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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Can a Debt Collector Demand More Money After You Pay Off the Original Creditor

    Does your original contract allow for the assessment of any fees in the course of attempting to collect the debt. That is what you stand on to deny or accept whether the attorney can even charge fees. If there was no inclusion of fees, he can’t charge them for simply acting as a collection agency.

    . Given it was not originally stated as fees, I would simply tell him to take a hike. He doesn’t get to issue a demand for payment of a debt and convert it to attorneys fees becsuse he ended up with two checks. You paid what was demanded for the debt and that’s what he has to accept it for.

    One thing may help if you explain; what was the actual total amount owed in November. (Nkt some negotiated amount but actual valid debt). Did you obtain any services since then that would add to the debt? If so, how much did it add.

    if one number or the other was the actual debt (and I would presume the number the hospital gave you was the most accurate number) where would the extra $200 come in? Given you agreed to pay that, it makes no sense that you didn’t actually owe that much.

  2. #12

    Default Re: Can a Debt Collector Demand More Money After You Pay Off the Original Creditor

    Im sorry - I got dizzied by the side track on the my attempts to dishonor first check, an issue which became irrelevant because the intent to dishonor was not carried out by the bank - because the bank never pulled the trigger on it - and I told them not to, So current situation: atty debt collector has the $2500 which he never cashed for assessments and late fees as of July, which I paid in December, and the atty's client has the 2nd check which has not been cashed either. The attorney is threatening to sue me if I don't ratify his assertion that I owe him his litigation fees, even though I have not been sued, or served. HOA foreclosure is what is at risk.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    98,846

    Default Re: Can a Debt Collector Demand More Money After You Pay Off the Original Creditor

    Quote Quoting Biggy
    View Post
    So current situation: atty debt collector has the $2500 which he never cashed for assessments and late fees as of July, which I paid in December....
    You either did or did not enter into an agreement with the lawyer to settle the debt for $2,500. If there was an agreement, it either did nor did not have a deadline for payment. If it had a deadline, you either did nor did not pay on time. The agreement also either did or did not discuss when additional sums might become due. If there was an agreement, it either was or was not reduced to writing, and either was or was not signed by you.

    If you did not have an agreement, then the terms of the letter offering to settle the debt either did or did not include a deadline for acceptance through payment, and either did or did not caution you that failure to reply with your acceptance would expose you to additional liability for your debt. The absence of such terms would not necessarily prevent the lawyer from telling you that a July offer was off the table if you did not try to accept that offer until December; but if you did not accept the deal, then his client's contacting you with a bill for $2,300 as payment appears to get in his way of arguing that you are somehow obligated to pay him more.

    Please clarify the facts.
    Quote Quoting Biggy
    and the atty's client has the 2nd check which has not been cashed either. The attorney is threatening to sue me if I don't ratify his assertion that I owe him his litigation fees, even though I have not been sued, or served. HOA foreclosure is what is at risk.
    I'm curious -- did the lawyer's initial contact with you include the "mini-Miranda" warning: a notice to the debtor that the communication is from a debt collector and that any information obtained from the debtor may be used to collect the debt? Because it's pretty clear that he's acting in the capacity of a debt collector, even if he runs a law practice. As a debt collector he should not be threatening you with a lawsuit unless he actually intends to file suit.

    If he thought he had the right to deposit your check, knowing that his client received direct payment, I suspect that he would already have done so and would instead be asking you were to refund the $600 difference between what he claims you owe and the amount he wants as payment. If he's threatening a lawsuit that he knows he will not file or that would not be valid, he's violating the FDCPA. If it were me, I might direct him to cease all contact, reminding him that his client had received direct payment in full and demanding the return of the $2,500 check.

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