Help with Weltman,Weinberg and Reis

If you still have problems with debt collectors, go to this site where you will find the best
article on this matter and a forum, also you can ask your questions and get the best answers on 'what to do' in this kind of situations:

http://hanavee.hubpages.com/hub/You-Can-Beat-Credit-Card-Debt-Collectors

'Money Order' is the best to send money to creditors.
But, if you will go to that website, you will find out your rights and find out that you do NOT
have to pay the debt buyer anything.
Just read the best information at the above website.
good luck!

If Brian Gray / Hanavee wants to promote his Hub page, he could do it more honestly than through a vague off-topic reply to the original post from 3.5 years ago.

} you do NOT have to pay the debt buyer anything.

Okay, but Bob was sued by an original creditor, one which favors hiring WWR, the star of this topic.

} the best article .... the best information

I politely disagree. Much of the piece is premised on the canard that "you don't have a contract with debt collectors". I notice when readers have questioned this point, the chatty author ignores it. Every credit card contract for many years has had a clause saying more or less, "We can sell or assign your account to anybody we like". More to the point, it then says your contract survives *all* changes in account status, including charge-off, resale, whatever. While junk debt buyers tend not to purchase "full media" proof of claim, they do acquire the right to enforce all contract terms. That is why they can sue for debts they never helped create.

What I really need to know about the author's background is in his conclusion: "I used everything I have written herein to defend myself ... They did not show up in court, and the judge dismissed the case ..." Yay for him, his opponent surrendered early. That does not mean anything he threw at the plaintiff was going to work, or even that it was "used". He only made himself a more difficult target. The opponent moved on to easier pigeons.

To say that your contract is only with the lender is not a defense, and only helps defeat you. A judge is forced to agree with CFPB Director Richard Cordray, who has repeated the same insight since his confirmation. You don't get to choose your debt collector. You do, however, get to challenge a JDB on chain of title. How was that debt calculated? How do you know it's accurate? Who told you they were? Who kept the records? Were you there when they were created? Do you have a live witness from the original creditor to explain it to us? Those are things to ask the JDB when it decides to call a defendant's perceived bluff.

Much later in the comments we learn that when his opponent appealed, he hired a lawyer, who presumably did what the author could not. His article advises: "If it is a higher court, then you need to retain a lawyer. ... After you have read my article, you can tell any lawyer exactly how to proceed, although he or she should already know this."

Little to nothing is keeping anyone from working pro se in a "higher court". That's a decision for each person to make against a serious assessment of confidence and skill. When you do hire out, no lawyer is going to let you play Shadow Counsel, especially not if you're harping on dubious pleadings. What's more, consumer lawyers on average are too timid, lazy, and/or inexperienced to scorch earth if that's what you want. They know how to settle debt for a modest discount and file bankruptcy. For anything else, shop around carefully for the ones who don't mind working for their fees.

I don't mean to trample on the whole web page. Some discussion there I don't dispute. But mark me ... There are no surefire outcomes in a courtroom. By extension, there is no "best article, best information" on debtor defense. If you're staring down a debt case, or enforcing your rights as FDCPA plaintiff, your research should come from a balanced diet of sources. What a single online forum comment says or a lawyer says may not best fit your problem. Litigation is more about strategy, as like a decision flow chart, than reading a recipe.

So how many payments did your boyfriend make on the TV before the account was sent to WWR?  How many payments did he miss.

You file a "judgement"?  Interesting.  

I guess that is more convenient than filing suit and proving you have a legitimate claim, eh?

Are all CA thralls middle school dropouts?  Just wondering.

"So how many payments did your boyfriend make on the TV before the account was sent to WWR?  How many payments did he miss."

Wow. A shill's jejune taunt posted under a racial slur instead of a name. What a charming combination.

Why are they a POS?  They are only doing the job their client LVNV hired them to do because your boyfriend quit making payments.

I have had numbers in the past where collection agencies call my number looking for people I never heard of. I could tell them until I am blue in the face that they have the wrong number and they refuse to listen. So when an irresponsible person gets a new phone number, responsible people end up with calls from people like you when their old number is reissued.

Do some homework and try and find a way to settle this debt.  Try calling WWR and speak to them in a civil manner.  You can fight them all you want but the bottom line is that a debt is still owed.

"Do some homework and try and find a way to settle this debt."

Yes, if it were only so simple.  

So, really, who are you?  resident47 (Lone Stranger)?

Trying to settle a debt with a third party collector is like trying to count grains or sand on a beach.  You will waste a lot of time and won't come out any the wiser when it's all said and done. You will, no doubt, be poorer...

Let me propose something that resident47 and Lone Stranger won't like:  TALK TO A LAWER.  Talk to a lawyer who specializes in contract law, one who is local, one who knows the law of YOUR land.  

There's no way around this:  get professional help and coming to 800notes will only add to your confusion, if legal advice is what you're looking for.

That's smart.   So how will you be paying the lawyer?

Also I can imagine what the lawyer would tell the person in this case.  Yes, that's your signature on the contract, what do you want me to do?

Oftentimes from fines imposed on WWR for violations of the FDCA   They have been sued in federal courts all over the country for violating the law--something they claim to practice but apparently have little respect for.
http://dockets.justia.com/search?query=Weltma ... &after=&before=

Collector said:

"That's smart.   So how will you be paying the lawyer?"

We'll discuss that in just a moment...

"Also I can imagine what the lawyer would tell the person in this case.  Yes, that's your signature on the contract, what do you want me to do?"

If one buys into your perverse world view, I presume at this juncture purported debtors should collapse in despair because you have shown them that they cannot defend themselves, and even if they could, your victory is inevitable?

(To be clear, such assertions as yours are wholly without merit.)

Trying to disarm your prey with fear and intimidation, and hoping you can get a default judgement when alleged debtors no-show out of a sense of hopelessness is your industry's stock and trade.  If I were amoral enough to be in your line of work, I suppose I might turn to such a desperate and despicable  strategy myself.

The thing is, when armed with some knowledge of the laws involved, people can (with enough effort) successfully represent themselves.   Nor is professional representation the impossible dream you are trying to paint it to be.  And finally, victory is assured to no one, least of all a CA confronted by a well prepared consumer or their counsel.  The history of litigation is filled with swaggering cocksure scoundrels getting their much deserved comeuppance.

I do find it interesting that while the bearing taken is different, both you and that poster which you were responding to, seem bent on disenfranchising people.  You, by implying that people cannot avail themselves of professional representation and that representation is futile in any case; the other poster, by implying that professional representation is an absolute necessity, and by implication, that people are incapable of looking after their own interests.  In combination, you two are quite demoralizing to those who may find you credible.  On the one hand, apparently we must have an attorney, and on the other, we cannot afford one, and there is nothing to be gained if we could.  Quite a pair, you two, and a nasty bit of deceptive triangulation.

As I have suggested on many occasions in the past, an initial consult with a reputable attorney can be had for free, or at least for a very modest price.  

And as I have also pointed out in the past, Legal Aid can be a resource:

http://www.legal-aid.org/en/home.aspx

So, befuddled and gibbering jackanapes in the aflatoxin riddled shadows of the site's peanut gallery notwithstanding, and suggestions by you that the accused have no recourse dismissed with all due  prejudice; I do most heartily recommend an attorney if one is called for, and the means are available.  But in so doing, I do not dismiss the power of a motivated individual to do an admirable job of fending for themselves.


In many cases, however, simply shouting "get a lawyer" in reply to a post seems to border on the sophomoric.  Certainly by itself it is less than responsive or helpful.  And I don't mean to discomfort you with respect to your pre-conceptions, but a surprising number of people already realize that lawyers handle legal problems.  

So instead of such banal sops, posters need context in order to understand how best to proceed in their situation.  Therefore, I find directing people to information, helping them to understand that they can be in control of the situation, and making the idea of obtaining counsel (if needed) seem more approachable to people who are frightened and broke,  these things, I find to be more in line with what people need, and what we can reasonably  offer, on a site like this.

For those whose abilities, personality, and present disposition are conducive to pro se, there are web sites with a focus on that path, such as http://www.debtorboards.com .  For some it is a matter of choice, for others, a matter of necessity.  In either case, it can be a perfectly viable option.

Of course, if the opposition is a scofflaw CA, with FDCPA violations galore, a contingency fee arrangement may also be an option.  And victory by the CA is hardly a foregone conclusion in an industry rife with missing and forged documentation, scofflaw behavior, and junk debt.

The use of an attorney vs. self-help/pro se is ultimately a matter of judgement based on the level of jeopardy, personal abilities and disposition, and the available means.  There is no one right answer, despite the cookie cutter responses by  certain parties intent on misdirection of those in need, attempting to discredit those intent on helping, and the subtle insinuation of lies and confusion into the site's collective consciousness.  That such would be the case seems more than a little obvious.

Finally, as an aside, how my repeated assertions of such things in an effort to aid others fits in with the delusional rantings of a certain troll on this site I will never know - but what can you expect of someone who can't tell one poster from another, having repeatedly been unable to discern among at least half a dozen people, with different viewpoints, writing styles, habits, and personalities.  Perhaps we are lumped together simply because we have similar assessments of the nature and worth of that miscreant's efforts here?  No matter.  Background noise is part of life, and not terribly important.

Four years ago I got behind on all my credit cards and one was Capital One. They added late charges which put me over my limit so they then added more charges for being over. A balance of $960 ended up over $1600. I could not afford to pay them or any of the others, so all my cards went into collection. Seven different collection agencies bought my accounts and each one kept adding interest to them. Eventually they ended up with a collector in California. Since they could not sue me, they hired WWR which has an office in my state. The balance was now $4800 and WWR did not even serve me the court summons for a lawsuit. I found it blowing in the yard one day when I was walking the dog. They are supposed to tape it to your door but they are so sneeky they just threw it on the porch and hoped I would not show up in court so they could win by default. I had enough of them and all the other collectors so I found a lawyer who agreed  to let me pay $100 a month until I was paid up and I had all my debts discharged by bankruptcy. For all the collectors who come to this site and call us "deadbeats" and say we need to own up to pay what we owe...I went over all my receipts and discovered that  on just the one account where I owed $960, I had already paid out $2200 in interest and "late" fees when I was not late. When I am sending in $100 payment and $75 goes to interest, these credit card companies are making a fortune off us letting us use their card. Obama made a big mistake when he bailed out the banks several years ago. He should have given each taxpayer several thousand of dollars with the stipulation they pay off their credit cards and mortgages. The banks would have come out ahead, our bills would have been paid off and we still would not have spent what we did giving the banks all that money to turn around and screw us with sky high interest and forclosures.

Interest is a killer when you don't make payments for a while.  I'm sure in the original contracts you signed you agreed to pay interest so it's not the collection agencies adding the interest.