Consumer complaint received 2018-07-26
Company: Richard A. Abrams, Attorney at Law
State: MO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
Due to money issues I have a consent judgement owing money to XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I contacted Richard Abrams , Attorney, who is representing XXXX for collections. My purpose was to determine the remaining balance of the account so that I could pay it in full to satisfy judgement. Richard quoted me a balance of {$680.00} but then stated that I could just pay {$680.00} and he would call it even. I submitted a payment through my credit union bill pay service, XXXX XXXX, for {$680.00} dated XX/XX/XXXX. For informational purposes my credit unions bill pay service guarantees mailed checks will arrive prior to the post date on the check, generally mailing them 3-5 days in advance. 

Mr. Abrams did not deposit this check until 4/26/2018 nor did he send any correspondence advising me of a remaining balance on the account <this is a regular practice of Mr. Abrams -- he would always send a letter after receipt of each payment>. Furthermore, he did not notify XXXX of the payment and allowed his client to assess fraudulent interest to my account which should have been paid in full. This was determined by a phone call directly to XXXX which occurred on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX because I observed my credit report had not been updated. A XXXX representative told me that they had not been notified the payment was a final payment and that interest had accrued since my conversation with Mr. Abrams. They did not apologize, refused to recognize any wrongdoing, and stated that I owed a remaining balance of ~ {$100.00}.

Upon researching the history of my payments and comparing the deposit date against the check date, <all of which occurred through my credit union 's bill pay service and thus received by Mr. Abrams office prior to or on the date of the check>, every single check was delayed for deposit by a significant period of time. Here is a listing of some of these post dated checks and their deposit dates that have occurred since XX/XX/2018 : Check Date XX/XX/2018 {$130.00}. Deposited XX/XX/2018. 
Check Date XX/XX/2018 {$130.00}. Deposited XX/XX/2018. 
Check Date XX/XX/2018 {$6.00}. Deposited XX/XX/2018. 
Check Date XX/XX/2018 {$680.00}. Deposited XX/XX/2018. 

Since I had determined to resolve this issue, I authorized another bill pay to Mr. Abrams dated for XX/XX/2018 for {$100.00} to cover any remaining balance. Due to my unawareness of Mr. Abrams intentionally making deposits late, I was unaware that my checking account remained in an unbalanced state. On XX/XX/XXXX I was again made a victim by a deposit against a checking account that was approximately {$8.00} short to cover because of the 13 day delay. I am now having to pay overdraft fees to my credit union due to Mr. Abrams bookkeeping practices. 

It is my contention that XXXX, under the representation of Mr. Abrams, is  intentionally delaying deposit of payments after physical receipt with the intention of generating revenue for himself and his client. 

I am asking for a government investigation into this matter. I personally am seeking legal representation and have put out ads on XXXX, XXXX, and the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX seeking other consumers that have been defrauded. I am also researching cases through Missouri 's XXXX service so that I can directly contact consumers that have been affected by this fraud. If this is a prevalent issue it is my intention to file suit seeking class action status.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation