Complaint Review: Litigation Consulting Service - Bethesda Maryland

Received a call saying that a summons was coming to me for a bill for Fleet bank in the amount of $7,000 plus dated 1998. When I told them that I never had a Fleet bank account and asked for more information they said that they had a lot of papers but could not share them with me as they were part of the "sealed court record". I asked them how could I possibly discuss the debt if they could not provide any information. They said I had no choice but to pay the settlement offer of $5000 or they would file the papers. I told them that I would not pay for something that I had no knowledge of and that they could not provide one shred of evidence that I was responsible for. They said that they had all of my addresses correct and the last four digits of my social security number and that was all they needed. They also listed my ex husband's address. I asked them how they got that address if he wasn't listed on the billing. Again they provided no information. I told them that my ex husband probably opened up the account after our divorce in 1995 and that I wasn't even in this area in 1998 so I could prove that it wasn't my debt if they could show me one credit card bill or even just the application. Again, they refused to provide any information and said that I would be getting a summons. I asked them why they wanted to go to court rather than try to figure out who really owed the debt without the expense of attorneys and they said "that's how it works", you'll get everything you need to know in the summons. I am also currently disabled with a broken leg and this whole incident has caused me great anxiety and discomfort. It is so unfair. I asked if I could stop by their offices so that they could see the face of the person who's life they were ruining and that perhaps I could show them how wrong they are before they take the hugely damaging step of filing a lawsuit against me and that it would cause me money and injury and they told me that they were not injuring me and that it was against their policy to allow people to go to their offices because it was a conflict of interest. When I asked if my attorney could visit them they said "it doesn't work that way". I asked them why they thought it was not in everyone's best interests to try to discuss the matter before dragging the courts into it. Again, they said "that's how it works." They refused to tell me the name of the attorneys or the name of their company that I could contact to discuss further or file a complaint against. They forwarded my call to someone who introduced herself as "investigator Nancy" probably to give an air of law enforcement. I tried everything I could to get a meeting with them before they filed this lawsuit to try to get to the bottom of this and they said it was too late and that they were not a collection agency and they were just representing the collection agencies. When I asked if I had rights and what about the Fair Credit Act, they said they did not fall within that act because they are not a collection agency. I think this is some kind of scam to scare people into paying money they don't owe and they are evading the law by saying they are not "collecting" the money and that they are just "consultants" probably working for some bottom feeder attorneys who are hoping that people won't show up in court and they will get a judgment. When my husband got on the phone and told them in an angry tone that I was disabled and very upset about this and asked why they were being investigated by the State's Attorney General, they hung up on us. We called back and asked many questions about their business and they refused to answer anything except to say that the credit companies were Creditors Collection Service and Redline Creditors, both of which I have never heard from. They again hung up on us when our questions turned to who was running the company and responsible for these policies of not providing a person the opportunity to prove this was not their debt without first filing a lawsuit. This seems to be so unfair that a company can make a human being go through such trauma without providing any proof of debt and also I would like to know about the statute of limitations. I also would like to know if I can get the name of a good attorney to sue these people for mental anguish and suffering for putting me through this. I live in Virginia and they are going to file the suit in Fairfax County. They are operating in Maryland, Montgomery County. Any advice anyone can give would be so very much appreciated. PS - I don't understand why we can't get a class action suit put together against companies like these.

Newland

Alexandria, Virginia

U.S.A.