When you say message I am assuming that you mean a phone call followed by a voicemail? The best course of action is to let them be aware that you know your rights under the law. The threat of a lawsuit reeks of extortion.
It is incumbent upon them under the law to prove that the debt exists and that you owe it, and that they have the legal right to collect it. You are not obligated under the law to prove that you don’t owe or that it is paid.
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
Read up on your rights here and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://800notes.com/faq/attorney-general
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) regulates collection agencies and places limits on what they can say and do in their attempts to collect a debt. It only applies to collection agencies, not to creditors collecting their own debts. However, if, as may be the case with you, the payday loan company is pretending to be an outside collection agency, then the FDCPA applies to them.
Even if the FDCPA does not apply, the similar (but less detailed) Texas, Oklahoma Debt Collection Act still applies. The PDCA, TDCA, unlike the FDCPA, applies to creditors collecting their own debts.
Here are a few FDCPA rules that may apply in your case:
1. It is illegal for a collection agency to imply that they have sued you or filed criminal charges against you when they have not. To me, it looks like the collection agency violated this rule.
2. It is illegal for a collection agency to threaten criminal prosecution when they cannot actually prosecute you. In Texas, you cannot be prosecuted criminally over nonpayment of a payday loan. So it is illegal for them to claim that you have violated laws, and imply that they can prosecute you. See below for hot check rules.
Hot check rules in Oklahoma and Texas: If you bought a good or service and paid with a check, and the check bounced, and you didn't make it good, then you might get prosecuted for "theft of goods" or "theft of services" because you effectively stole the goods or services. If, on the other hand, you paid or made a payment on a pre-existing debt with a check and the check bounced, then you cannot be prosecuted for theft of goods or services.
Unless you stole the goods or services, you cannot be prosecuted for theft of goods or services. Any claim to the contrary is false and is illegal to make.
Please update your inquiry and let me know if it was just a run of the mill payday loan or exactly what the situation was.
My best friend got a message with very sensitive information in it with a threat of being sued. She has no internet thats why i handle this. She has never gotten a loan cant get a loan but is being threatened about one.
My best friend got a message with very sensitive information in it with a threat of being sued. She has no internet thats why i handle this. She has never gotten a loan cant get a loan but is being threatened about one.
Got to have a reason to call and something to work with, regardless if it applies to anyone at all. Your friend is being threatened because there's an answer at her number or it may have been relayed as a potential hit. No kind of answer, hear nothing from anyone you don't care to. This also works for killing the volume of junk calls you might get.
When you say message I am assuming that you mean a phone call followed by a voicemail? The best course of action is to let them be aware that you know your rights under the law. The threat of a lawsuit reeks of extortion.
It is incumbent upon them under the law to prove that the debt exists and that you owe it, and that they have the legal right to collect it. You are not obligated under the law to prove that you don’t owe or that it is paid.
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
Read up on your rights here and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://800notes.com/faq/attorney-general