My reference to IED's in the title of this blog may have caught you off balance. Yes, I am referring to improvised explosive devices commonly used by terrorists and/or insurgents in Iraq and Afganistan. Well the debt collector equivalent of IED's would be some of the illegal strategies employed by some of the more infamous debt collectors. Specifically I'll be talking you about how they file boilerplate affidavits that they know are fictiticious, filing phony contracts of or bills of sale without your name or account on and alleging that they bought your account, sending legal filings against you knowingly to a bad address and changing the date of last of activity on your credit reports so that they can try to sue you within the statute of limitations.
Phony Affidavits
This has been perfected to the point of almost being an art form by such notable debt collectors as Worldwide Asset Purchasing, LVNV, Unifund just to name a few. Typically a low level employee of the debt collector affirms that he or she is familiar with the circumstances surrounding the account in question and has access to all of the pertinent agreements, transactions records and statements for said account. The only problem is that the supporting documentation is not included with the affidavit in the summons and complaint filed by the debt collector's legal counsel because there is no documentation.
The very sad part of it is that consumers who do not know their rights, who don't know how to defend themselves or who do not get an attorney end up with default judgments. I am providing the link to a white paper provided by some very excellent attorneys just click here to read more. The courts do not know fraudulent affidavits have been filed unless you the defendant tell them.
Statements Manufactured By Old Debt Buyers Just Using A Desktop Computer
Recently one of my friends was sued by Worldwide Asset Purchasing. Their attorneys filed a motion for default judgment with the Superior Court in New Haven, CT. Included in the papers filed was a boilerplate affidavit and contracts of sale showing the 3 different times the alleged account of my friend had been bought and sold. What was bizarre and astounding about these "legal documents", I use that term with tongue in cheek, is that none of these contracts or bills of sale had any letterhead, any notary seal, any witnesses but just some barely legible signature at the bottom of someone representing themselves as a vice president or some sort of financial officer.
The scary part of the aforementioned is that these people get away with this stuff because consumers (debtors) are intimidated by this boilerplate garbage and have no idea of what their rights are. My purpose of my business is of course to earn a living but primarily I seek to educate consumers through my proven self help system how they can defend themselves against these white collar criminals and learn to take the offensive. Anyone can click on the tab on the menu bar on my blog to learn how they can purchase my system and what they get for their money.
Changing The Date Of Last Activity
I think you should about the recent case showing just how insidious and nefarious the practice of altering the date of last activity is. I am refering to Mary Jo Barnett, John Allen Brookins, and Dewey Jack Crossland, Individually And On Behalf Of All Others Simarly Situated v. Unifund Corp. Just click on the emboldened case and you will be taken to the pdf file. This makes great reading. Unifund is owned by the Zises Brothers who are well known for their chicanery. The court in this case mandated that Experian must cooperate with Unifund in correcting the dates it altered on consumer credit reports.
Another important case is Heather Gillespie And Angela Cinson v. Equifax Information Services, L.L.C. By clicking this case reference you read about the shenanigans Equifax pulled the key part of the decision is this:
"...We conclude that the consumer
reporting agency must do more than simply make an
accurate disclosure of the information in the consumer’s
credit file. The disclosure must be made in a manner
sufficient to allow the consumer to compare the disclosed
information from the credit file against the consumer’s
personal information in order to allow the consumer to
determine the accuracy of the information set forth in her
credit file. In writing § 1681g(a)(1), Congress requires
disclosure that is both “clearly and accurately” made. An
accurate disclosure of unclear information defeats the
consumer’s ability to review the credit file, eliminating a
consumer protection procedure established by Congress
under the FCRA. ..."
The Circuit Court concluded that the disclosures were unclear because “[t]he Date of Last Activity field is used for different purposes within Equifax’s file” because it discloses dates for current accounts, delinquent accounts, and delinquent accounts for which additional payments have been made but which are still in default. Gillespie, at 941-42. But the Court was more concerned with the fact that the manner in which the Date of Last Activity was calculated “could effectively allow Equifax the opportunity to keep delinquent accounts in the credit file past the seven and one-half year limitation” in the FCRA because any intervening payment by the consumer resets the last activity date. Id., at 942. The Seventh Circuit found this particularly troubling because Equifax had access to the “date the first major delinquency was reported” but failed to disclose that information to consumers.
So in conclusion I have tried to highlight some of the worst things that old debt buyers keep in their bag of tricks to sacrifice you on the altar of fnancial security. To be well informed is to be well armed. I wish everyone a safe and fund filled Memorial Day weekend.
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