How many of you think you’ve heard everything when it comes to how far collection companies will go to collect money that may be owed to their clients?
Have you ever been threatened with arrest? How about “Without your payment, we will be referring this to our legal division” or one of the worst I’ve heard a client tell me “You are an unfit mother and if you can’t even pay these bills, we’ll have to get the court to take your kids away from you.”
Well – today, my friends, I’ve heard what I think is one of the most blatant and intentional violations of just about every consumer protection law there is.
An Erie, Pennsylvania collections company named ‘Unicredit America, Inc’ setup a fake courtroom in their office building, with an elevated judge area, plaintiff & defendant tables – all under the guise of convincing debtors to pay a bill. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office has files a lawsuit against them for their illegal actions.
From the PA Attorney General’s office release,
According to the lawsuit, fictitious court proceedings were used to intimidate consumers into providing access to bank accounts, making immediate payments or surrendering vehicle titles and other assets – sometimes dispatching Unicredit employees to consumers’ homes in order to retrieve documents or have consumers sign payment agreements.
Corbett said Unicredit allegedly used civil subpoenas to summon consumers to an office in Erie, which included an area referred to by Unicredit employees as “the courtroom.”
The fake courtroom allegedly contained furniture and decorations similar to those used in actual court offices, including a raised “bench” area where a judge would be seated; two tables and chairs in front of the “bench” for attorneys and defendants; a simulated witness stand; seating for spectators; and legal books on bookshelves. During some proceedings, an individual dressed in black was seated where observers would expect to see a judge
In my practice, I have seen documents that are created by a collections company that appear to be government issued documents, or similar to court orders. I’ve even had payday lenders tell my clients over the phone (they’ve never done it in writing yet or I’d take them to court over it) that if the client doesn’t file bankruptcy within the next three days the client can’t discharge their debt.
I would say that a good 10% of my time is spent dispelling incorrect understandings of the law, or reassuring clients that the creditor won’t have them arrested and can’t take their car if they can’t pay a credit card debt or if they file bankruptcy (while still paying the car note.)
In Nevada, before a creditor can garnish your wages, or even try to take non-exempt assets, the creditor has a to file a lawsuit against you. The creditor then has to personally serve you, or if you’ve moved recently and the creditor can’t find you, it can request that the court allow ‘service by publication‘ (i.e. you can’t stop a lawsuit by simply aiding the process server.) If you do not respond, the creditor can get a default judgment then can go after 25% of your net wages, your bank account, etc. If you answer and defend the case, depending on if it is an original creditor or a debt buyer, you may be able to win the case or at least reduce or mitigate your damages to what the original creditor or debt buyer can prove you actually owe.
If at any time a collections company ever threatens you or someone you know with arrest for not paying a credit card bill, car note, mortgage, or personal/payday loan, CALL ME, your Bankruptcy Defender, to schedule your FREE consultation.
Signed,
Related articles
- Debt Collecting Firm Accused Of Setting Up Fake Courtroom (lockergnome.com)
- Dirty debt collectors frightened victims with fake “sheriffs,” “courtroom,” “judges” (boingboing.net)
- Debt Collector Unicredit America Inc Accused of Setting Up Fake Courtroom (smarterotti.com)
