never read any one of these cases. If he did he would quickly learn that the suits are filed with little if any supportive documentation on debts which have not been validated under FDCPA. The resulting default judgments happen because the defendants are either too frightened to ignorant to be able to defend themselves. But I guess it's all okay as long as those who are owners of the common shares of ASTA Funding make a profit, right?
The writer of the blog at Value Investing claims I am perpetuating the ideology that people should not pay their debts. This is ridiculous. If I was a jurist you would label me a strict constructionist not a liberal interpreter of the law. My issue simply put that buyers of old out of statute debt which is purchased for $.04 to $.06, who manufacture false affidavits regarding these debts all the while knowing that that debts are well beyond the statutes of limitation in most if not all states, proceed to threaten, intimidate and sue consumers who are like deer in headlights should not be viewed as ethical and honest business people.
Any reader of this blog article is also invited to read the Boston Globe expose of just how horrid and reprehensible some of the practices employed by slim bucket companies such as ASTA Funding, Palisades Aquisitions, LVNV, Alegis, Collect America, etc. are.
One need only read what Bud Hibbs has written about Asta Funding and Palisades Acquisitions. The next thing I'll read is that the author of Value Investing will be writing to me and telling me that Budd Hibbs does not know what he is talking about. Maybe he'll be accused of hawking snake oil too.
I refer my eminent adversary at Value Investing to the following court cases: Palisades Collection, LLC v Haque,2006 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4036;235 N.Y.L.J. 71 (Civ. Ct. Queens Co., April13, 2006). (pp.21-23)
Palisades Collection, LLC a/p/o AT&T Wireless v. Gonzalez 10 Misc. 3d 1058A;809 N.Y.S. 2d 482 (N.Y.County Civ. CT. 2005)(Ellen Gesmer J.) p.24
Maybe my friend at Value Investing should have a conversation with Joann Bergmann who has indentified herself as a Vice President in ASTA's Legal Department. She claimed to have knowledge of many of the accounts which were the subject of this litigation but was never able to produce them. She, further was unable to produce copies of the alleged assignments of account in these cases.
Other cases which point out the insufficiency of Plaintiff claims regarding the efficacy of the their claims of "knowing the facts of the accounts" would be:
Unifund CCR Partners v. Harrell, 2005. Super. LEXIS 2037 (August 3,2005) Re failure to produce legitimate affidavits with supporting documentation. It should be noted here that ASTA Funding and Unifund do a lot of business with each other. The Sterns, both father and son know the Zises brothers of Unifund rather well.
So again I wish to thank Value Investing for the comments even though I find them to be insulting. But any publicity is good publicity as far as I am concerned. You are the reader, you be the judge.
Coming next: "Typical Violations In Connection With Debt Collector Litigation"
Date / Time: 9/18/2009 8:23 AM UTC
Date / Time: 9/9/2009 6:03 PM UTC
Well for starters, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has closed down Fredericks, Goldstein and Zoe but forgetting that what differentiates these two entities is the fact that Fredericks threatened to have people arrested, beaten up and to have sexual relations with their spouses or children. Besides the aforementioned Asta Funding or Palisades Acquisitions is no better. Their game is one I have written about before. They buy up debts which are beyond state sol's(statutes of limitation) and or FTC time barred for about $04 to .05 on the dollar and attempt to collect on them. They then pull a real cutesy move and have a "legitimate" collection agency try to suck the money out of the victims.
They use NCO as one of their tools. I have never perceived NCO to be a legitimate collection agency. Just check the various state court dockets.
What is really quite shocking is the fact that Herman Badillo sits on Asta's Board of Directors. I am sure everyone in New York knows the name Herman Badillo. This is disgraceful. It is disgraceful because this guy is in bed with real scum. Asta's game is to manufacture fraudulent affidavits of debt in house with no supporting documents, manufacture statements of account in house and try to pass these documents off as legitimate in courts of law. Guess what? They get away with it. They get away with it because the alleged debtors do not know their rights or how to defend themselves.
As of today(09/08/09) Asta Funding(Palisades Acquisitions) was plaintiff of record in 4960 civil actions just in the New York State Court System data base. Guess how many actions were listed as defendant for? 6!!! What does that tell you. It tells me that they play their game well and that those who they sue end up with lots of default judgments. This is easy money for the Stern family which runs Asta. I suppose it is all okay if you can get up in the morning and look in the mirror and not feel the slightest bit of guilt. After all, it isn't every day that guys like the Sterns and their board members get to be complicit in ruining so many lives and come off like their are ethical and honest business people.
Their attempt at a cloak of respectability is rather touching with their NASDAQ listing. It is like publicly traded shares of what horses dropped in the local stables last night.
I have screamed and yelled for a while that these vultures operate with temerity and arrogance because the penalties for violations of the FDCPA and the FRCRA are a joke. I don't see any politicians screaming and yelling about all these consumer abuses with regard to debts which are beyond statutes of limitation. I would like to see Chris Dodd, Charles Schumer, Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi, and others step up to the plate. I suppose if one has never experienced the threats or harassment from debt collectors acting illegally or been sued by them it is just a distant or someone else's problem.
In a previous article I factored in for inflation and showed you how the $1000 fine for each violation of the FCRA and the FDCPA in the 1970's adjusted for inflation would be more than $5485 today. Why should these debt collectors care about a puny $1000 fine when they are making millions off the backs of people who have no clue as to how to stand up and take control?
I started StoptheCallsFast because of my own experiences with these debt collectors and their brand of financial terrorism. I learned how to take the offense and get rid of them both in court and out of court. That is what my self help system teaches people to do. For the month of September I have slashed my prices in half. What was $79.99 is now only $39.99 but just for September. A small investment which will pay for itself many times over.
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