Consumer complaint received 2017-11-17
Company: Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Impersonated attorney, law enforcement, or government official

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX, XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX : Repeated Illegal Impersonation of a Debt Collection Attorney by XXXX XXXX XXXX Dear CFPB, I respectfully ask the CFPB to fully investigate the repeated fraudulent and illegal conduct of falsely impersonating a debt collection attorney by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, who when caught, XXXX indeed admitted to have illegally impersonated a debt collection attorney and that there was no debt involved when she engaged in her illegal and unlawful conduct. 

XXXX fraudulent conduct to impersonate a debt collection attorney intended to intimidate, threaten, and harass me can not be excused or justified in any way as XXXX engaged in abusive debt collection practices, which in my case involved no debt at all, in order to benefit her slum landlord client and line up her own pocket in the process. XXXX conduct presents a danger to society at large and must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The law also calls for such action for " the protection of the public, the courts and the legal profession ; the maintenance of high professional standards by attorneys and the preservation of public confidence in the legal profession. '' ( In re Morse ( 1995 ) 11 Cal.4th 184, 205 ; std. 1.3. ) Complaint : a ) Repeatedly impersonating herself as Debt Collection attorney, XXXX issued numerous correspondence representing herself as debt collection attorney and engaged in months long deception and abusive behavior, including illegally withholding refund of my security deposit as leverage, impersonating a debt collection attorney threatening me with legal action starting on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, and then continuing in XXXX by repeatedly stating that This correspondence is from a debt collector, see Emails in Exhibit A. However, when confronted by questions about her frivolous impersonation and debt claims owed by me, requesting debt validation, see Exhibit B, XXXX unequivocally admitted that she had been running an illegal, fraudulent, and unethical scam by impersonating as a debt collection attorney, when there was no debt, which conduct by XXXX was intended to deceive, harass, and harm me financially and emotionally, in order to benefit her slum landlord client and lining up her own pocket, stating in her email, dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX, see Exhibit C, as follows : Our office has determined that we are not, and have not been, acting as debt collectors as defined by the FDCPA for XXXX XXXX XXXX. As such, we can not provide you with a response as to any disputed debt from your former tenancy. See Exhibit C. 

This email response is clearly an admission of fraud, corruption, and illegal impersonation of a debt collection attorney that XXXX engaged in for ulterior motives. 

b ) XXXX conduct also represents fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, misrepresentations, breach of fiduciary duty, or gross negligence committed in a professional capacity by XXXX, by not only illegally withholding refund of my security deposit in violation of the Civil Code section 1950.5 ( g ) ( 1 ), but also using it as leverage and as a  bargaining chip to force me to sign a waiver and release, waiving my rightful claims against its slum landlord client, XXXX. 
c ) Dishonesty : XXXX misconduct was intentional, surrounded by, or followed by bad faith, dishonesty, concealment, overreaching or other violations of the State Bar Act or Rules of Professional Conduct. 
d ) Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 3-110 ( A ) [ Failure to Perform with Competence ] Background : 1 ) XXXX never had any basis to contact and harass me as debt collection attorney, as there was never any debt, rather it was a ruthless, illegal, and unethical strategy by XXXX to threaten and deceive me and enrich her slum landlord client and herself in the process. I was never notified of any debt to begin with. XXXX failure to notify me of any alleged debt at any time and to present me with the evidence of such debt was not an error on her part, rather a ruthless calculated strategy to threaten and harass me while enriching her slum landlord client and herself, by pathetically resorting to impersonation of a debt collection attorney. 
XXXX ) Per FDCPA, by law, Debt Collectors have to send me a debt validation notice in writing, within five days of contacting me, which XXXX clearly and intentionally failed to do so, despite her repeated statements that she was a debt collector. See Exhibits A and C. 
3 ) XXXX repeatedly, knowingly and intentionally, represented herself and acted as debt collector attorney, as evidenced by emails contained in Exhibit A, when there was clearly no debt involved, including FDCPA statements and also repeatedly stating as follows : This communication is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained shall be used solely for that purpose. 

This correspondence is from a debt collector. 

There is no mistaking when such clear and concise statements are made by XXXX that she was impersonating a debt collection attorney. These kinds of statements by XXXX can not be justified as errors or mistakes, rather this was an elaborate and deliberate scheme to scam me out of my money and to give up my rights. See Exhibits A and C. XXXX knew what she was doing and intentionally engaged in this illegal fraudulent and corrupt conduct and must be held accountable, as she wanted to enrich her slum landlord client and herself by basically extorting money from me while forcing me to give up my rights against their client. 

4 ) XXXX corruptly and with ulterior motive, engaged in illegal and unethical conduct of impersonating a debt collection attorney for months and when she was caught with her lies exposed and confronted by questions about the frivolous debt claims owed by me, see Exhibit B, she finally admitted to her fraudulent conduct and that she had been running an illegal and unethical scam by impersonating herself as debt collection attorney, where there was no debt, by stating as follows in an email dated, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, see Exhibit C : Our office has determined that we are not, and have not been, acting as debt collectors as defined by the FDCPA for XXXX XXXX XXXX. As such, we can not provide you with a response as to any disputed debt from your former tenancy. See Exhibit C. 
Accordingly, this statement by XXXX is an admission of fraud and deception that she had engaged in for months and must be the determining factor in taking her law license away so that she can not continue to perpetrate her fraud on innocent tenants and people. This belated admission of fraud and incompetence and revelation by XXXX also presents the following questions, demanding answers by XXXX, as well as the authorities regulating her profession : I ) How did XXXX come to the determination that she was not, and has not been, acting as Debt Collection attorney as defined by the FDCPA for XXXX XXXX XXXX, even though she repeatedly made the claim of being a debt collection attorney for months, see Exhibit A, and why did it take XXXX so long to come to this conclusion? 
II ) And exactly what was XXXX role and in what capacity she was acting when she was threatening me with legal action based on a frivolous nonexistent debt claims and threats of legal action as a debt collection attorney? 

5 ) The response by XXXX, see Exhibit C, was rather unequivocal admission by XXXX that she had indeed engaged in fraud, deception and abusive debt collection practices based on non-existent debt claims, and impersonated herself as a debt collection attorney. 
6 ) Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), prohibits deceptive, unfair, and abusive debt collection practices, which is exactly the practice XXXX knowingly and intentionally engaged in to deceive, harass, and extort money from me. 


Conclusion : XXXX must be subject to severe disciplinary proceedings and disbarment for " the protection of the public, the courts and the legal profession ; the maintenance of high professional standards by attorneys and the preservation of public confidence in the legal profession. '' ( In re Morse ( 1995 ) 11 Cal.4th 184, 205 ; std. 1.3. ) If a newly  minted attorney is this corrupt and this willingly engages in illegal and fraudulent conduct so early in her career, then what is to stop her from not engage in even more severe criminal activities down the road? 

As demonstrated above, the conduct of XXXX to engage in illegal and unethical conduct of falsely impersonating a debt collection attorney, done with reckless disregard for law, which she took an oath to uphold, for months only to admit much later that she was not a debt collection attorney and use that false premise to threaten, intimidate, and retaliate against me in order to deter me from pursuing my legal rights against her negligent slum landlord client, while making patently false and misleading representations, must shock the conscious of the CFPB and legal community, warranting serious and immediate disciplinary actions to include disbarment against XXXX by revoking their license to practice law. 
XXXX must be punished by having her law license revoked for " the protection of the public, the courts and the legal profession ; the maintenance of high professional standards by attorneys and the preservation of public confidence in the legal profession. '' ( In re Morse ( 1995 ) 11 Cal.4th 184, 205 ; std. 1.3. ) While attorneys are the most privileged class in this country, that privilege can not and must not extend to XXXX as she must be held to account for her reckless and shameless failures and misconduct as XXXX misconduct poses a substantial threat of harm to the interests of the public, as it already has to me and that can not stand.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation