Consumer complaint received 2018-05-31
Company: Donald G. Karpowich, Attorney-at-Law, PC
State: NH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
I am the executrix of my deceased parents estate. I use the term estate begrudgingly. As I was left a monumental disaster to deal with. I am still in the process of dealing with this mess. My parents had no life insurance policies, no savings, no retirement. They only had debts, and I have spent thousands of dollars of my own money dealing with this mess. Ive spent thousands on dumpsters clearing refuse out of their house so I can someday put it on the market to be sold, this is an ongoing process. I am not there yet. This estate has placed me in financial distress. But I am trying my best to deal with it. 

But in the meantime creditors have put liens on the property, which is understandable, as this estate is ongoing and there is no money to pay these debts at this point. But they will be settled when the property is eventually sold. 

Except the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and their solicitor, XXXX XXXX XXXX, who have chosen to pursue a debt of an unpaid sewer bill with me personally, the executrix, instead of placing a lien on the property of my parents. 

First of all, my mother died two years ago, in the subsequent two years they have never sent a bill or attempted to collect any money from me or the estate. They claimed to have sent bills, which is a blatant lie, as I check my mail everyday and would have paid the quarterly bill due. Instead they have chosen to wait until the amount is large enough that I or the estate can not afford to pay it. I did offer to make payments to a nice gentleman, named XXXX. His last name escapes me. XXXX refused to accept the payments that I was able to make and instead threatened to put a lien on my parents property. I told him he was free to do so. Apparently that wasnt enough for XXXX, he likes to harass the families of deceased people and threaten to ruin their credit and place them in dire financial situations over a bill that was never theirs. 

My name is not on the account associated with this sanitary authority, it is not my bill personally and it is not my account nor is it my property! The home, therefore the subsequent debts, do not belong to me personally. Yet, I am being harassed and threatened by the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and their lawyer. They refer to the debt as your past due sewer account. That is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. This has never been my sewer account. I dont even know the account number. Then they go on to threaten legal action against me personally if the amount of {$780.00} isnt paid in full within 30 days. Im not sure why they would harass me and threaten to sue me when they can just put a lien on the property, which ensures they receive payment when the estate is settled. This is abusive. Then they proceed to threaten to seize my property and place a judgment against me. I do not have the ability to appear in court. I do not even reside in the same state where my parents owe this debt. I live hundreds of miles away. 

This is clearly an attempt to scare me into paying this debt, a debt that is not even mine. It is a blatant attempt to extort money from me through methods of intimidation and harassment and I will not tolerate it. I will make further complaints and I will not stop until this issue is resolved. Any further contact is unwanted and will be viewed as continued harassment.

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