Consumer complaint received 2021-06-12
Company: Patenaude & Felix A Professional Corporation
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
XXXX  XXXX credit card is breaking the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and consumer rights protection laws. They sold my debt to Patenaude & Felix a collection agency who has continued to break these consumer rights through misrepresentation, harassment, communication with 3rd parties, deceptive forms, and unfair practices. 
In XX/XX/XXXX I paid {$350.00} on a credit card to XXXX XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX I paid {$110.00}, XX/XX/XXXX {$240.00}, XX/XX/XXXX paid {$95.00}, XX/XX/XXXX paid {$95.00}. The minimum due was {$92.00} at this time which was not even covering the interest. Although I was trying to pay more than the min due for many months I began to fall into the revolving interest trap. XXXX XXXX uses unfair practices including exorbitant interest rates and fees. XXXX of XXXX I missed a payment and the minimum due jumps from {$92.00} to {$220.00}. XX/XX/XXXX min due jumps to {$260.00} and I am able to make a payment of {$92.00}. Then in XX/XX/XXXX I missed a payment again due to a loss of wages and the min due jumps up to {$390.00}. XX/XX/XXXX min due is {$490.00}. XX/XX/XXXX {$590.00}. XX/XX/XXXX {$690.00}. Now it became impossible for me to catch back up with the payments which I was only paying interest on to begin with. Then XXXX XXXX sold the debt to the debt collection agency Patenaude & Felix. Breaking communication with 3rd parties act P & F sent a man to my door where my underage daughter answered. He tricked her into opening the door telling her he had an important package for her mother. Then he proceeded to throw the papers at her telling her she was " served ''. She was mortified when I got home. Then Patenaude and Felix began the harassing phone calls, They continued harassing with daily and weekly calls through out the National Pandemic of Covid 19 where I explained to them that I no longer had a job and had been given a notice to vacate from my house. The times I had tried to work out a payment plan with them they refused to take anything less than what they deemed as " substantial '' in the amount of {$350.00} which I explained that I could not afford. I continually asked P & F for a validation letter which I never received until I was sent the paper filings from the courts. I only received letters stating they are from " the attorney '' threatening " If I wish to avoid further collections activity. '' When I called P & F they claimed that they were not attorneys and they did not work for XXXX  XXXX. Yet the court documents were misrepresented by stating I was being sued by " XXXX XXXX '' and not the collection agency Patenaude & Felix. All paperwork of correspondence state that they are from P & F attorneys. Court Papers were by " XXXX XXXX '' and employees that I spoke with were the from a collection agency named Patenaude & Felix. I never spoke to the attorney until I was at court where he agreed to call me after the judge deemed them to " work things out '' with me. When I spoke to the attorney and explained that I did not have a job or house, he explained that they would only take an amount that was " substantial '' and wanted {$150.00} a month. I stated that what is substantial to a XXXX dollar company such and XXXX XXXX was not the same as what is substantial to an individual without a job and house. Interesting note that XXXX XXXX had been " bailed out '' when they were in debt. He explained that if I did not agree they would just take more $ from me when he got the judgement from the courts. He finally agreed to {$75.00} a month which he explained if I missed or was late on any payments then they would take me back to court and get the max amount of money. Through this intimidation I agreed and was given no other choice. Another thing I found strange is the flag on the P & F website is from the XXXX XXXX. Am I being sued from a company that's from the United States? Is P & F a law firm, collection agency, or are they XXXX XXXX?? Court documents stated XXXX XXXX, letters are from attorneys, and employees are employed by the collection agency P & F.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation