Consumer complaint received 2017-01-27
Company: CAINE & WEINER COMPANY, INC.
State: NH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not mine

Complaint:
I XXXX XXXX file a complaint against a debt collector that is trying to collect a debt on a close-end agreement between myself and an internet dating site known as XXXX XXXX. All sites under such a template offer a service for a fee, over a month to month basis or long term transaction. I personally electronically agreed to a six-month program, paid my fee in full for the six months, and upon a renewal end of the initial six months, I was closed out of the site. I called the site offices and I was given a temporary password to get on the site and officially cancel my subscription. This agreement between the parties ceased as soon as I was shut out of the site. The site must give a service to be entitled to a fee, and upon the non-payment and additional official termination at both time the contract was void. Several months later I receive a collection notice from a collection agency on a debt for a closed end contract that is void. This is a violation of my rights under the NH Unfair, Deceptive or Unreasonable Collection Practices Act ( XXXX ) and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. There is no access I have had since the site closed out my account. This type of collection practice is a bait and switch process by the XXXX XXXX site. The contract is close-end, which if it was an open-end agreement the services would have to be designed as an offer of extended credit. Secondly, the firm itself shows no certificate of authority to do business within the state of New Hampshire. They show that licensing is not required, but they must be registered with the Secretary of State of New Hampshire. Foreign Corporations, A Certificate of Authority, Section Section XXXX Consequences of Transacting Business Without Authority. - ( a ) A foreign corporation transacting business in this state without a certificate of authority may not maintain a proceeding in any court in this state until it obtains a certificate of authority. 
( d ) A foreign corporation which transacts business in this state without a certificate of authority shall be liable to this state, for the years or parts of any years during which it transacted business in this state without a certificate of authority, in an amount equal to all fees which would have been imposed by this subdivision upon the corporation had it duly applied for and received a certificate of authority to transact business in this state as required by this subdivision and thereafter filed all required reports. The corporation shall also be liable for any penalties imposed by this subdivision for failure to pay such fees. The attorney general shall bring proceedings to recover all amounts due under the provisions of this section. 
( e ) Notwithstanding XXXX ( a ) and ( b ), the failure of a foreign corporation to obtain a certificate of authority does not impair the validity of its corporate acts or prevent it from defending any proceeding in this state. 
Accordingly, the collection is illegal, deceptive and an outright fabrication. A call to the collection agency resulted in a non-sequitur conversation not based on the principals of state and federal collection laws. The file must be purged immediately and permanently.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation