Consumer complaint received 2020-11-05
Company: Emmett L. Goodman, Jr., LLC
State: GA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
Brief Synopsis : 1 : Sometime in XXXX, XXXX XXXX allegedly became the assignee of a disputed debt ; however, they refused to provide any proof of this debt or that they were, in fact, a legitimate assignee then and still refuses to provide such information, despite my requests pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 

2 : I was never initially notified by XXXX XXXX that they had acquired the alleged debt until receiving court documents from the Law Offices of Emmett Goodman. I filed a detailed and timely Answer and Defenses in response to their action. My response, in XXXX, clearly stated " Defendant has a reasonable belief that the Plaintiff is not a true Assignee and lacks standing to bring this action. Defendant demands strict proof of the alleged Assignment. '' Proof was never provided by XXXX XXXX or XXXX 's attorneys. 

3XXXX XXXX XXXX/Law Offices of Emmett Goodman obtained a judgment at a trial date at which I could not attend, as the court hearing notice got lost in mail and was never received. I immediately filed a Motion to Vacate that Judgment, had a hearing date set and attended. Despite the uncontested evidence that I had not received the notice of trial, the Court refused to vacate the improper judgment. In XXXX of XXXX, after the judge would not over turn his decision on the default judgment, the attorney with the Law Offices of Emmett Goodman, was to discuss with his client on proposing a settlement amount. He never got back with me. 

4 : On XX/XX/XXXX when I inquired about trying to settle the alleged debt, a representative from the Law Offices of Emmett Goodman stated this matter was closed in their offices and referred me to XXXX XXXX XXXX. This was the first time I have heard of XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

5. After calling XXXX XXXX XXXX to get the information on whom I needed to speak with regarding the XXXX XXXX  debt, they notified me that they had XXXX  debts listed in my name with the " owner '' being XXXX XXXX, one for XXXX XXXX and the other for XXXX XXXX, assignee of XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. Just as in the XXXXXXXX XXXX case, I had never received any notice from XXXX XXXX that it now also owned the XXXX debt. It appears that XXXX  does and/or did not send notice ( s ) when it purchased this account as they have claimed they did so in the past. I had received all of the previous other collection agency notices regarding the disputed debts with both XXXX and XXXX XXXX, which were both properly and timely disputed. In fact, I have an email from XXXX where XXXX was notified about the disputed charges with XXXX XXXX  and requested to cease the 3 to 4 times a day harassing phone calls. Again, I received communications from that collection agency but no notices from XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, The XXXX. XXXX XXXX, or the Law Offices of Emmett L. Goodman regarding that disputed debt. This failure to provide written notices and documents seems to be a common practice for XXXX and its legal representatives. 

6 : XXXX XXXX XXXX had referred me to The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX who advised that they were now the firm handling the XXXX XXXX  debt, not the Law Offices of Emmett Goodman. 

7 : Regardless of the lack of previous written notifications, XXXX XXXX XXXX was put on verbal notice that the XXXX debt had been disputed repeatedly ; I explained to them why it had been disputed in the past and requested all the documentation proving that debt, and explanations on being billed for full monthly payments for both DSL and a Phone Line when all I had was a phone line for 3 months. The lady at XXXX XXXX XXXX said I would receive a " packet '' in the mail in about 30 days with all that information. I received a letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX stating " enclosed was an account summary which provides verification of debt. '' Clearly, this was not what I had requested. Due to their failure to properly respond, XXXX XXXX XXXX was mailed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Request Letter. ( See attachment XXXX Letter to XXXX XXXX XXXX. That letter was received by someone at XXXX 's on XXXX and a copy was also emailed to the office of XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX failed to respond to the FDCPA Request letter with documents evidencing that XXXX  XXXX  is the true and valid assignee of the alleged XXXX XXXX  they " acquired ''. 

8 : Furthermore, regarding the alleged debt in judgment mentioned above in # 3, both XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, were sent FDCPA Document Verification Request letters on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX file attached " XXXX to XXXX XXXX XXXX '' XXXX requesting documents and specifically a copy of judgment that XXXX and/or now XXXX XXXX XXXX holds on the debt. Both parties received that letter on XX/XX/XXXX. Both XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX failed to respond to that letter in any manner, either orally or in writing. 

It is clear and indisputable that there have been repeated FDCPA violations, as follows : 1 : I never received notice of assignment on either the XXXX XXXX  or the XXXX XXXX  debt that XXXX XXXX claims to have acquired. FDCPA # 1 violation by XXXX XXXX XXXX on 2 accounts 2 : My XX/XX/XXXX letter to XXXX XXXX XXXX, a debt verification letter, was sent within the allotted 30-day time frame of receiving their letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, and there has been no response. FDCPA violation # 2 of XXXX XXXX XXXX 3 : The Consumer Finance ( cfpb ) also states that " A debt collector must tell you the name of the creditor, the amount owed, and that you can dispute the debt or seek verification of the debt. Any debt collector who contacts you claiming you owe on a debt is required by law to tell you certain information about the debt. '' a ) XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX were and are attempting to collect the XXXX debt/ judgment. Those are both debt collectors and subject to the FDCPA. 
b ) Both XXXX. XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX were sent letters on XX/XX/XXXX requesting proof of ownership, as well as, a copy of the judgment and both failed to respond. FDCPA violation # 3 by both parties In conclusion, all parties involved with email contacts were contacted on XX/XX/XXXX and notified about the repeated FDCPA violations. I have made numerous good faith efforts to resolve these alleged debts, and suggested at this time that both the XXXX disputed debt and the disputed XXXX XXXX judgment be " satisfied ''. 

I requested that any one of the many parties involved to please advise within 7 calendar days of the response to my settlement proposal. The 7 calendar days have expired, and I did not receive a response from any of the 3 parties involved, orally or in writing. They were put on notice that I would be filing this complaint if I did not hear back on an agreement or offer to resolve the disputed debts. 

More recently, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from XXXX XXXX ( see attached XXXX XXXX  Letter XXXX ) advising they are now handing the XXXX debt for XXXX XXXX. The recent transfer of this alleged debt is merely a blatant attempt by XXXX to avoid their repeated FDCPA violations after receipt of my email communication to XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  is now also in violation of the FDCPA in their attempts to collect a debt on which the statute of limitations has, by their own admission, has expired, and this letter is nothing but further wrongful harassment by XXXX  and their 3rd party collection agencies.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation