Consumer complaint received 2017-05-25
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive notice of right to dispute
Company: I.C. System, Inc. (NJ)

Date : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, new jersey state ZIP EXEMPT [ near XXXX ] IC SYSTEMS XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, MN XXXX XXXX RE : Account # unknown To Whom It May Concern : Be advised this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed and validation is requested. Under the Fair Debt collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), I have the right to request validation of the debt you say I owe you. I am requesting proof that I am indeed the party you are asking to pay this debt, and there is some contractual obligation proving my obligations to perform or comply, that is binding on me to pay this debt. This is NOT a request for verification or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 ( b ) of the FDCPA. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you. At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have or continue to report invalidated information to any of the XXXX major credit bureaus ( XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX ), this action might constitute fraud under both federal and state laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found or continues to report on any of my credit reports by your company or the company you represent, I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you and your client for the following : Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Defamation of Character. I am sure your legal staff will agree that non-compliance with this request could put your company in serious legal trouble with the FTC and other state or federal agencies. If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following declaration, I will require 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist. Also, during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, ( which it already has ). I will consult with legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing of any information to a credit-reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated. If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately. This also includes not contracting with other credit reporting companies or debt collectors using means of extortion in attempt to collect something that was never due. There is also the matter of information breach which XXXX puts me at risk currently, It would be advisable that you and your client assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. CREDITOR/DEBT COLLECTOR DECLARATION Please provide the following : Agreement with your client that grants you the authority to collect on this alleged debt. Agreement that bears the signature of the alleged debtor wherein he/she agreed to pay the creditor. Any insurance claims been made by any creditor regarding this account. Any Judgments obtained by any creditor regarding this account. Name and address of alleged creditor. Name on file of alleged debtor. Alleged account number. Address on file for alleged debtor. Amount of alleged debt. Date this alleged debt became payable. Date of original charge off or delinquency. Verification that this debt was assigned or sold to collector. Complete accounting of alleged debt. Commission for debt collector if collection efforts are successful. Please provide the name and address of the bonding agent for COLLECTIONAGENCY in case legal action becomes necessary. Your claim can not and WILL NOT be considered if any portion of the above is not completed and returned with copies of all requested documents. This is a request for validation made pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Memorandum in support A misrepresentation is an assertion that is not in accord with the truth. When a person enters a contract because of his justifiable reliance on a misrepresentation about some important fact, the contract is voidable. Misrepresentations can be either : 1. innocent ( not intentionally deceptive ) or 2. fraudulent ( made with the knowledge of falsity and intent to deceive ). Contracts induced by misrepresentation or fraud are generally considered voidable. This means that the person whose consent was not real has the power to rescind ( cancel ) the contract. The elements of misrepresentation and fraud are as follows - notice the similarities. ( authors addition ) Innocent misrepresentation Fraud 1. Untrue assertion of fact ( or equivalent ) 2. Assertion relates to material fact 3. Actual reliance 4. Justifiable reliance 1. Untrue assertion of fact ( or equivalent ) 2. Assertion made with knowledge of falsity and intent to deceive 3. Actual reliance 4. Justifiable reliance 5. Economic loss ( in a tort action for damages PARTS OF A LAWFULCONTRACT 1. Parties competent to contract The parties to a contract should be competent, being of the age of consent, of sound mind, not disqualified from contracting by anylawto which s/he is subject. A flaw in capacity may be due to minority, lunacy, XXXX, XXXX or kind. The parties should be of like kind, being eitherartificialLegal Entity and artificial Legal Entity,  orliving Man/Woman and living Man/Woman, allowing more than two parties butnevera mixture of these kinds. 2. Free and genuine consent The consent of the parties to the agreement must be free and genuine. The consent of the parties should not be obtained by misrepresentation, fraud, undue influence, coercion or mistake. If the consent is obtained by any of these means, then the contract is not valid or lawfully enforceable. 3. Full disclosure When negotiating a contract, full disclosureis the act of providing all material information, or telling the whole truth, about anymatterwhich may influence the decision-making of the other party or parties before they decide to enter into a contract. 4. Sufficient consideration Theconsiderationis something of value possessed by the parties that is brought to the contract table. This something of value is bargained for and given in exchange for a promise or a performance. The parties must eachreceive a benefitand eachsuffer a detriment.To be enforceable, a contract must have sufficient consideration. A contract is unenforceable if it has insufficient or unequal consideration without agreement. 5. Certainty of terms The Terms and Conditions of the contract must be fully disclosed and agreed upon, and must be certain and fixed, i.e. not variable as with interest rates.
6. Meeting of the minds Ameeting of the minds consensus ad idem, occurs between the parties when they recognise each other, understand their mutual obligations, and agree. Thismeeting of mindscan only occur between like kinds, beingLegal Entity with Legal Entity, orMan/Woman with Man/Woman.A corporation and another corporation may enter into contract by way ofaccommodation parties, and a sentient being and another sentient being may enter into a contract directly, but a corporation and a sentient being together can not enter into a contract as they are not of the same and equal kind. 7. Signatures or autographs Written contracts between Legal Entity actors must carry the wet inksignaturesof the parties, each wet inksignaturebeing anaccommodationfrom a Man/Woman. Written contracts between living Men/Women must carry the wet inkautographsof the parties, and/or living identification such as a thumbprint. Livingstandingis recognised by a thumbprint, or more often by anunambiguous declarationwith theautograph, such asauthorised agentwritten below.
8. Privity of contract A contract exists only between the parties. No third-party can obtain rights contained within a contract, or buy or sell a contract, without the express permission of the original parties. Best Regards XXXX XXXX cc Federal Trade Commission Key Concept 6 Misrepresentation and Fraud 1 A misrepresentation is an assertion that is not in accord with the truth. When a person enters a contract because of his justifiable reliance on a misrepresentation about some important fact, the contract is voidable. Misrepresentations can be either : 1. innocent ( not intentionally deceptive ) or 2. fraudulent ( made with the knowledge of falsity and intent to deceive ). Contracts induced by misrepresentation or fraud are generally considered voidable. This means that the person whose consent was not real has the power to rescind ( cancel ) the contract.
The elements of misrepresentation and fraud are as follows - notice the similarities. ( authors addition ) Innocent misrepresentation Fraud 1. Untrue assertion of fact ( or equivalent ) 2. Assertion relates to material fact 3. Actual reliance 4. Justifiable reliance 1. Untrue assertion of fact ( or equivalent ) 2. Assertion made with knowledge of falsity and intent to deceive 3. Actual reliance 4. Justifiable reliance 5. Economic loss ( in a tort action for damages 1. Untrue Assertion of Fact or Equivalent ( authors addition ) To have misrepresentation, one of the parties must have made : 1. an untrue assertion of fact or 2. engaged in conduct that is equivalent to an untrue assertion of fact. The fact must be a past or existing fact, as distinguished from : 1. an opinion or 2. a promise or prediction about some future happening.
The concealment of a fact through some active conduct intended to prevent the other party from discovering the fact is considered the equivalent of an assertion. For example, if Summers is offering his house for sale and paints the ceilings to conceal the fact that the roof leaks, his active concealment constitutes an assertion of fact.
Nondisclosure can also be the equivalent of an assertion of fact. Nondisclosure is the failure to volunteer information. Disclosure of a fact is required when : 1. the person has already offered some information but further information is needed to give the other party an accurate picture or 2. there is a relationship of trust and confidence between the parties or 1 Source of materials : Mallor, et al., Business Law and the Regulatory Environment : Concepts and Cases ( XXXX XXXX/XXXX , 11th Edition, XX/XX/XXXX ). Bold print, bullets, and numbers have been added to the Mallor text to indicate particular emphasis.
3. a party has access to information that is not readily available to the other party.
Transactions involving the sale of real estate are among the most common situations in which the duty to disclose arises. Most states hold that a seller who knows about a latent ( hidden ) defect that materially affects the value of the property has the obligation to speak up about the defect. For example, in a recent case a buyer contracted to purchase a house that was reputed, according the sellers, to be possessed with ghosts.
The sellers did not tell the buyer this fact. When the buyer learned of the houses reputation, he was granted the right to sue for rescission. ( authors addition ) 2. Materiality Innocent misrepresentation If the misrepresentation was innocent, the person seeking to rescind the contract must establish that the fact asserted was material.
A fact will be considered material if it is : 1. likely to play a significant role in inducing a reasonable person to enter the contract or 2. if the person asserting the fact knows that the other person is likely to rely on the fact.
For example, XXXX who is trying to sell his car to XXXX and knows that XXXX idolizes professional bowlers, tells XXXX that a XXXX XXXX once rode in the car. Relying on that representation, XXXX buys the car.
Although the fact XXXX  asserted might not be important to most people, it would be material here.
Fraud Even if the fact is not material, the contract may be rescinded if the misrepresentation was fraudulent. Fraud is the type of misrepresentation that is committed knowingly, with the intent to deceive. The rationale for this rule is that a person who fraudulently misrepresents a fact should not be able to profit from his intentionally deceptive conduct.
A person making a misrepresentation would be considered to do so knowingly if she : 1. knew her statement was false or 2. knew that she did not have a basis for making the statement or 3. made the statement without being confident that it was true.
The intent to deceive can be inferred from the fact that the defendant knowingly made a misstatement of fact to a person who was likely to rely on it.
3. Actual Reliance Reliance means that a person pursues some course of action because of his faith in the assertion made to him.
There must have been a causal connection between the assertion and the complaining partys decision to enter the contract.
If the complaining party ( 1 ) knew that the assertion was false or ( 2 ) was not aware that an assertion had been made, there is no reliance.
4. Justifiable Reliance Courts also scrutinize the reasonableness of the behavior of the complaining party by requiring that his reliance be justifiable.
A person does not act justifiably if he relies on an assertion that is : 1. obviously false or 2. not to be taken seriously.
One problem involving the justifiable reliance element is determining the extent to which the relying party is responsible for investigating the accuracy of the statement on which he relies.
o Classical contract law held that a person who did not attempt to discover readily discoverable facts ( e.g. public records - authors addition ) generally was not justified in relying on the other partys statements about them.
o The extent of the responsibility placed on a relying party to conduct an independent investigation has declined in modern contract law. Todays courts tend to place a greater degree of accountability on the person who makes the assertion rather than the person who relies.
5. Economic loss In tort actions in which the plaintiff is seeking to recover damages for fraud, the plaintiff would have to establish a fifth element : injury. He would have to prove that he had suffered actual economic injury because of his reliance on the fraudulent assertion. In cases in which the injured person seeks only rescission of the contract, however, proof of economic injury usually is not required.
Remedies Rescission As is true for innocent misrepresentation, the contract remedy for fraudulent misrepresentation is rescission. A person who rescinds a contract is entitled to the return of anything he gave the other party. He must offer to return anything he has received from the other party.
Necessity for prompt and unequivocal rescission Suppose XXXX  who recently bought a car from XXXX XXXX learns that XXXX XXXX made fraudulent statements to her to induce her to buy the car. She believes the contract was induced by fraud and wants to rescind. She must : 1. object promptly upon learning the facts and 2. must clearly express her intent to cancel.
She must also avoid any behavior that would suggest that she affirms or ratifies the contract, such as : 1. an unreasonable delay in notifying the other party or 2. continuing to accept benefits from the other party or 3. behaving in a way that is inconsistent with her expressed intent to rescind.
Damages The tort liability of a person who commits fraud is different from that of a person who commits innocent misrepresentation. A person who commits fraud may be liable for damages, possibly including punitive damages, for the tort of deceit.
In some states, a person injured by fraud can not rescind and sue for damages for deceit ; he must elect ( choose ) between the remedies. In other states, however, an injured party may pursue both rescission and damage remedies. In addition, a person injured by fraud in a contract for the sale of goods can both rescind and sue for damages.
Innocent misrepresentation Fraud Rescission rescission and/or tort action in damages Am Jur 2d - Contracts 1 0 New I. In General, A. Definitions, 1 - Contract A contract has been defined as an agreement to do, or refrain from doing, a particular thing, [ 1 ] upon a sufficient consideration. [ 2 ] Similarly, a " contract '' has been defined as an agreement, obligation, or legal tie by which a party binds itself, or becomes bound, expressly or impliedly, to pay a sum of money or to perform or omit to do some certain act or thing. [ 3 ] Also, a " contract '' has been defined as a private, voluntary allocation by which two or more parties distribute specific entitlements and obligations. [ 4 ] A " contract '' is an agreement between two or more parties that creates obligations that are legally enforceable by the contracting parties. [ 5 ] A " contract '' is an agreement between two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognizable at law. [ 6 ] A " contract '' is an agreement by two or more parties whereby obligations are created, modified, or extinguished. [ 7 ] A contract is an obligation which arises from actual agreement of the parties manifested by words, oral or written, or by conduct. [ 8 ] The term " contract '' has been held to include every description or agreement or obligation, whether verbal or written, by which one party becomes bound to another to pay a sum of money or to perform or omit to do a certain act. [ 9 ] The Restatement defines the term " contract '' as a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty, [ 10 ] and this definition has been adopted by some courts. [ 11 ] However, this has been criticized as a circular definition : it is the same as saying that a contract is a legally enforceable promise, but a promise is legally enforceable only if it is a contract. [ 12 ] A contract is not a law, nor does it make law : it is the agreement plus the law that makes the ordinary contract an enforceable obligation. [ 13 ] Caution : The following types of contracts are subject in some respects to special rules that depend on their formal characteristics and differ from those governing contracts in general : [ 14 ] contracts under seal recognizances negotiable instruments and documents letters of credit When used in its ordinary sense, the term " contract '' implies enforceable obligations. [ 15 ] However, in popular speech, the word " contract '' is frequently used as meaning the work done under a contract. [ 16 ] Observation : A contract is a verbal act that has a legal reality independent of the truth of any statement contained in it. [ 17 ] The right to perform a contract and to receive its profits and the right to performance by the other party are property rights entitling each party to the fulfillment of the contract by performance. [ 18 ] Under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the term " contract '' means the total legal obligation resulting from the parties ' agreement as affected by the act and other applicable law. [ 19 ] The term " contract '' has a more specific and extended meaning than the terms " promise '' or " agreement. " [ 20 ] The existence of a contract is a question of fact. [ 21 ] Tallies or receipts [ 22 ] and invoices [ 23 ] are generally not contracts.
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