We would like to find other individuals in Arizona with grievances
against a particular collection agency, who would be interested in
joining a class action suit.  We're willing to do most of the research
ourselves, but we need suggestions for resources where we can begin
our search.

My fiancee has been contacted repeatedly by a California-based company
regarding a debt that (according to our attorney) is past the statute
of limitations.

We believe they may have violated multiple terms of the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm
Specifically:
A term disallowing "The false representation of -- the character,
amount, or legal status of any debt".
A term disallowing "The threat to take any action that cannot legally
be taken or that is not intended to be taken."

Also, they do not appear to be licensed in Arizona, and evidently
Arizona law prohibits them from operating here without a license.

It appears that this company has a history of such activity, as they
have settled two class-action lawsuits against them, one in
California, another in Nevada.  Our attorney (who is working for a
flat fee) has asked us to try and find other parties in Arizona with
similar grievances, in the interest of bringing a similar class-action
suit.

I'd like suggestions for resources where I can find individuals to join the suit.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 31 Jul 2005 19:44 PDT

geekboyaz-ga,

Rather than trying to find people to join your suit, you might be
better off trying to find a lawyer with experience at class-action,
who is willing to take your case on contingency.

Here are a list of such lawyers with experience in both class action
and debt collection:


http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/attorneys.html


None are listed for AZ, but there are a few in California, where you
say the company is based.  Might be worth contacting the CA firms as a
next step.

Let me know how that works out.  


pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Question by geekboyaz-ga on 02 Aug 2005 23:49 PDT

The attorney we contacted directly is evidently talking to another who
might do just that: take the case on a contingency fee, and try to
establish a class-action suit.  They were supposed to meet today, so
we may have more information shortly.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 03 Aug 2005 06:52 PDT

Good.  Let me know how things work out.

There are certainly quite a number of lawyers that specialize in
class-action.  If they think you have a solid case, they may well be
willing to take it on, and do all the leg work involved in finding
other parties.

Best of luck.

paf

I have seen quite a few newspaper advertisements soliciting clients
for class-action suits. I'm not talking about little bitty classified
ads, but fairly sizeable display ads.

If you have the budget for it, and if you target the ads to a
geographic area where a lot of potential clients are likely to live,
and a news medium to which they are likely to be exposed, this kind of
advertising might be quite effective.

I believe that the statute of limitations has to do with the ability
of collections agencies (and the people owed the money) to sue or take
other legal action for the debt.  The statute of limitations does not
erase the debt, the ability for collections agencies to collect on the
debt (letters, calls, etc.), or the right to have the debt reported to
the credit bureaus.

Maybe instead of spending the money on the lawer or big ads in the
newspaper to develop a class action lawsuit, you should just pay the
debt!!!!

I should clarify - it's not like we're trying to shirk my fiancee's
debts.  We've paid off every other debt that she racked up a few years
back.  Once our finances recovered from those payments, we might have
been willing to work on this one.

But these people are despicable.  None of her other creditors have
called us so frequently, or been so rude on the phone, or resorted to
threats and name-calling.  They've caused her considerable distress. 
We will pay off our debts, but not with people who are quite possibly
in violation of the law.

Collection agencies have to be brazen, unfortunately, embarassingly,
but there are limits to what they can do, as you know from the Fair
Debt ... Law.
The important stuff on this link is about what collectors may and may not do.
There is a lot of stuff about bancruptcy that I don't think applies to you.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=479507

You can read other questions found by searching here with 
"collection agency" ,

A point worth noting, collection agencies are open to negotiation, on
term payments and total amount.  They may have bought the claim for
half face value.

Myoarin