Looking for a Consumer Advocate

[ampainting32.livejournal.com]

Hi, I have a friend who is looking for a consumer advocate or legal council.  My friend has had a service contract with a major company for about 10 years.  FYI:  This is not a cell phone or credit card company.  A few months ago my friend received a bill stating she owed $10,000 in fines from an overdraft she incurred years ago.  That's right, I said $10,000.  My friend has statements from the beginning of 2008 that DO NOT SHOW any outstanding balance, much less an outstanding balance of $10,000.  She has tried to argue her point with the company's customer service reps, but she hasn't had much luck with them.  My friend is a single Mom who doesn't have the financial means to lawyer up.  Has anyone out there dealt with a similar problem?  Does anyone have experience negotiating with big, unreasonable companies? 


 

Comments

[ron_newman]

Seems to me that if she doesn't owe the money, perhaps she should just ignore this until somethig else happens.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

Why are you posting to davis_square and why did you change the font?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Doing nothing isn't a good strategy in this case. Corporations have more rights than people, unfortunately.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Two possible resources:

The Boston Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service, which does include a panel of reduced-fee attorneys.

The Legal Advocacy and Resource Center, which has a hot line for legal questions, and can refer you to a free or reduced fee attorney if you qualify.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

That is the worst thing to do, because it could result in ruined credit.

However, before lawyering up, the OP's friend should start following the steps outlined here (http://www.expertlaw.com/library/consumer/fair_debt_collection.html) and elsewhere. Sending a certified-mail letter (keeping a copy of the letter and the certified-mail stub) requesting detailed information on the supposed debt is step 1.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

she should definitely contact the consumerist blog at www.consumerist.com - they may be able to help her. they like to get outraged at crazy sh*t like that.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Ditto this. Big companies hate the embarrassment that drawing attention on Consumerist will get you. They have a slighty bigger reading audience than davis_square and way more lawerly types.

[cold-type.livejournal.com]

Writing a letter to the company seems like a good first step. If that doesn't work, she can file complaints with the BBB, state Attorney General or whatever agencies regulate that type of service.

Bud Hibbs

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

http://www.budhibbs.com/

This is a great site with info about the shady practices of lots of bill collectors and what to do about it.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

this is probably going to sound totally stupid, but maybe use "help me hank" that news segment they do sometimes (i can't remember what channel)

[laryu.livejournal.com]

What "major company" are we talking about? A bank, I presume?

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Without knowing what kind of company it is, it's hard to direct you to the right government oversight agency for info/support. Unfortunately, with banks squeezed for money they are unleashing third party debt collection agencies that are finding old (past the statute of limitations), incorrect, or sometimes fraudulent "debts" and aggressively collecting on them. Their hope is that you are uninformed and scared, and just pay whatever to make it go away.

I used to do consumer rights advocacy (among other things) for a congressman, and the best one-stop website to look through is www.consumer.gov. Again, there are more direct places I could suggest, but that would depend on what type of company/debt that you're dealing with.

Good luck!

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

An initial consult with a lawyer is free. There's some good advice posted below as well about finding affordable attorneys.

I'm going to guess that she'll be much more able to afford a lawyer consult than a $10,000 debt collection with interest. Don't rule a lawyer out.

[ampainting32.livejournal.com]

Believe me she's thought about it.

Thanks

[ampainting32.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the advice. I will pass this info along to my friend. I'll let you know if she's able to resolve the problem.