Look I'm going to make this simple, and I expect a torrent of shout downs from Allied because they know it's true but don't want you to know the facts about collection agencies.
First, they’re a collection agency, they can't sue you for one simple reason. They weren't a party to the original agreement between you and the original creditor.
The original creditor can sue you and has every right up to the time limits of your state.
The collector claims to be an agent but an agent is still not a party to the original debt. If you do somehow end up in court simply demand the signed document that shows you and the collection agency have an agreement. That will end their case abruptly because there is never any such document.
This process is called discovery and if the plaintiff can't produce evidence of their claim it's dead.
The one exception to the above... If you actually enter into a payment agreement with a collector. Now you have made them a party to the debt (actually a new debt since they have no relationship to the original debt) In that case you've made a business relationship with them and you're bound by whatever terms you agreed to with them.
So what's the solution, simple, don't respond to them at all. You won't get a fair deal, they won't stop bothering you and you'll never stop paying them if you enter into an agreement. There will always be an additional charge, fee or adjustment to keep you paying.
Also if they go as far as to try to bring you to court (which is laughable) make sure you never accept service. You are not under any obligation to identify yourself to anyone but a police officer. A process server is just a working stiff making minimum wage delivering court papers when they're not delivering pizzas. Also know that police officers are never off duty. That means any police officer performing process service for a civil matter is in direct conflict with his position. Criminal matters are a different area. The conflict stems from the state being barred from being a party to a private legal action to which they have no interest or participation.
If somebody strange walks up to you and asks if you're such and such just say no. If they can't serve you they can't sue you. There must be proper service for any civil action brought against you.
Finally, know that Allied is just one of many such operations all of which employ the same tactics. They're hoping to trick you into giving them money and holding you to an unfair contract.
Make sure to watch your credit reports too. Equifax is famous for siding with collection agencies and leaving negative information on your report. Keep filing challenges anyway. Make sure that the collection agency is allowed to show up as a creditor on your collection report. This is a common tactic to drive down your FICO score. They file a fraudulent claim as a creditor then claim delinquency on the account. Again if you don't enter into any agreements with the collection agency they have no legal basis to touch your credit report. These tactics have been successfully litigated in California and Equifax has been named as a party in many of these law suits.in every case I've looked at, the collection agency and Equifax lost the case and were forced to pay damages.
Plain and simple, you're in control, don't let anyone convince you otherwise.
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