Florida Collections Legal Questions

If you have a balance of $179.64 that you paid off and have proof they got the money, this would be a collections violation case for attempting to collect money they are not entitled to. You need to hire a consumr lawyer ASAP. WE handle this cases on a contingent fee generally where we make the bank pay the legal fees when they are wrong. You can call our office at 1-800-922-6442 or 813-243-9233. ... Read More

You will probably need to retain a lawyer to sue them over the reporting/collection effort, but will likely needto make sure you have evidenc to prove the fraud account  beyond a mere police investigation. Hopefully they are able to ID the perp and their prosecution will be very helpful. ... Read More

Of course - because if they had to give advance notice to debtors  - they just hide the money. The process is the writ is issued and you have the ability to dispute its application if you are exempt. Its a crappy process and you should hire a lawyer to address it simply to keep them from taking advantage of you. ... Read More

You are expected to "know what you owe" and there is no requirement that the debt collector chase you down to hear stories about why didn't pay them before filing a lawsuit. Ironically, in many instances they now file lawsuits to avoid consumer lawyers like me from suing then when then step out of line trying to contact a consumer rather than filing a lawsuit. ... Read More

UNless this is a very expensive item justifying spending money on a lawyer, you should have know his reputation better and had the details of repayment reduced tow riting bfore you spent a dime. Second rule is NEVER loan people money you can't walk away from. If the items were over say, $5,000.00, and you want to spend the money hiring a lawyer, do so immeidately. Otherewise, you most likely have en expensive learing lesson. ... Read More

Its possible some of the statements made may amount to a collections harassment lawsuit - especially if they do NOT actually take you to court to sue you for damages as threatened. If they DO, then its a much weaker case though a threat of wage garnishment is likely violation in and of itself as you are likelt exempt and they hhave no judgment yet. THAT stated, if you work part time, have 2 kids and live in public or subsidized housing you have no business "renting" tv's or other things you can't afford let alone expect that they get return broken and that "its all fine". Rent to Own businesses literally prey on people in your situation that want what they can't afford, gouge them for the items and then allow you to continue to ruin your credit for the effort. You need to NEVER use rent to own ANYTHING  - period and make sure you live within your means for yourself and your children. That stated, you needto contact a consumer lawyer immediately in regard to the collections threats as you may be able to sue them for damages for a collection harrassment issue and make them actually pay for the legal fees to do so. IN the meantime, if they do sue you, you will simply have to address that lawsuit if it happens as you are likely responsible for the damages to the TV. ... Read More

Legally, they can try. Whether they can force the sale of the vehicle if you have equity in it, or will want to go through that effort is up to them. The bigger issue is thehassle that will follow as they try to collect on the judgment which may involve periodically raiding your bank accounts or locking them down until the court decides whether they can take the money. If you have a lot of such debt you may want to talk to a bankruptcy lawyer. ... Read More

I hate to tell you but there is NO estimate of fees that will ever make sense in such a case. The exception being reliance on blind luck or default judgment, which in fact defeats the purpose. This is due to the low value of the claim and the high likelihood of uncollectiabilty rendering the legal effort a functional faliure. By example, our retainer fee for small claims cases start at $1500.00 at $400.00/hr. so you can see why its so important not to loan money to people where you can't enforce the debt effectively. ... Read More

YOu have a right to retrieve those items. They also have a right to inventory them. Allowing your walltet to stay in your car with such valuable information is simply foolish. That stated, you may need to get a law enforcment officer to go with you get the items or hire a lawyer to sue them, at your expense initially, to get them back. Bear in mind, that some repo agents are underhanded and might just toss the items claiming they weren't in the car which is very difficult to deal with. ... Read More

First, don't make idle threats of "going to court". Noone is going to court over a $125.00 charge so dont be silly - gets you hung up on. Second, how was this "given to another girl?" If it was a mistake from UPD pr parking services, then THAT is where you need to go to get this sorted as they can see your tag and her tag are different and registered separately. ... Read More

It is difficult to give you recommendations without seeing the paperwork, but I will do what I can.  The statute of Limitations in Florida is usually 5 years on a written instrument, but a recent Florida Supreme Court case considered each payment on a mortgage to effectively have its own limitations period.  In effect, there's a good chance that you may not owe any payments which were due more than 5 years before suit was filed, but you likely owe the rest.  It may be a complex calculation to figure out what is owed.If possible, you should hire an attorney to represent you.  If you can't afford an attorney, then you should send in a written Answer to the Complaint, responding to each numbered paragraph.  You should also include, as an "affirmative defense" that some or all of the debt is exc;uded by the Statute of Limitations.... Read More