Question: I have been sued by a debt collector. Who do I call?
Answer: An attorney.
Let me explain a bit. Twice in the last week, I have had people call me after being sued by a debt collector. Both folks think the lawsuits may be fraudulent, but they are named as defendants. They have been served and don’t know what to do. With both people, I explained to them the process and offered to assist them. Both people decided to take other courses of action.
In these cases, both people decided to call the Federal Bureau of Investigattion (FBI”. The folks at the FBI are great. They do great work. They are not going to get involved in a debt collection lawsuit that you think is fraudulent. They won’t even get involved if you can prove it is fraudulent.
I received a call last week from a “payday lender.” The call was clearly fraudulent. I took down all of the information and called the FBI. The fine folks at the FBI told me that the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) is handling this. So I called the FTC. The FTC took a report and told me they would add it to their complaint list. That is it. Nothing else.
There are only two people who can answer a lawsuit for you: you or an attorney. You can call legal aid or someone like that, who may be able to assist you. You should start with an attorney. If the lawsuit is really fraudulent and you can prove it, then you may be able to recover damages under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) or the Rosenthal Act.
But calling the FBI or the FTC or the attorney general (AG) or any other entity, is not going to protect your rights. A judgment can still be entered against you. The only way to protect yourself is to file an answer with the court.