Consumer complaint received 2019-04-08
Company: Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A.
State: OH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Mortgage debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
An attorney, XXXX XXXX, from the firm Weltman, Weinberg and Reis, attempted to collect a debt from me, for his client XXXX XXXX XXXX. I did not owe this debt. About a week ago, I filed an initial complaint about this matter, and it concerned a settlement agreement. 

However, since filing my initial complaint, I have since learned that the settlement agreement is legally invalid. It was obtained via deception and coercion, and was never signed by me. Furthermore, there is no legal documentation to support Mr. XXXX 's debt collection activities against me, except a certificate of judgment which he filed via questionable methods. ( No court judgment to support the certificate. ) Furthermore, Mr. XXXX has engaged in numerous questionable, unethical and possibly even illegal activities in order to collect on the debt. This has resulted in the theft of thousands of dollars from me. I want to amend my complaint to eliminate my complaints about the invalid settlement agreement. I am still requesting the satisfaction of the judgment against my husband, as well as a removal of my name from any legal documents created in connection to this debt. ) But I am also requesting a return of the funds Mr. XXXX stole from me. 

Mr. XXXX sued my husband for a debt that he did not owe. After that, he fraudulently and illegally swept me up into his collection process, without even having obtained a judgment against me. Mr. XXXX did this simply because he knew the identity of my employer and wanted to illegally garnish my wages. I believe that he learned the identity of my employer via his client, XXXX XXXX XXXX. Late last year, he began harassing me incessantly about the terms of the invalid settlement agreement. He insisted that I had breached it, and arbitrarily and capriciously requested additional funds under the agreement. ( As though he were a judge and had the power to award himself additional funds ). Because his behavior seemed odd, I decided to reach out to an out-of-state attorney, whom I personally know and can trust, to discus the matter further. This attorney specializes in defending low-income clients from debt collectors in her pro-bono work. 

I slowly began to realize, after conversing with this out-of state attorney more in depth, that Mr. XXXX had no legal grounds on which to pursue debt collection from me. After many discussions with her, she advised me to extensively document this bizarre set of facts that had led Mr. XXXX to ruthlessly and viciously pursue a funds from me. She also advised me to document any and all future correspondence with him. I did that, ( see attached letter ). As a result, I realize that I am due a refund of all monies paid to Mr. XXXX. ( Please note I paid Mr. XXXX directly, as he insisted that I write checks to him personally ). Mr. XXXX illegally collected these funds from me under false pretenses. He did so under the pretense of collecting on a judgment for his client XXXX XXXX XXXX. ( See in attached letter. ) He always fails to acknowledge that this is a debt that I do not owe, based on a default judgment rendered in a court that had no jurisdiction, with highly flawed evidence ( interogatorries from the actual mortgage holder who was in default on the debt. )

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation