I received a rather long, odd, and rambling letter on cheap computer paper from an Attorney John Sullivan from P.N. Financial at an old Indiana address.
In the header of this letter was a "docket number" supposedly obtained in a Indiana Court and a SSN that wasn't mine. The body of the letter was literally titled "FINAL NOTICE OF JUDGMENT".in what I can only describe as a unprofessional diatribe the letter purported to be the last attempt (even though this was the first time I had ever heard of PN Financial) to collect a $15,000 BofA credit card debt.
I could settle this debt for a mere sum of $10,000. If not PN Financial was going to take me to court. Or depending how you read the awkward phrasing of the letter, maybe already had taken me to court. And of course they were going to garnish my wages, levy my bank account, blah blah blah.
Right off the bat I recognized several major violations of the FDCPA. First among them openly threatening me with a lawsuit, wage garnishment, etc. Also trying to appear as though they had already contacted me when this was their first ever communication.
Then I did a bit of digging and discovered that PN Financial was also engaging in outright fraud.
First there was the issue of the SSN, which wasn't mine, but was sent to me. That's either a fake or someone else's in which case PN Financial is disclosing key parts of other people's identities to complete strangers.
Second was the Indiana Docket Number they used to prove that they had a court case against me. Except it isn't a docket number. The docket number is a complete forgery. Anyone can tell because it is not in a format used by the Indiana court system, the California Court system, or as far as I can any court system in the U.S. PN Financial simply made up a number hoping I'd buy it, get scared, and send them 10K. Yeah, right.
I shot them off a Certified Debt Validation letter (return receipt received with a ineligible signature — shocking). Never heard back. Then I sent complaints to my Attorney General, the Indiana Attorney General, and the Illinois Attorney General. Another complaint to the FTC. Another to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. Another to the IL BBB. And one last one to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois.
More interesting facts began to uncover themselves. PN Financial is not licensed as a Collection Agency in Indiana, California, or anywhere outside of Illinois. This "John Sullivan" is not a registered P.C. And the ARDC of the Supreme Court of Illinois sent me a letter confirming that "John T. Sullivan", Attorney at Law, is not a licensed Attorney in the State of Illinois.
One wonders if John Sullivan really exists even. The name on PN Financial Inc. Illinois license is actually Nelson Macwan.
So in short don't fall for PN Financial's B.S. Follow up with a debt validation letters and complain complain COMPLAIN. Eventually someone will shut them down.
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