Consumer Law

What Should I Do If I Am Sued For A Debt That I Do Not Owe?

By M. Stan Herring

Alabama consumers are often sued for debts they do not owe. Being sued is a very serious matter and particularly when you don't even owe the debt. What should you do? We are asked this more and more and so many Alabama consumers are being sued by debt collectors.

If you don't owe the debt, then being sued is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which regulates debt collectors. As we have previously blogged about, certain types of activities are prohibited by the FDCPA. Certainly suing someone for a debt they do not owe is unfair and is also an untrue statement.

What the debt buyer has said about you to the entire world (lawsuits are public records) is that you owe the debt buyer money. If you don't, then this is a false statement. Its also fundamentally unfair to sue you for a debt you don't owe. When combined with putting this false information on your credit report (that you owe the debt buyer money when you don't) you can understand why our clients who have been falsely sued are very upset.

One solution that we suggest is to tell the debt collector or its attorney that you do not owe the debt buyer any money and request that they dismiss the case WITH prejudice. This will ensure you won't be sued again by the debt buyer.

If the debt buyer refuses to dismiss the case with prejudice, then after you win the bogus collection suit brought against you, you can potentially sue the debt buyer for:

1. Violating the FDCPA
2. Violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) if your credit report is not corrected
3. Sue under state law for Malicious Prosecution - i.e. bringing a case against you with no legitimate basis to do so
4. Sue for defamation - telling the world by the lawsuit and by your credit report that you owe money you don't
5. Sue for invasion of privacy - putting out in the public eye the false statement that you owe money may invade your right to privacy.

If you have been falsely sued, feel free to contact us for a free review of your options.

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on May 21, 2008 (boomark / email).