Complaint Review: Allied Interstate

Steve,

You have still not answered my question: If you did indeed declare bankruptcy in 1986 (discharge in 1987) why are you still fighting collection agencies? That is if you haven't made a career out of fraudulently obtaining credit without any intention of paying it back. That's my guess though.

You seem to be proud of not paying your bills whereas most of the people who are in debt actually attempt to pay it back (if they can). Most of them would love anything more than to just be able to pay it back verses what you do. I think you purposely obtain credit and run up debt for the sole purpose of getting out of it later and I think you ignore it so that it will go to collections. Once it's in collections you know they're going to violate the FDCPA because they always do and you get out of the debt on a technicality. That, my dear, is fraud and I believe is a felony too (I think it's called theft by swindle or something like that).

I declared bankruptcy too however I no longer believe in borrowing money anymore (except student loans). Therefore, I don't deal with collection agencies anymore. You, on the other hand, declared bankruptcy 20 years ago and still managed to run up more debt that you brag about all over this site; you also brag about getting out of it by winning ALL of your battles against collection agencies.

I don't believe that you single handedly got an attorney disbarred anywhere in the United States. I;ve tried that and nothing was done about it because disbarment is very unusual and very hard to do. The attorney must have had prior administrative action taken against him/her and/or had other similar complaints pending.

I have already made it clear that I have legal training but what's yours? Are you a legal assistant, paralegal, lawyer? What?

You seem to have whatever life experience that you conveniently need to have to make yourself sound like an expert in just about every subject and to make you sound smarter than anyone else on this web site. Although I am by far NOT an expert, I do know plenty about the FDCPA because so far, I have dealt with them personally (until bankruptcy) and I spent an entire semester studying the FDCPA along with the MN statutes and case law that follows. I have also dealt with it professionally. I have also studied what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law and what does not (this is drilled into a paralegal's head in school). I have also studied litigation and rules of civil procedure, real estate, probate, contracts, and a lot of other subjects that go with actually having legal training.

It is you that doesn't know what you are talking about especially where it comes to giving legal advice which you do a lot; like when you tell people which motions to file and how to file them (you're not always right on that stuff either). In most cases, attorney's do NOT have to follow the FDCPA or say that they are debt collectors unless debt collection is a regular part of their practice and they have to be collecting for a 3rd party; all of which is to be determined by a judge. If you have legal training get on Westlaw or Lexis and read the case law; case law defines the duties of attorneys under the FDCPA because if you read the FDCPA it only applies to debt collectors; not attorneys. For example if I win a lawsuit against someone and my attorney is collecting on that judgment or debt for me he is collecting for a 3rd party (me). However, this is not a regular part of his/her practice so theoretically, he is not bound by the provisions in the FDCPA and does NOT have to say that he/she is a debt collector. However, if you have a law firm like some of the firms listed on this web site, whose sole purpose is debt collection, the case law generally says that they DO have to comply with the FDCPA because they are considered debt collectors. Now, individual states might actually define an attorney as a debt collector for the purposes of their state laws but that's how it is federally and also in MN. In MN, debt collectors need to be licensed by the Dept. of Commerce however, attorneys do not have to be licensed to collect a debt nor do they have to register as a debt collector in anyway with the state. They just need to be licensed to practice law in MN if they are going to file a lawsuit here. So far that's all I can remember just off of the top of my head from my research from school.

I guess that I stand by my original statement: You are a blowhard and that's why you instinctively attack not only me but anyone else who dares to correct you on your many mistakes.

Amy,

In response to your post above, let me clarify a few things.

First, I always suggest that a person who can afford a lawyer, gets one, but ONLY to defend a lawsuit. However, as I have stated several times, MOST people who need legal assistance CANNOT afford it.

It is unwise to spend the money on an attorney just to fight collections issues and credit reporting issues. This is a clear waste of money.

The matter of people holding themselves out as an attorney, you STILL cannot comprehend the difference in the laws covering the different situations.

If any debt collector calls a person and identifies themselves as an attorney, and they are not an attorney, they have violated both the FDCPA, as well as state law in most cases. Even if a collector IS an attorney, they are required by federal law and most state laws to identify themselves as a debt collector.

The term "holding yourself out as an attorney" applies when someone DIRECTLY states that he/she is an attorney and offers legal advice. This is a totally different situation than the debt collector posing as an attorney for purposes of intimidation.

Now, if someone holds themselves out as an attorney, AND collects a fee, in many states, that is a FELONY, or a gross misdemeanor. This is where everything changes. When money is collected under false pretenses. It is fraud.

As far as bankruptcy goes, I have personal experience in this. I filed my own personal BK in 1986, discharged in 1987, and have been involved in 2 business bankruptcies for firms that I was employed by and also partner in one.

Furthermore I do have a couple of years of working in the legal field and have some education in the field.

I never get mad when someone who knows what they are talking about corrects me, I usually thank them for the info.

However, I do get upset when someone like you who clearly knows nothing about the situation at hand corrects me. I do have a problem with that.

I have practical, hands on experience in the things I speak of. Lots of it. Not just 1 or 2 cases.

If I know so little, why have I won every case against me in the past 5 years without a lawyer? Do you think I just got lucky in these dozens of cases?

I have stopped debt collectors cold within 10 days of them recieving my "account", and have documentation to prove it. I also have 4 dismissals of lawsuits without ever spending 1 day in court on any of them. Two of them, dismissal WITH prejudice. Cannot be re-filed.

I have gotten compensation out of 2 collection agencies, without spending 1 day in court, and I have gotten 1 lawyer disbarred for illegal/unethical activities.

Looks like a pretty good track record for someone who allegedly knows nothing!

Steve,

Once again you don't pay attention to what I posted because you are so blinded by your own self righteousness to read what I said. I said that I advised my mom to contact an attorney in MN who specializes in FDCPA. I found him because my friend is a paralegal in his law office and she's the one who told me that he takes those cases mostly on contingencies. My mom and I had also spoken with the attorney who said that he would be interested in her case if it didn't settle and advised her how to proceed with settling her case. He said he had dealt with both the Gurstel Law Firm and Allied Interstate in the past and he enjoyed taking them on because they are so crooked.

You are right, you don't say outright that you are an attorney but until I asked you several times about it; you certainly implied it a lot. I would never give legal advice because the only LEGAL advice that I can legally give is to consult an attorney. I always make it clear that I am not a lawyer and that people should consult a lawyer for legal advice.

You really can't stand someone pointing out that you are wrong. You can't even make up your mind as to how people should deal with collection agencies; your postings are all over the place. In your responses to me, you say that people can't afford attorneys so they should represent themselves because obviously you've been so successful in doing so (I don't believe half of what you say). But, then in others you advise people to seek legal counsel. Who are you to decide when they should or should not do that? You have no legal training what-so-ever! You also give them advice on how to file pleadings and motions and that is really walking the line if not one foot over the line.

You seem to have knowledge about every kind of debt from collection agencies to lawyers. You even claim to have bankruptcy knowledge. Even I don't understand all of the new bankruptcy laws or the old ones for that matter; I know attorneys who don't understand it either. It is a very complicated and specialized type of law which takes years of training to understand. If you declared bankruptcy why are you still fighting creditors, collection agencies, and collection attorneys unless you are making a career out of running up debt with no intention in paying it back, just to get out of it later through technicalities? That's fraud and also could be criminal if anyone ever caught on to it. Obtaining credit with no intention of paying it back is fraud.

You could do a lot more good if you would make up your mind and be honest in your assessments of your personal knowledge. Nobody can have that much experience with every kind of debt collection practice unless they made a career out of being in debt or they are a lawyer specializing in that type of law. We know you're not a lawyer. It's not only illegal for a debt collector to hold themselves out to be a lawyer but everyone else too (in most states; it varies).

You are so defensive about anything anybody says that remotely contradicts you. Why?

I agree that Dirk must work for a collection agency. I think it's Allied because his tone is really in-line with they way they act.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, fell into a little bit of debt which she is not trying to get out of. She just wants to be treated with respect and fairly in paying her debt. I also agree that if she does send them a money order, to make sure that she takes a copy of it before sending it and make sure that she can get a copy of the canceled money order (once they cash it) before she even sends it. A better way to pay might be to use a cashier's check; I think they don't want you to because it's easy to get a copy of a canceled cashier's check. That's what my mom did when she settled; she sent a cashier's check and got a copy of the canceled check from the bank who drafted the check.

Good luck Elizabeth in dealing with these guys. If you call the MN attorney general's office you will find that they have many complaints about this company and also the MN department of commerce has taken administrative action against them for violations of the FDCPA.

Elizabeth;
About the only thing I can think of, is to make a copy of the money order after you fill it out.
Then in about 3 weeks contact the company that issued the money order and request a copy, both front and back and save it for your records.

Dork, sorry dirk:
I guess its true collection agency's don't have to work with someone, wouldn't it be better if someone was willing to pay, take what you can?
No, that would make you human, and that's to much to ask for, from any collector.
If the original credit is out of the picture, they sold or charged off the account. How are you collecting, for the original creditor,
Wouldn't that fall under misleading & false statements unde FDCPA.
I believe a U.S. Attorney and the postal inspectors would become interested if your company was sued in civil court and LOST, if they got some complaints they might come after you for fraud and a host of other charges

Elizabeth,

Please understand that paying these lowlife will not get it off, or keep it off your credit report. paying any old debt sold to a junk debt buyer IS NOT going to the origial crditor. It is going to some bottomfeeder that paid like a penny or less on the dollar for it. They are entitled to nothing.

However, IF you do decide to pay these lowlife, be sure to get a signed statement/invoice from them that clearly states that this is a TOTAL payment due and there is no outstanding obligation of any kind after this payment is made. Do not send any payment until you have this, then use a bank cashiers check and clearly reference the "account" being paid off.

Good luck!

is kinda scary. It only tells me that they will not, nor want, to acknowledge any payment sent to them.

I guess you could send a cashier's check via UPS or certified-signed receipt required-mail.

Thank you all for your input, I guess my main concern was with having to send western union. But I think it would be okay to just send a money order. For clarification, there were no bad checks, I closed the account before that became a problem. I guess I will just send them what I can afford in money orders. I guess my only issue left is how I can go about getting reciepts from them. Does anyone know if they will send me a reciept each time I send them payment or how I should go about requesting reciepts and the amount owed?

Amy,

You are confused here, so I will clear things up for you. You imply that I hold myself out as an attorney, and offer legal advice. I do neither.

Furthermore, you are mixing issues, and confusing two entirely different laws. A debt collector falsely posing as an attorney is illegal. It is fraud, and if it is used in conjunction with threats and intimidation, it can become criminal. State laws vary.

Therefore, a collector posing as an attorney for purposes of intimidation is totally different than one holding themselves out to to the public as an attorney, and/or giving unlicensed legal advice. Two totally separate issues. And, in some states, fraudulently holding yourself out as an attorney is a felony.

So, once again Amy the paralegal has absolutely no idea what she is talking about. And Amy, admittedly held herself out as an attorney representing her mother in a credit issue. She clearly said she gave "advice". Therefore, illegal as she is not a licensed attorney.

As I have said before, the reality is that very few people who need an attorney can afford the services of an attorney and must defend themselves. Therefore Amy's advice to get an attorney for every situation is flawed as that is clearly not possible. I make good money, and can not afford an attorney. That is why I had to learn how to deal with things myself, and I have done that successfully.

And, one more thing. As far as making the statement in the defense of your mother telling the collector you would only deal with the creditor directly, this is not the way it works. Once an account is sold or assigned, it is a violation of the contract and outright fraud for the original creditor to discuss the account and/or accept a payment. They CAN NOT take the payment.

Now for Dirk, the collector. Standard uneducated debt collector drivel here. The reason collectors want a credit card or Western Union payment is so they can get the commission/credit for the collection. In most agencies collectors only get paid on the actual amount they personally collect, so if a debtor mails in a payment, that collector does not get the credit for that amount collected. The OP never indicated in any way the payment was refused due to bad checks.

For the record, I am NOT an attorney, and the information provided here is NOT legal advice and should not be construed as such. It is simply the sharing of what has worked for me over the past 5 years with 34 creditors, dozens of bottomfeeders, and several lawsuits. I have won every fight so far and have not paid out one dime to anyone, and have no judgements against me. I walked away from $170,000 in unsecured debt. Therefore, based on PERFORMANCE, my methods appear to be sound.

Dirk,

I fail to see where Elizabeth said that she ever bounced a check to Allied; if fact she said that she closed her account to avoid bouncing checks because Allied was withdrawing money from her account (I assume).

Also, she acknowledges that she owes the debt and is willing to pay it. So I also fail to see where she is passing the buck here. You obviously are a collector probably working for Allied. It just goes to show that people who work for collection agencies have issues with listening to what people say and also apparently reading too.

Elizabeth,

Allied Interstate has violated the FDCPA by threatening legal action without any intention of perusing it. When my mom and I were dealing with these scum bags, over a Capital One account, they did a lot of things that violated the FDCPA. They told my dad how much she owed even though he wasn't on her account. They demanded my mom's work number from my dad and had he not asked me about it first, he would have given it to them. And when he wouldn't give it to them, they said that was fine they would just pull her credit report and find out where she works anyway and then they would just start calling her there and they also said that they would tell everyone she works with until she paid. And finally, they said that they were going to garnish her wages without ever filing a lawsuit first. So after about a month, I called Allied on my mom's behalf and asked them if they had filed a lawsuit or even intended to initiate a law suit. They told me no but they were about to and they were going to garnish her wages (I recorded this conversation because in MN only one person has to know that the conversation is being recorded).

I then told them that I was a paralegal and that I was advising my mom to contact a local attorney who specializes in FDCPA issues (and named his law firm; Allied is based in MN so they knew who this attorney was) to file a law suit and that she would never pay anyone but Capital One directly.

They responded to that call and the letters we sent to them by sending the debt to a local collections attorney (The Gurstel Law Firm); they continued the harassment until I sent them a copy of the recording. She ended up settling the debt with them for less than half of what they said was owed and in exchange we agreed not to sue Allied, Capital One, or them for multiple violations of the FDCPA. Sometimes it's better when an attorney gets involved.

No one at Allied is an attorney, if you are speaking with them anyway (I'm sure they have general counsel somewhere within the company). Most of them probably are lucky if they even have a high school degree. They never have permission from the original creditor to initiate a lawsuit; if that was the case they would send it on to a law firm like the Gurstel Law Firm. Allied doesn't sue people by themselves, they need an attorney for that.

You should try to find an attorney; the attorney who specializes in the FDCPA violations in MN takes most of his cases on a contingency basis because obviously most of his clients are in debt and have no money. They're out there it just takes some work to find them. These cases are easier to win if you keep a detailed journal of when they called and what was said however, recordings are the best. This includes keeping track of when they come up on the caller id. Also, keep all written correspondence with them too. Findlaw is a good place to find local attorneys by subject matter; just Google it.

Good Luck!

Steve,

I'm glad to see that you have acknowledged that it is criminal to hold oneself out as an attorney. It's called the unlawful (or unauthorized) practice of law and in most states it's a misdemeanor. Unfortunately, it's such a minor violation it's hard to get anyone to spend the time and money prosecute it; however, it's not a bad ideal to report that type of behavior to the local prosecutor after all, they are attorneys and are well aware of the implications for the unauthorized practice of law.

THE REASON THEY WILL ONLY TAKE CREDIT CARD OR WESTERN UNION IS BECAUSE YOU BOUNCED A CHECK AND THEY WANT CERTIFIED FUNDS. REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU READ, ALLIED INTERSTATE IS A COLLECTION AGENCY NOT A "MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU CANT PAY YOUR BILL" AGENCY. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ABOUT IF THE PAYMENTS ARE GOING TO THE RIGHT PLACE. YES THEY ARE. ALLIED WOULDNT BE IN BUSINESS RIGHT NOW IF YOUR PAYMENTS WERE NOT BEING APPLIED TO YOUR DEBT.

Elizabeth,

When you made an agreement to pay, you may have legally affirmed the debt. This is why you NEVER speak to any debt collector on the phone. NEVER!!! It will never do anything positive for you, and will always make things worse.

Always demand everything in writing. And you only communicate by certified mail, return reciept requested. Put the certified# on the letter itself and keep a copy for your records.

FYI..They cannot garnish your wages without first serving you a summons, suing you, winning, then filing for the garnishment order. Then, IF they get all of that done, the max they can get is set by each state, and is usually a percentage of your disposable income. Usually they get next to nothing especially if you file the hardship appeal.

And, it is a criminal offense to pose as any officer of the court, such as claiming to be a lawyer.

NEVER give any collection agency your banking or personal or employment info. And NEVER pay ANYONE by Western Union.

YOU dictate how and when you pay. Not them. They have no power to tell you anything. I suggest only a cashiers check sent by certified mail if you do decide to pay them, but only after you get a statement from them stating exactly what the total payoff amount is first.