Consumer complaint received 2020-01-08
Company: Financial Assistance Inc
State: WA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
The original creditor of my debt was XXXX XXXX XXXX f/k/a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$960.00}. The debt was sold to Financial Assistance XXXX Inc. and I received several phone calls and voicemails from on my mobile phone from XXXX XXXX which I did not answer or never responded to. 

I may have received a couple of letters from them trying to collect the debt. The last letter I received was in XXXX I believe and in that letter, they said that they would sue me. I had not heard from Financial Assistance , Inc. until XX/XX/2019 when a process server showed up at my door to serve me with a summons and complaint. The summons and complaint was filed in the XXXX County District Court, South Division, XXXX Courthouse, Case No. XXXX. 

As it was getting near the time for me to respond to the complaint, I called the number listed on the summons and complaint ( XXXX ) XXXX-XXXX on XX/XX/2019 at approximately XXXX XXXX to resolve the debt. When the clerk answered the phone, I informed her that I was calling in regards to a summons and complaint that I received from you office, thinking I had called XXXX XXXX XXXX, who is the attorney that signed the summons and complaint. I was asked my name and then transferred to someone name XXXX. 

When XXXX answered the phone, she stated her name as being XXXX XXXX. She informed me that the call was being recorded. XXXX, pretty much told me that I needed to pay {$1200.00}. I asked her why was the additional money for and she said fees. She asked how I wanted to pay and I told her by Visa and she said that I could do that, but there would be an additional charge of about {$60.00} to process the payment. She then told me that I could go to XXXX XXXX and deposit the money into Financial Assistance XXXX Inc. 's business account. She asked when I would be making the payment and I told her about XXXX XXXX when I went to lunch. She then gave me the account number to deposit my payment into and told me to call her back on her direct line which is ( XXXX ) XXXX.XXXX.  Went to XXXX XXXX and made the payment and called XXXX XXXX at the number above. I gave her my transaction number and the city of the bank that I made the deposit in. XXXX then stated that she would send me a paid in full letter and I said what about the case, and she said it would be dismissed. I also asked her about my credit report and she said it would be updated in 15 days. 

I paid the debt, as I did owe. My problem with this is that XXXX XXXX works for Financial Assistance , Inc. which is located at XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA XXXX, XXXX : ( XXXX ) XXXX and Fax : ( XXXX ) XXXX. 

The summons and complaint that I was served with, has the exact same address, telephone, and fax number as Financial Assistance. How is it that XXXX XXXX XXXX is listed as the attorney and when you look him up on the Washington State Bar Website, his information is totally different. This is Mr. XXXX 's information from the XXXX website : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX : XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA XXXX, XXXX : ( XXXX ) XXXX and Fax : ( XXXX ) XXXX. 

I think that Financial Assistance, Inc. is being fraudulent in trying to collect debt from consumers. When I called yesterday, I thought I was calling the attorney 's office that was listed on my summons and complaint, but turns out, it was Financial Assistance. Also, since, Financial Assistance has an attorney, they should not even be speaking to the consumers they are suing. Please look into their collection practices. Thank you

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation