Litigation Consulting Service Threatened to have wife arrested Bethseda Maryland
On 2-4-08, a Christina Santos called and spoke to my wife. She told my wife that a summons was being issued to appear in court for a vehicle loan that she had signed for, for her daughter, and daughter and she was unable to pay for and voluntarily gave car back. This was in 1998. Car was financed by Arcadia Finance, which had charged account off long ago.
I then spoke with a Wesley Byrick, who stated that he was a special investigator for L.C.S, and was compiling information to have a summons served on my wife, unless she paid 5496.37, to settle account. If not would have to appear in court, as this was a state jail penalty. This is where I knew he was full of s_ _ _. As Texas has long been known as a debtors state, and there is no law stating you can be imprisioned for owing a debt. He then claimed that she would be charged with obtaining property by fraud.
I told him to give me twenty minutes and I would call him back. I looked up the Texas laws which did not give me much info. I then called Attny. Generals office and asked about statue of limitations, as this upset my wife tremendouly. They refered me to a website which gave statue of limitations as 4 years. Also gave me website of Federal Trade Commission,(ftc.gov.)
I then called back to L.C.S. and talked to a Jacob Roberts, who claimed to be a case arbritrator. We really got no where, so I asked him for their mailing address, and he stated could not give it to me, asked why did I need it. Told him may want to mail him the payoff, he then stated that he would have to check with attorney (name of attorney or supposed attorney Kevin Williams) to see if they would accept a settlement. I had also asked Wesley Byrick for mailing address and he said they did not give out address, because of the risk of people coming to office to do harm. I could agree with that, but I stated I didn't plan to fly from Texas to Maryland. Would not give me address.
After lengthy go no where conversation with Jacob Roberts, I asked him if they had a website, he stated they did, thought he put me on hold, but he hung up on me. I called back, he asked me if I had hung up on him, told him no, he did. I again asked him for website and he refused address or website. I then looked up L.C.S. on web, and found ripoff report. Which has led to this letter.
What these people are doing is in fact against the federal law of fair debt collection (which they state they are not a debt collector), by threatening people with lawsuits, court and jail time. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think I have read where no one can be imprisioned for not paying a debt. I am not condoning not paying your debts, but people do sometimes experience times in their life where it is impossible to pay what they owe.
I will assist in way I can to help have these people put out of business and in fact have them appear in court and pay hefty fines. Just let me know what I can do. Thank you.
Ken
Tyler, Texas
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Tim
Valparaiso,Indiana,
U.S.A.
You hit the nail right on the head!
#2Consumer Suggestion
Wed, February 06, 2008
You did a good job of picking out the red flags here. Let me expand upon them:
"I then spoke with a Wesley Byrick, who stated that he was a special investigator for L.C.S, and was compiling information to have a summons served on my wife, unless she paid 5496.37, to settle account."
The only information the guy would need to have a summons served on your wife is your wife's address. If these people have your phone number, then it shouldn't be too hard for them to get your address. In fact, if you were to give me your last name and phone number (don't actually do so) I guarantee you I could tell you what your address is.
This sounds to me like a surreptitious means of trying to collect a debt by threatening litigation that isn't actually intended, which is a violation of the FDCPA. An actual process server would NEVER call you to find out what your address is.
"If not would have to appear in court, as this was a state jail penalty."
How is it supposed to be a "jail penalty" if they can't even serve you with a summons? BS! (We'll talk more on this subject in a bit).
"there is no law stating you can be imprisioned for owing a debt"
That's pretty much correct and, if the car was surrendered, then it is absolutely correct. You CAN be jailed for violating certain court orders in connection with the collection of debts, but a summons is not one of those orders. In fact, you have a constitutional right to ignore a summons (of course, if you do so, you run the risk of a default judgment).
"He then claimed that she would be charged with obtaining property by fraud."
Not if the property was surrendered before legal action was commenced!
"I asked him for their mailing address, and he stated could not give it to me."
BIG red flag. If a debt collector, or an attorney's office, won't give you their mailing address, how are you supposed to enforce your rights under the FDCPA, and how are you supposed to defend against a lawsuit?
Many bad debt collectors try to tell debtors that they can't give out their address because, for example, "after 9-11, we're worried that you might send us anthrax" (I actually got that once, and all I could do was laugh).
They are trying to prevent you from sending a validation request and/or a cease and desist order. The good thing for you is that this is prima facie evidence that they don't actually inend on litigating, which means they lied about filing a lawsuit, which means they violated the FDCPA.
"I will assist in way I can to help have these people put out of business and in fact have them appear in court and pay hefty fines."
Find yourself a lawyer. He will be able to find out who these scumbags are, have them appear (or fail to appear) in court and pay hefty fines. If you were in the jurisdictions in which I practice, I would be more than happy to take your case on contingency. Unfortunately, Texas is a long haul from Indiana.