Caution If you have been served with a complaint, time is NOT on your side
What Is a Debt Buyer?
A debt buyer purchases charged off consumer debt for pennies on the dollar. They then try to collect as much of it as possible through in house or outsourced debt collectors.
Debt Buyers Screw Up Frequently
Many times, when a debt buyer buys a debt, they refuse to pay extra for the supporting documents. Without these, they cannot prove their case in court. So why don’t they purchase the back documents? Because they know that when they file a lawsuit, over 98% of all the people that they serve will not answer the complaint. The debt buyers almost always get a default judgment against the people they sue.
Did your debt buyer screw up?
Probably. But you will never know unless you push back and timely file an answer to the complaint.
They typically purchase debt for pennies on the dollar. It can be anywhere from $.01 to $.10 per dollar.
Their debt collectors are extremely negotiable since they have such a large profit margin in the debt that they purchased. Just know that you might have to push them a little to take a smaller amount in settlement.
They are counting on you to NOT file an answer to their complaint timely. If you fail to answer their complaint timely, you will be default and a judgment will entered against you. This is how they collect over 98% of their money is by enforcing default judgments. Be sure to file that answer timely. If you are unsure how much time you have, call the court or call us. Either of us will tell you how long you have to answer.
They are counting on you to not know the fact that without a timely filed answer, you will NOT get any hearing date. If you do not file an answer, there is no need for a hearing because the court will enter a default and judgment against you. Be sure to file your answer timely!
They are counting on you trusting them that they are right. Don’t do that! Don’t believe for a second that just because you are being sued that they can prove their case or that they are even right. The fact of the matter is that many times, they cannot even prove their case.
If you decide to defend against this suit yourself, just know that there are several things that can go wrong, even if you are in the right. You really should hire an attorney or at least get some attorney assistance to coach you.
They will bully you into a settlement if you let them. Don’t allow them. Push them back. At the pretrial hearing, ask the judge for written discovery. This will allow you to ask the Plaintiff for the documents and witnesses it has to prove its case. They will try to bully you into thinking that they don’t have to respond, but don’t buy it. You keep asking for what you want. If you don’t get it, call the judge’s clerk and get a hearing on your Motion to Compel Discovery. Judges don’t like bullies.
If the debt is on your credit report, any settlement must include their written promise to remove it. If they tell you that they cannot remove their own collection item from your credit report, they are lying to you. Do not take “no” for an answer. Just note, however, since they bought the debt, they cannot remove the seller’s item from your credit report, but they can remove their own.
Our Credit Repair Process
CRLAM reviews your credit report for errors so we can assist you in resolving them – we get our fees from the settlements from the credit bureaus and creditors that have wronged you, If there is no settlement there is no fee to our client.
CRLAM provides you with up to three free dispute letters, designed to force these companies into rectifying the mistakes on your credit report.
If for any reason they do not resolve these issues even after being sent these dispute letters via certified mail, we can then sue them for you and if you get a monetary settlement we would only then get paid out of those fees.
