Consumer complaint received 2023-12-20
Product: Debt collection — I do not know
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: Dunlap Gardiner LLP (GA)

Re : This is a response to the Complaint for Money Owed, Case Number XXXX, filed XX/XX/XXXX, and served to XXXX XXXX, Defendant, residing at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Defendant is a homeowner in the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX and Member of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Response Summary and Counterclaim Suit : Section 1 : XXXX XXXX, Defendant in the Complaint for Money Owed, Case Number XXXX, Complaint for Money Owed, here within dispute the dollar amount of monies represented in this Complaint for Money Owed in accordance with the following, and furthermore claims that Plaintiff illegally assessed fees as surmised, and evidenced by the following hereunder as contained within this Response to the Complaint for Money Owed, Case Number XXXX, Response to the Complaint for Money Owed : 1. Inaccurate Balance representation caused by illegally assessed fees as a violation of federal law. The balance was erroneously inflated, with payment penalties accelerated to cause a higher balance that owed, and the Plaintiff used egregious methods to attempt to enforce payment by the Defendant. 

2. Plaintiff illegally applied and represented fees, penalty assessments, legal fees, court fees, and periodic accrued interest, higher than the 10 % per annum allowed by law onto the balance and accelerated and inflated those fees under the Complaint for Money Owed. 

3. At least XXXX payment was mailed to the Plaintiff, and returned to the Defendant uncashed, resulting in an inflated balance with penalties assessed and accelerated penalty fees on monies not accepted, and against the total balance, causing higher fees assessed against the Defendant. [ Exhibit A ] 4. Defendant attempted debt settlement negotiations with Plaintiffs legal counsel XXXX XXXX XXXX , Attorney for Plaintiff through its Legal Assistant representation ( XXXX XXXX , Legal Assistant ) upon multiple occasions and through said personnel, the Plaintiffs legal counsel XXXX XXXX XXXX , Attorney for Plaintiff was unresponsive to Defendants negotiation efforts and settlement of Complaint for Money Owed. [ See Exhibit : Defendant Response to Attorney for Plaintiff communication log XXXX ]. Escalation contact was finally reached with XXXX, XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Defendant expressed concern over the XXXX  day time frame referenced in the Complaint for Money Owed and was encouraged to submit a written response to the Magistrate Court and to Plaintiffs legal counsel XXXX XXXX XXXX , Attorney for Plaintiff through its office personnel XXXX at XXXX. Defendant agreed to provide said written response, which is contained herein, dated XX/XX/XXXX, and submitted accordingly, along with other complaints that the Defendant is submitting to the following : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  Department of Law Consumer Protection Division, Federal Trade Commission, and Consumer Federal Protection Bureau. 

a. The Plaintiffs legal representation did not respond to XXXX separate negotiation communications on XX/XX/XXXX, and follow up communication on XX/XX/XXXX, which is over a period of XXXX  days of the XXXX period required for a response to this Complaint for Money Owed. The third attempt generated successful contact to Plaintiffs legal counsel XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Attorney for Plaintiff, which occurred on XX/XX/XXXX. The response time frame referenced in the Complaint for Money Owed filed by the lawsuit was set at XXXX  days. [ Exhibit B ] b. It is inferred, that XXXX XXXX XXXX , Attorney for Plaintiff, purposefully, willfully, and with bias, intentionally and significantly delayed communication with the Defendant to further inflate fees filed in the Complaint for Money Owed lawsuit against the Defendant, directly and intentionally causing to increase and erroneously and illegally inflate monies the Plaintiff claim owed by the Defendant from a period set forth as response timeframe indicated in this lawsuit, and intentionally and with bias, attempted to reduce the timeframe afforded to the Defendant for submitting a comprehensive response to the court. Plaintiff was aware that the Defendant was not in Georgia when served by law enforcement officials through the Ring camera system of the home of XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX as the Defendant notified the officer serving the legal notification as such. XXXX days time had passed before the Defendant returned to the dwelling and could view the legal forms served and notified the serving officer verbally, and XXXX XXXX XXXX , Attorney for Plaintiffs office through written correspondence. [ See Exhibit A ] In a XX/XX/XXXX, telephonic conversation held between Defendant and XXXX XXXX, Legal Assistant for XXXX XXXX XXXX , the attorney for Plaintiff, fees continue to accrue on monies owed. The monies were furthermore referenced not being accurate as defined in the Complaint for Money Owed because fees continue to be assessed on the balance. Henceforth, the amount on the Complaint for Money Owed was referenced as being inaccurate. A fee schedule was never provided to the Defendant. 


The following Evidence of Dispute is submitted for the courts review. 
XXXX Dispute # XXXX : HOA illegally and inaccurately inflated the monetary amount represented as owed by Defendant. Subsequently, XXXX XXXX HOA aggressively and illegally imposed debt collection tactics on the inflated amount. 
XXXX HOA Responsibility as represented in the Declaration of Covenants, Restrictions and Easements for XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Section XXXX. Effect of Non-Payment of Assessments : Remedies of the Association, sub-section ( b ) All amounts which the Board of Directors shall declare to be due and payable pursuant to this section shall bear interest from the date of delinquency at the lower rate of ten percent ( 10 % ) per annum or the highest rate permitted by law, and the Association may bring legal action against the Member of the Association personally obligated to pay the same, or foreclosure its lien upon the LOT or LOTS of such Member, in either of which events such Member shall also be liable to the Association for all costs and attorneys fees which the Association shall incur in connection with the collection of such delinquent amounts. 
XXXX Defendant Dispute : Fees were assessed twice monthly as opposed to 10 % per annum in accordance with the Declaration of Covenants, Restrictions and Easements for XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, causing prematurely inflated balances which compounded on penalties represented as owed by the Defendant. 
XXXX Noncompliance to XXXX  Law relative to Plaintiff overstating monies claimed as owed, and enforcing illegal debt collection practices on inaccurate monies claimed as owed : In XXXX, HOAs are governed by the Property Owner 's Associations Act found in Title XXXX, Chapter XXXX, Article XXXX of the XXXX  Code . The maintenance assessments of community associations are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA. Therefore, the homeowner associations collectors must follow the law when attempting to collect past dues from homeowners. 

Illegal infraction summary : XXXX Violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FDCPA [ See Exhibit C ] : The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect debts from you, including misrepresenting the nature of the debt, including the amount owed. Under this Act ( Title XXXX of the Consumer Credit Protection Act ), third-party debt collectors are prohibited from using deceptive or abusive conduct in the collection of consumer debts incurred for personal, family, or household purposes. 
Defendant Dispute : a. Improperly assessed fees resulted in accelerated interest and penalties that compounded throughout the year at an accelerated rate, resulting in higher fees over a period of 5 or more years. 

b. Upon Plaintiff filing the Complaint for Money Owed, Case Number XXXX, filed XX/XX/XXXX, and served to XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, against the Defendant, legal fees, collection fees, and court cost, along with aggressive collection tactics were used to collect upon the inaccurate and illegally inflated amount. 

XXXX Violation of Truth in Lending Act TILA [ See Exhibit D ] Fee schedule for HOA, and calculation of penalties, legal fees, timeline of filing for nonpayment, etc., was never disclosed to Defendant as required by TILA. 
Fee schedule was not disclosed in the Declaration of Covenants, Restrictions and Easements for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  presented to Defendant, or in closing documentation of homeowner purchase in XX/XX/XXXX, or subsequently thereafter. 
Plaintiff imposed calculations of penalty assessments and imposed illegal debt collection tactics, through use of a third-party lawyer firm, to erroneously and with bias aggressively attempt to collect on monetary amount represented as owed by the Defendant. The third-party law firm of XXXX XXXX then illegally added additional fees onto balances to further inflate said Claim of Monies represented as owed, which continue to accrue by their firm, and by calculations set by the Plaintiff, to illegally occur on a schedule exceeding XXXX  law of 10 % per annum via use of twice monthly calculations. 

XXXX Violation of Regulation Z The FDCPA is a federal law that governs practices by third-party debt collectors. Plaintiff has secured XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Attorney for the Plaintiff for the not only as legal representation in this lawsuit, but also as a debt collector. The FDCPA further warrants that a debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt. 

Legal Violation : XXXX  Code : 15 U.S. Code 1692a, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA [ See Exhibit E ]. A debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect a debt. For example, a debt collector may not : Collect any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation unless it was authorized by the original debt agreement or is otherwise permitted by law. 

Defendant Response : Aggressive debt collection occurred through 1 ) inflated and inaccurate amounts added to the Defendants Homeowner Association fee balance, whereas such fees were never disclosed to the Defendant as required by TILA. 
Furthermore, debt collection tactics for collecting on said illegally assessed fees were enforced through this Complaint for Money Owed, through liens placed on the Defendants residence at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, along with police enforcement of debt collection by Plaintiff serving lawsuit through armed, police officer to Defendants home. 
Plaintiff refusal to accept payment of monies sent to satisfy or partially debt, refusal to respond to negotiation of monies represented as owed, and use of intimidation tactics to enforce illegally enforce inflated fees are abusive debt collection tactics that are illegal according to the law. [ See Exhibit C ] Remainder of Page left intentionally blank Section 2 : Summation of Response to Complaint for Money Owed and Defendants Counterclaim suit : Defendant disputes total Money Owed claimed by Plaintiff, and re-states the settlement amount of {$2000.00} as represented to Plaintiffs legal counsel XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Attorney for Plaintiff, which is void of all inflated fees illegally assessed by Plaintiff. 
Furthermore, Defendant submits a counter claim suit of the following : 1. Defendant requests {$5000.00} maximum penalty judgement allowed by law against the Plaintiff to be awarded to the Defendant for violation of F.D.C.R.A.

2. Defendant requests {$5000.00} maximum penalty judgement allowed by law against the Plaintiff to be awarded to the Defendant for violation of Regulation Z.

3. Defendant requests {$5000.00} maximum penalty judgement allowed by law against the Plaintiff to be awarded to the Defendant for violation of T.I.L.A.

4. As creditors, professional debt collectors and attorneys who violate the law are subject to paying actual damages, statutory penalties of {$1000.00} and the consumers attorney fees and court costs, Defendant requests a penalty judgement of {$2000.00}, which is a sum of {$1000.00} assessed against Plaintiff, and an additional sum of {$1000.00} assessed against Plaintiffs legal counsel XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Attorney for Plaintiff for violation of FDCRA.

5. Defendant requests {$15000.00} penalty judgement against Plaintiff for a ) defamation of character, b ) pain and suffering, and c ) loss of time, and wages for addressing this Complaint for Money Owed, Case Number XXXX, filed XX/XX/XXXX, and served to XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX  XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Total counterclaim requested in the amount of {$32000.00} which is the sum for each of the XXXX ( XXXX ) references above. 

This document is hereby signed by Defendant, XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX References : Exhibit : Defendant Response to Attorney for Plaintiff communication log XXXX. 
Exhibit A : Evidence of prior payment to Plaintiff, rejected and returned to Defendant. 
Exhibit : B Definitions and legal reference. 
Exhibit C : Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Exhibit D : Truth In Lending Definition to include Homeowner Association. 
Exhibit XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX.